week 53: ashamed but redeemed

you have free will

thank you to over 11,000 of you who read this weekly and share with your friends and family for behind the scenes on building a million dollar business from scratch and beyond. i also include a personal note in the end so i am grateful that you let me do that without judgement.

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also i appreciate the 100s of encouraging notes, emails and comments to continue to write my journey for the next 12 months.

in a business world, you have to choose between making the right decision or sacrifice.

the book of proverbs talks about doing right is better than sacrifice.

it took a minute to understand that because i thought sacrifice was the highest order of commitment.

we all sacrifice time with family to do business because there is an outcome and inherent worth associated with it.

but sometimes i think we misunderstand the context of it.

at least i did.

for example - if i asked you to write down the most important things you need to do and if you don’t do that your business won’t work.

what would that be?

it’s hard but think harder.

well, whatever it is for you, i have realized that i need to spend 80% of my time on it.

for GTM Partners, it’s founder-led sales through market creation and evangelism of the problem that every company has a go-to-market problem and needs attention.

here are few examples of how i am doing it:

• my day needs to be prioritized with sales calls and not the 10 podcast interviews that i get invited on to boost my ego (there is a time for that but not in Q2)

• make everyone’s compensation on the team tied to revenue so we all are aligned on the outcome - we win as a team and we loose as a team

• speak at the top 5 events to get the word out with clear message and call to action

• spend time with existing customers to find ways to do early renewal or expansion

i feel ashamed as a leader that i didn’t jump on it earlier but i feel redeemed that we are back on track focusing on the right thing.

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on a personal note, on Tuesday I got notified that on Wednesday my daughter had an opportunity to speak and share a Bible verse and the meaning in the school chapel.

Kiara really wanted me to go and at the same exact time i had a big sales meeting that got booked after a ton of efforts.

i’ve been prepping for it and setting up to move it forward for weeks.

i thought the right thing to do is to keep the sales meeting and so thought of not going.

i am such a hypocrite that i even asked my daughter who is coming and do parents show up and how many show up to find excuses.

but thanks to the Holy Spirit that I realize that if I don’t go, I would regret it, so I emailed the contact person and told them exactly what the situation is.

i did not apologize for it and respectfully asked to reschedule the call not knowing what might come out of it.

guess what the deal is still on i’m talking to them this week to hopefully move it forward.

i was able to see a big smile on my daughters face.

it occurs to me that 99% of the decisions we make can be changed.

just because it says on your calendar it doesn’t mean you have to do it.

so I’m ashamed that it took me a while to make that decision but I’m grateful that I recovered and in the end made the right decision and not the “sacrifice”.

wonder what your process is for decision making to do the right thing.

Leader point: doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.