In sports and in life, you gotta want it. Think, the ball player on the sideline who is standing right behind the coach telling him, “Put me in coach, I can do it” This is the player you want on your team. The dud that is sitting on the bench looking at his girlfriend or studying his shoelaces is not the one you want to put in the game.

I was watching a game the other day, and you could tell the ones that wanted in the game and the ones that were happy to sit it out. That’s how it is in sports, business and life. John Grisham was rejected by 28 publishers for his first novel. Abe Lincoln lost 7 elections before it made him mad enough to run for president. Aren’t we glad he didn’t give up on seven? Steve Jobs was turned down 27 times for his computer idea. These types of stories could go on for pages.

I had a friend I played softball with one time and when he swung at the ball, he almost came out of his shoes. I am saying he wanted it so badly he gave it everything he had every single time. Talk about any team, any sport and any field and just look into the eyes and you can see the ones that want it from the young kids to the pros.

One of the biggest lessons I ever learned in life was when I was on the wrestling team in the 8^th grade. I was 126 lb. class and the guy on my team I had to wrestle every week (and lost) was a year older and the state champion in the 126 lb. class. I knew I couldn’t beat him, so I quit trying. I never quite forgave myself for that, so I overcompensated in high school with football, track etc. and I gave it everything I had. That lesson stayed with me in business through some ups and downs and when hotel brokerage came along, I didn’t leave anything on the table.

That term ‘don’t leave anything on the table’ is a term coaches often use which means, to give it all you have. Don’t hold back or leave anything in the bag. Be all in 100%. That is the way I was when I got one 6-month opportunity to sell hotels. I knew it was the only shot I was going to get. As in sports – I wanted the ball, and I wanted in the game and by God, I stretched it out like a greyhound dog and won the rookie of the year for the US that year and never looked back.

In life, business, relationships etc. you gotta want the ball. You gotta want in the game and you have to swing with everything you have within you. Paul in the bible speaks of this when he says in 1^st Corinthians 9:24; “run the race so that you may obtain the prize.” KT

Whether we will admit or not, everyone of us have dreams, aspirations, goals, objectives we want to do or accomplish in life (listen closely here,,,) when we get to a certain place, or when this event happens or some other measurement we secretly have. Every one of us.

The title of the blog post is – what are we waiting for?

I have had too many friends unexpectedly die over the last several years. They all had dreams, aspirations, objectives, goals for their life but didn’t live long enough to see them through. The question we all should ask is, what are we waiting for?

It is to get in shape, write a book, change jobs, move to a new location, start a class, mentor someone, start saving money, start a company, patent that idea you have, fix a broken relationship, etc. etc. Its like we put life on hold waiting for some event or situational change, that only we can define, to get started on our dream.

If God was in the room, he would tell each of to ‘run the race’ don’t wait, be the person we are supposed to be. That last statement is very important. Start being that person you know in your heart you are supposed to be.

There is an old gospel hymn, ‘What a friend we have In Jesus’ and the third line down says, “what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.”  If we really shared these secret dreams with God in prayer, he would tell us, “Press toward the goal to win the prize.” Start living your dreams and don’t wait any longer. KT

Warren Buffet said this while speaking to a college graduation 25 years ago. Now if I just said this this, no one would pay attention to it but when Warren Buffett says something like this, people listen.

His point was that some habits start early and if we don’t break the habit when we are young, that same habit becomes almost unbreakable later in life. Another meaning is that you need to decide in your young adulthood who you want to be when you are a senior adult. Some examples would be – are you lazy, do you let others take the lead, do you feel inferior, are you judgmental toward others, do you have a low self-esteem, are you confident in your actions, are you trustworthy, are you responsible, do you live above your means, are you a giver or a taker, are you kind, are you considerate, can you be counted on when it matters, and the list could go on and on, but you get the point.

Much of life is a choice. There of course are some things you can’t change, but many of the things that complicate and frustrate and impede us later in life, are in fact, choices/habits we made when we were in our young adult years. KT

I was with a dear client last week in Baltimore and this subject came up. How did we (the United States) get here? Meaning all the mudslinging, discord, and civil unrest?

I think there have been many society changing periods/events over the last 70+/- years that may have led us to where we are, but the following represent a few in my opinion that caused a shift in the fabric of the American way.

First – The end of WWII. It was a euphoric and lifestyle altering period in US history. People came together regardless of religion, race, sex, status etc. and we were all Americans and all joyful the war was over. 416,000 of our youngest, died during the war and the citizens of all backgrounds began putting life back together.

Second – TV and air-conditioning – Before the inventions of these two things, people would sit on their porch and talk to their neighbors. There was a ‘us’ attitude that meant everybody regardless of color, creed, religion etc. They knew all their neighbors and they took time to get to know people. When TV and air-conditioning became mainstream in homes, people started staying inside their homes and kids started watching shows instead of riding bikes and it shifted the social fabric that was holding neighborhoods together.

Third – the availability of the internet in the early 90’s. It was a whole new informational world that changed the live/work/play dynamic. Nothing was off limits and parents had to be careful to monitor what their children were seeing. People could research almost any subject in minuetes and it began to shift how people bought and sold anything and made all manor of public records instantly available to everyone. It almost changed everything.

There were other global conflicts, wars, 911, recessions, dot com bust etc. that could be mentioned but the following is the grandaddy of them all when it comes to how we got here.

Before we get there, let me set the stage. Remember the Dixie Chicks?  They were a popular country music group in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.  In March of 2003 they were doing a concert in London and one of the band members said, “she was ashamed that George Bush was from her home state of Texas.” From that moment on, no radio station in American would play their music any longer. It was the end of the Dixie Chicks. Americans rallied around their president and God help anyone that said disparaging comments about the president of the United States.  Look at what people today say in public speeches, news clips, social media, at rallies, about the last three presidents. There is no filter or slang word too aggressive or off limits any longer. There is no respect for the office of the president any longer and a growing disrespect for God and Country.

The point – it has only been 22 years from what happed to the Dixies Chicks to what is happening now. Back to the original question, how did we fall so hard and so fast?

Fourth – now for the big finish – Life in America (in my opinion) as we knew it made the most dramatic shift of the past 70 years when a hand-held internet capable devise was invented (the iPhone) and social media platforms were created so people could instantly say whatever they felt or thought to everyone in their sphere of influence.  Good and bad things people say became basically 24/7 accessible in the palm of your hand.

Today AI has taken it to a whole new level because AI basically scraps the whole internet in seconds and reports everything said in real time.

The scary version – Take a moment and think about the last time we all came together in America. There was no them/us, red-blue, religion, race etc. etc. just us Americans. Wait for it,,,,, It was the day after 911.

So, our prayer should be that it doesn’t take something like 911 again to bring us back together. That certainly is my prayer and hopefully yours too. KT

Subject: Finders, Grinders, and Minders

In any sales organization, there are three essential roles: Finders, who bring in new business (the rainmakers); Grinders, who provide the behind-the-scenes support through analysis, writing, and research; and Minders, who nurture client relationships and maintain communication.

For leaders, the first priority is identifying which role each team member is best suited for. Few things are more detrimental—to both the company and the individual—than placing someone in a position where they cannot perform or where the role itself causes unnecessary stress and anxiety.

In our organization, these distinctions are very clear. We have outstanding team members who excel at writing, communicating, strategizing, and organizing. But if you ask some of them to pick up the phone and make a sales call, you may as well be speaking to a wall. A simple way to identify Grinders and Minders is to observe their communication habits: those who consistently prefer email or text over phone calls often fall into these categories. Email provides a safe barrier, while a phone call requires direct engagement with another person.

When I started in the business, none of today’s tools—email, websites, social media, texts, or “likes”—existed. You had to meet face-to-face or make the call. Interestingly, we sold just as many hotels in the early 1990s without the internet as we do now. That raises an important question: are we truly preparing the next generation of salespeople for success? Sometimes I wonder if we should take away their phones and computers for the first three months and make them learn “the old-school way.” (A humorous thought—but with some truth behind it.)

At the end of the day, Finders are the lifeblood of any sales organization. Grinders and Minders are valuable and often plentiful, but true Finders—the professionals who bring in new business—are indispensable. KT