Throughout my life, I have always been fascinated by lists and rankings of top performance. As a long time subscriber of Forbes, Fortune, Business Week and Inc Magazines, I have studied my share of lists over the years and have always tried to learn whatever lessons possible from top performers in all industries. In this week's lesson, we will discuss why it makes sense for anyone with aspirations for career and personal improvement, to develop a "Solutions Mindset."
In prior lessons, we discussed the topics of Scarcity and Value regarding physical items like real estate, jewelry and art. Also in a Prior Poll Series, we delved into the topic of Personal Value in the Marketplace, which consisted of five polls and commentaries. In one of the polls we discussed LeBron James, a pro basketball player who presently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers. At the time of the poll, LeBron had recently signed an endorsement contract with Nike for 90 million dollars plus a $10 million signing bonus, while still a senior in high school. Can it be possible that an 18 year old can be worth this sum of money? The answer is "Of Course" as business philosopher Jim Rohn would say! In Nike's case, LeBron represented an opportunity for this shoe manufacturer to earn hundreds of millions of dollars from LeBron's endorsements over the span of his contract. This young man in effect had the potential to solve a huge problem that every company has, which is to steadily increase revenues and profits in order to satisfy stockholders.
Recently, while studying a business list of the top paid CEO's, I learned that the number one CEO earnings during 2004 was 4000 times the average wage earner for all 50 states in the U.S. for 2003. That's an enormous sum of money to be paid to perform any type of job. If we based this CEO's income on a 40 hour work week, he would earn $79,000 per hour. Can anyone be worth 4000 average workers? Of course! And the Board of Directors who must approve his compensation package must think so. If his leadership and performance can be linked to the company earning another billion dollars with him at the top, then his compensation might seem like a bargain.
So our question for this week is: how can you become so valuable that you can at least double or triple your present income? That's obviously a far cry from 4000 times your income. However, most individuals would be skeptical about the possibilities to even double or triple their current income. Once again my answer as to whether or not you can accomplish this feat is Of Course.....but only if you truly develop and execute a "Solutions Mindset."
The marketplace pays BIG bucks for ideas, creativity and solutions. Anyone can have the potential to be paid BIG bucks if they can find a way to identify and solve problems for others. We sure know that there are enough problems in this world that need to be solved. We all make it a point to discuss what's terrible about the companies we work for or those we do business with. Many of us already know some solutions to many problems that companies face. But that's usually where the action stops.
When you think and execute with a "Solutions Mindset" you take all the big talk to the next level. You find a way to come up with a viable plan; present them until somebody LISTENS; and finally nurture your ideas into action. There are so many great success stories in all walks of life that have followed this simple and frustrating path to financial wealth. These are the individuals that invest their free time developing and executing a Solutions Mindset! These are the individuals that stop watching from the sidelines and become a participant in the frustrating game of overcoming life's obstacles.
Every profession and industry has individuals who are top performers. In almost all cases, the top performers are the top earners! If you are not a top performer in your industry and profession.....why aren't you? If you have taken the time to read or listen to this lesson, you definitely have more potential than you might think. However to be a "STRAIGHT A" star in your profession, you need to perform ACTIONS, which begin with a capital A, to be worthy of this grade. A Solutions Mindset, followed by executing the necessary ACTIONS are what usually separates the Best from the Rest!
The sky's the limit as to what your ideas and solutions might be worth in the marketplace. And rest assured that those who obtain the incredible spoils are usually masters of perseverance. Begin developing a Solutions Mindset today!