From Johnson, the 3 important elements of success are as follows:
- Critical Thinking
the ability to intellectually discern the thin fine line between factors that do and do not contribute to and success and failure of a plan. (A point illustrated clearly in the book the Outliers and partially in the book the Black Swan)
- People Management Skills
The ability to provide clarity of direction and motivation to men on a mission towards obtaining a common goal.
- Salesmanship
the ability to identify, through correspondance, the pains felt by a business, communicate the nature of the problem that is causing the pain to the business owner and provide a feasible solution to the rectify the cause of the problem.
From David during his talk with Gabriel, he said something important which was stressed by Robert Kiyosaki himself. It was the need to create a business system when attempting to start a business and not in the process become part of the system itself.
David provided further elaboration on this rule by stating he maintains a folder which documents his entire business model and all processes down to the finest detail. In essence, this allows him to truly turn his business into a self sustaining socio system which frees him up from its daily running.
Another important insight gained is the importance of segregating the execution phase from the planning phase. What I will need to do from here on is to continue working on my business plan document which I personally refer to as my company's Standard Operating Procedure.
Gabriel during his two exercises, one with me and the other with another participant emphasizes the need to put heart and soul behind actions. What he forgot to mention was that, while attempting to get us to carry out certain actions to illustrate the importance of heart and soul, he also showed us the proper technique required to carry out the certain action so as to achieve in a high success rate.
David emphasized the need to avoid being overbearing (arrogant), stubborn and ignorant traits exhibited by business owners that are often caught in the cycle of busyness instead of being true business owners. It is also important to maintain a humble, open minded disposition. Wisedom is something that is strongly emphasized but nothing was mentioned about the methods of obtaining wisedom. Taking an intuitive leap, I am of the opinion that wisedom is a by product that accumulates through the constant application of humility and open mindedness in our everyday life.
The both of them mentioned 4 important questions which has often been posed to us by Venture Capitalist during our Start Up Singapore competition and by our lecturers during our Technopreneurship class in NUS.
- Can an idea be born
- Can an idea make money
- How long is the expected life expectancy of an idea
- Why am I the person to carry out the idea.
To question 4 David did provide his own answer to why he is a business coach.
- He is both left brained and right brained. The way his brain works allows him to consider problems from both angles. (This coincided with my discussion with Pasha two weeks ago on the importance of divergence and convergent intelligence )
In my own business plan, I will attempt to answer this 4 questions as well.