I was inspired to write this Monday’s post by a few things. Number one is the personal business opportunities I have right now, however the blog title and idea really came from a book that I just bought and will be reading listening to on the way to Amsterdam. The book is a bestseller called “Good To Great” by Jim Collins. The tag line of the book is “Why Some Companies Make The Leap And Others Don’t”

Throughout my tenure in the business world I have been involved in several different companies. Before working for myself, most of my positions were sales jobs. Several paid very well, but to be honest they were Fortune 500 companies and I really didn’t have the opportunity to change the organization, or make a massive impact on the companies bottom line. Even as a sales manager, I was several rungs down the ladder from the executive levels.

After leaving these jobs, I spent a few years as a one man show doing my own thing. Although I did enjoy the few years that I worked by myself from home or a small office, I did miss the team atmosphere. I won’t even mention how much I missed the resources of in-house support, technology, web design, accounting, human resources, etc. Although I still work from my home and pretty much do my own thing, it is awesome being a part of a growing and progressive organization.

In my role with Affiliate Programs Inc., I now have the opportunity to use this leadership position to take my division from good to great. When I think of great, I think of a division that is generating several millions of dollars in profit each month. I foresee each of my employees honestly being able to say “I love my job”. I also envision greatness as having core business foundation that can endure and continue to thrive for several years to come.

Being only 31 years old and having this type of opportunity is truly amazing.

So here is a thought for the readers. Many of you often here the super affiliates talking about how great it is to not be in the 9-5 grind, or how none of us miss working for the man. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t miss all the bullshit involved in making <$100K in Corporate America. However, believe me, there are just as many hassles and nuances when you are working as a one man show running your affiliate business.

The point is that it’s important to embrace where you’re at in life right now. Going from good to great is actually much easier when you have a team to work with, and you’re surrounded by other successful people. The definition of good to great is going to be different for every person and every business. But no matter what you are doing as a career right now, why not try to take it from good to great.

Maybe you’re not working as independently as you would like right now. Or perhaps you want to get out of the existing company you’re in at some point. That’s all fine, but in the meantime, why not embrace what you’re doing right now and make it GREAT.

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s easy to get comfortable or complacent when things are going well. To be great though, or to build a great business, I think you have to always be progressive and be thinking about long term success. Once I finish this book, I’ll give a better wrap up of the actual concept and how to incorporate these principles into your business.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 9:12 am and is filed under Motivation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.