Christopher V. Flett

I was reading the Globe & Mail the other day and I saw that the country of Barbados is looking for a PR firm to represent them in Canada. I sent it out to three PR firms that I know (either directly or through someone) in case they hadn’t seen the post. One firm got back to me thanking me for thinking of them and asking how I was doing (Great response from an aggressive business-building company). The second one dropped  a note that said that they were waiting to hear about a project and didn’t want to to apply for Barbados just in case they get the project they are waiting for (this is a Loser move). The final one didn’t respond to my email (in case you were wondering, bigger Loser still.)

What I love about this economy is that it separates the winners from the losers. The aggressive and assertive companies today are eating the lunch of the weak, lazy, and scared. This is what natural selection and capitalism are all about. The big take from the small, but the fast take from the big. What type of moron doesn’t go after work because they might have work coming in. I’m not going to go out on a date, just in case that guy that looked at me two weeks ago calls. Is there any easier way to give up your power and let the market make you her bitch? I should note that all three companies are run by women. What does this say about the level playing field that I’ve been trying to establish sine 2001? It says that there is a long road in place before women start to ask for what they want, not what they think they can handle. Men have a mantra: “Money buys solutions.” If you get a big contract and then get another big contract, you simply take the money from these big contracts and hire people to do the work. Sound simple? It is. Why the hell you wouldn’t go after more money confuses me. Is it work/life balance? Nope. The companies that either weren’t interested or didn’t response are both in the process of laying people off. Are you shitting me? You are upset that you are letting people go, but you won’t get off your asses and go after work that your company is perfectly placed to work on. Hell, take the work and then sub it out to some knucklehead who doesn’t know how to hunt on their own.

What’s the moral to this story?

Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death. You are what you focus on. If you think you are too small, to busy, or too junior to take on a job, you will always think too small, find ways to be busy, and never get the experience to hunt like a ‘big dog’. It is less work to get a $100K contract than it is a $3K contract. Yet, everyone is comfortable chasing the gut wagon hoping something falls off. Please people, get your shit together and start working towards the things that you want. Winners always do what losers won’t. In my recent post on SheTeam, I talk about being prepared to lose everything if you want to win everything.

In good times, the good to well and the bad do well. In bad times, the good do well and they take everything the bad had and were scared to hold on to.

Speaking with a colleague this afternoon, I told her that I can barely take a day off. I can’t bring myself to take a vacation because every day, competitors in the market are closing the blinds, locking the doors, and getting jobs. They are leaving all this lovely money, clients, and market share for my coaches and I to feast on. I am the fat kid at the Smarty factory. I can’t get enough and just when I think I can’t take any more, some Piker quits the game and leaves their share for me to gobble up as well. If you are playing ‘not to lose’ rather than playing ‘to win’, you will lose everything. Live is not to be played small. You must take what is yours and take what others leave on the table. Courage should be rewarded with vast riches to those who claim it.

Don’t feel bad for the two companies that either weren’t interested or didn’t respond to me. I don’t take it personally. I simply remove them from my radar screen and hope that natural selection and capitalism either educates them or feasts on them. Either way, business will continue and to the victors go the spoils.