The UnStoppables

ISBN-13: 9781118459492 / Angielski / Twarda / 2013 / 256 str.

Graham Weston

Opis

How to tap the real source of entrepreneurial power in you and in your organization The UnStoppables is based on foreword author Graham Weston's experience growing Rackspace, as well as fascinating case studies from such organizations as the Navy SEALs and Israeli Special Forces. In The UnStoppables Bill Schley, co-founder of the branding firm Brand Team Six shows how the best practitioners think continuously about two things: The Big Picture and the Little Picture--essence and essentials. The essentials are the business and financial mechanics required of any working enterprise. But the essence is the emotional mechanics to deal with obstacles, risk, fear and failure. Mastering the emotional mechanics is how entrepreneurs succeed and winners win. This is how you capture the unlimited power of entrepreneurship to spark a successful start-up or revitalize a mature organization.

• Explains why what's stopping you is more important than what's starting you, how to tap the essence of entrepreneurial power in you and in your organization, and how motion generates vision
• Bill Schley is an award winning author and established expert on branding and marketing communications, as well as the co-founder and creative director of the branding firm Brand Team Six
• Graham Weston is the internationally renowned co-founder and chairman of Rackspace, the world's #1 cloud computing and managed hosting company

Locally, this book teaches you how to become an entrepreneur or to inspire an entrepreneurial mindset to boost any stage business. Globally, this book is about how this nation can launch thousands more entrepreneurs for the future.

Spis treści

FOREWORD A Quest for the Essence of Entrepreneurship xiii

THE UNSTOPPABLES IN SEVEN SENTENCES XXI

INTRODUCTION How the Chairman of Rackspace, Some Navy SEALs, and a Few Israeli Innovators Came Together and Discovered the Heart of Entrepreneurship 1

Entrepreneur Problem, Entrepreneur Solution 3

Our Road Trip 5

The Big A–Ha! s 5

Part I: Big Ideas About You 7

Part II: Your UnStoppable Tool Kit 8

Part III: Conclusion: Us 9

The Power That s Waiting 9

A Word About Language 10

PART I Big Ideas About You 13

CHAPTER 1 Who Is an Entrepreneur and What Do They Do, Really? 15

Opinions: Everybody s Got One . . . 16

Who s Going to Make It through Hell Week? 18

Here s What We Do Know 19

. . . And So Do Most Five–Year–Olds 20

The Entrepreneur s Real Difference 21

What Do They Dream About? 21

From Entrepreneurial to Entrepreneur 23

Big Wide Tent 23

Not Just for Start–Ups 24

Not Just for CEOs 25

What It Adds Up to 26

CHAPTER 2 Accelerated Proficiency 29

Wax On, Wax Off 30

The Krav Maga Kids 31

Accelerated Proficiency 101 32

The Four Steps for Accelerated Proficiency 34

The Law of Motion 34

How to Do Anything the AP Way 35

Think on Your Feet 36

Simple Beats Complicated 37

Define the Center And Go All in 38

CHAPTER 3 Emotional Mechanics: What Only Neuroscientists, Your Friends in the SEALs, and the Israeli Army Will Tell You 39

What Is Emotional Mechanics? 41

Examples All around Us 42

Understanding Fear 43

Fear and the Brain 44

Fear s Achilles Heel 45

The Power of Risk 46

The Power of Failure 48

The Power of Obstacles 50

The Love Advantage 52

The Unsurpassed Power of Belief 54

CHAPTER 4 How to Master Emotional Mechanics Like the Experts 57

True Team: The Number One Fear Tamer 58

The Mental Magic of Reframing 59

The Secret of Self–Talk 62

Micro–Scripts Are the Self–Talk Secret 62

The Simple Power of Knowing What to Do 63

Procedures and Automatics 64

Extinguishing 65

Fear Training 66

Fear Energy Turned Around 66

Goodness 67

PART II Getting Down to Business: Your UnStoppable Tool Kit 69

CHAPTER 5 School of Everything You Need to Know (in an Hour) 71

Orientation 71

The Optimizers versus the Entrepreneurs 73

The Challenge for Any Company 75

Our Mission at Accelerated Profi ciency U. 76

CHAPTER 6 The Big Picture in an Hour: Ideas, People, and Execution 79

Everything You Need to Know about Ideas 80

What All Business Ideas Must Do 91

CHAPTER 7 Big Picture (Continued): People and Execution 93

People 93

Founding Teams Always Have an Edge 94

People and Culture, Day One 95

Give before You Get 96

What Employees Want 97

What Customers Want 97

What Everyone Else Wants 99

Execution 99

The Law of the Laser 100

Data Makes You Dumber 103

Practice with Live Rounds 104

Ask, Ask, Ask Is How You Receive 106

CHAPTER 8 The UnStoppable Six: How to Run a Billion–Dollar Business or a Start–Up the Rackspace Way (in about an Hour) 109

The Piper Cub Principle 110

The UnStoppable Six 111

The Strategic Three 112

The Tactical Three 113

Business Planning: Make the UnStoppable Six Your Template 116

CHAPTER 9 Everything You Need to Know about Your Unique Difference (in about an Hour) 119

Where Is the Center? 119

Specific Is Terrific 120

No Difference? Then You re a Commodity 121

There s Always a Difference If You Know Where to Look 122

Anatomy of a Selling Difference 123

The One Item of Carry–on Rule 123

Your Dominant Selling Idea 124

How Rackspace Discovered Its Difference 130

The Universal Paradox 132

Other People s Heads Are All That Counts 133

CHAPTER 10 Everything You Need to Know about True Teams (in about an Hour) 135

The Roots of Small, Super–Powered Teams 137

True Teams 138

How an UnStoppable Culture Nurtures Teams 141

Fish Camp 142

Big, Simple Cultural Symbols 143

True Teams at Rackspace: The Untold Story 145

CHAPTER 11 Everything You Need to Know about Succeeding with Customers (in about an Hour) 149

Today the Saying Needs a Tweak 150

What s a Customer? 151

Succeeding with Customers 152

Customer Psychology 152

The Most Important Principle of All: Wear Your Values on Your Sleeve 157

CHAPTER 12 Everything You Need to Know about Making Yourself Famous (in about an Hour) 163

Caution: Famous Works Both Ways 164

Branding 101 165

The Four–Line Elevator Pitch 177

How Name, Frame, and Claim Made Rackspace a Multibillion–Dollar Company 178

CHAPTER 13 Everything You Need to Know about Creating Revenue, a.k.a. Selling (in about an Hour) 181

Marketing without Sales Is Like Motherhood without Sex 181

The Selling Is Evil Myth 183

The Five Universal Steps to Selling 184

The X Factor in Selling 195

Teach Yourself to Sell the Accelerated Proficiency Way 195

How Much Revenue? Just Break Even 196

CHAPTER 14 Everything You Need to Know about Perfecting Your First Product (in about an Hour) 199

Professionals Make It Real, Not Ideal 199

Remember, Nobody Wants 57 Features; They Want 1 Done Best 200

Which Data to Listen to, Which to Throw Away? 204

UnStoppable Themes 206

PART III Conclusion: Us 209

CHAPTER 15 Entrepreneur Country and the E–Companies 211

The Stakes Are the Same 212

How We Can Do It 213

The Entrepreneurial Groundswell Is Happening 214

Teaching to the Essence 215

The E–Companies 216

Fear Cultures 217

Belief Cultures: How They Happen 218

Managing to Strengths 220

New Entrepreneurs and Enterprises Spawned 220

Welcome to the Arena 222

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

225

INDEX 229

O autorze

BILL SCHLEY is an award–winning author, speaker, established expert on branding, and a lifelong entrepreneur. He began his career as a writer at Ted Bates Advertising in New York, the legendary agency that created the Unique Selling Proposition. Bill is the cofounder and creative director of BrandTeamSix. The UnStoppables is his fourth book.

GRAHAM WESTON started his first business in 7th grade, selling organic pork with ads that read: "Go Hog Wild!" Today, he is the internationally renowned cofounder and chairman of Rackspace, the world′s number–one Open Cloud computing and managed hosting company. Started in San Antonio in 1998, Rackspace has grown to over 5,000 employees and 200,000 customers worldwide including over 60 percent of the Fortune 100. He is a leading philanthropist and supporter of entrepreneurship through his 80/20 Foundation. He is also the cofounder of Geekdom, Texas′s largest collaborative workspace that brings innovators, developers, and entrepreneurs together to build ideas and start–ups.

Blurb

Praise for The UnStoppables

"Finally, a guidebook for entrepreneurs that shows what it′s really about how they make a difference and transform lives by inspiring teams to touch greatness; how they learn to delight their customers most of all." Fred Reichheld, Bain Fellow, creator of Net Promoter®, and author of The Ultimate Question 2.0

"We became the third largest non–alcoholic beverage company in North America, which nobody thought was possible, using UnStoppable ideas explained in this book especially that nothing stops a team on an inspiring mission, and that only cultures built on belief can compete in the new era. This book will make you a believer, too." Kim Jeffery, former president and CEO, Nestlé Waters North America, owners of Perrier, San Pellegrino, and other leading brands

"If there were a graduate school that truly taught entrepreneurship, Graham Weston of Rackspace would not only be the classic case study, he would teach the course! He and his partners understood on day one that people and integrity are what it′s all about." Lisa Ireland, Partner, The Hamilton Companies

"Twenty–one years in the SEALs taught me the mechanics of doing ′no matter what.′ This book actually translates it for entrepreneurs ordinary folks who face many of the emotions we do. I know because like many of my teammates, I′ve become an entrepreneur. The lessons in this book are making it happen." Bill Seith, Special Operations Chief (Ret.), U.S. Navy SEALs; entrepreneur

"The UnStoppables cracks the code for anyone to understand what it takes to accomplish the greatest of goals, as an entrepreneur or a professional. We take these same strategies on our toughest missions and then we use them to succeed in civilian life. This book shows you how." Yossef Idan, Commander, Elite Units, Israel Defense Forces; entrepreneur

"Successful entrepreneurs are willing to begin ′walking in the direction of their dream′ before they have all the answers. This book is a good reminder that fear, uncertainty, and doubt the enemies of ′doing′ can be overcome to achieve your dreams." Steve Wiggins, founder and former chairman, Oxford Health Plans