Leadership And Investing In People
Posted by The number one goal of SimplyGeo.com is to promote the geo domain industry as a unified front and provide affordable services where everyone can become successful if only they put their self interest aside. A far fetched dream? Perhaps, but if you never strive for excellence, you will never reach it. You miss 100 shots at the bullseye everytime you chose not to take a shot. I would rather try to do the impossible with the chances of being successful at it, than settle for the standard and never make a difference.
The number one thing I am asked since launching this blog and geo network is “What geo names do I own?” For some reason, many people in this industry want validation of your leadership, experience, and professionalism by the domain names you own, instead of life experience, business experience, and expert knowledge of the industry. All you need is one great domain and all the above and you can build all the validation in the world. Nothing else matters to these individuals, other than what you have in your domain portfolio. Maybe it is a lack of maturity or maybe this is just how they have been educated in the domain industry. I have outlined the common perceptions of individuals in this industry. It is pretty foolish when you truly look at how people think in this industry.
1. If I owned all 50 US states.com or 50 of biggest cities.com in the US, I would be a genious, an expert, a visionary, a mentor, a leader, advice guru, etc. Anything I said would be law, regardless if I was smart, an expert, etc. I could be a bag of rocks, but I would be labeled a professional and expert.
2. If I start owning secondary names, I would be a good guy, another person in the crowd trying to make it, no one to take serious, a dreamer, a fruitcake, an insightful blog, someone wanting to be a leader, an unexperienced guy, unproven etc. Any statement made would have to be validated, and perhaps others might look at you as a professional, but it would depend on how well you spoke. Regardless of your experience. Would not escalate much further than this, unless validated by other professionals. Then you would move in the middle of 1 and 2.
But what if someone starts with nothing, and ends up with everything?
If someone starts with minimal names, makes other people successful, builds an empire, leads by example, lives great core values, buys great geo domains for years to come, makes a difference in someones life, and helps unite the industry, What will this make them then? I will leave that for you to decide.
Finding true leadership in individuals who do not have hidden agendas and who are willing to make a difference without asking for anything in return is a rare thing to find. I speak with 14 years of experience in an organization that demands leadership from every member in its ranks. 97% of the time it has to be instilled through alot of mentorship, coaching and training by a human being who has learned from life experiences. Approximately 3% of the earth’s population are born leaders and contain the attributes of accomplishing greatness and possess the skill sets to communicate effectively. This type of true leadership is hard to find in the domain industry, but it exists. I can spot true leadership instantly. These people are true leaders who have evolved over the years:
Michael Castello
David Castello
Frank Schilling
Skip Hoagland
Ron Jackson
Michael Gilmour
Sahar Sarid
Sometimes people are placed in leadership positions by chance, and not neccessarily thru their merit or actions. Perhaps, they were the first to talk about things openly, and became labeled as a leader. Just because an individual owns a large portfolio, owns an elite domain service, first to discuss topics openly, or makes a living off of domain names, it does not qualify them as a true leader.
A true leader is not measured by what he or she owns or how much money they possess, true leadership is measured by the unselfish actions to make others successful, without asking nothing in return. They bring opportunity and knowledge to those who are willing to listen and embrace their way of thinking. True leaders inspire growth in individuals, live life with the right core values, and are true role models from start to finish, and make change. They respect the opinion and disagreements of individuals opposed to their way of thinking, and do not label them as an enemy. They do not force their opinion or knowledge down your throat, but lay it on the table for you to digest it when ready. As I stated, there are few in the domain industry.
There is one important lesson in life that I have learned that I would like to share with you from my experience. It may take a lifetime for some of you to figure this out, and perhaps some will never figure it out. The best investment in the world is not stocks, bonds, realestate, or domain names, it is people. It is people that make all these commodities have value.
If you focus on making others successful, you will become successful. When they reach the stars, you reach the stars. The best investment in life is people. Help them to accomplish success and riches, and your investment in them will multiply 10 fold. You never know how that individual that started out with so little and became big time, will be able to help you in the future.
We invest in people, and that is why the geo network is being developed and why we have spent over $100,000 so far to get it going. There are no hidden agendas, and we will always remain transparent. People are the greatest resource in the world, not commodities.
Next time you are looking for me to validate myself, take a look at what has been placed on the table for people to digest when they are ready, that has taken alot of hard work to deliver.
Thank you for your continued support,
Steve
