so what’s next is a great question isn’t
it
because we feel like we’re on the brink
of something don’t we like something is
next something is coming something big I
think we’re at a tipping point
especially as it pertains to technology
we’ve heard about this AI this
artificial intelligence
let’s cross an astounding milestone
recently it has learned how to learn and
it is evolving at an astonishing pace
some of the best thinkers in the land
believe that this new artificial
intelligence will fundamentally change
our world even alter the the
evolutionary path of our species I’m not
kidding
a lot of people we’ve heard it you know
they say it’s gonna come along and it’s
gonna take a bunch of jobs some people
say don’t worry it’s like the Industrial
Revolution it’s gonna create jobs but
for those of us who own businesses who
hire and have employees we have seen
this enemy for a long time and sometimes
it feels like you either you own a
technology company or you come to
discover that you are competing with one
but I am NOT here to give a talk about
technology what I wanted to come here
and do today will share with you what
some of the world’s best entrepreneurs
can teach us about the competitive
advantage the extraordinary advantage of
just being really good at being human
because we kind of suck at being robots
don’t we really not don’t for that but I
believe there is some good news in fact
I think there’s great news I believe we
have an advantage a competitive actually
an adaptive advantage sort of humans
only no robots allowed kind
advantage and that’s why I’m here that’s
what I wanted to share with you today so
for the last 15 years I’ve had this
incredible opportunity to work closely
with a small group of some of the
world’s most successful entrepreneurs
about 400 of the top 1/2 1/2 percent
income earners and the US you can Canada
so these are 25-year industry veterans
absolute pioneers Mavericks people you
know whole host of folks you’ve never
heard of but they’re crushing it out
there and small towns all over the place
you also see with this group is that
they look at the tackling the question
of business from a really interesting
unique perspective and it comes down to
business models a lot of it so the way
I’ve come to recognize is that there
really are only two business models and
you may say hey does this apply to me
and absolutely it does cuz the lessons
learned from how they decide are
applicable if you’re a student they’re
applicable if you’re a member of a team
somewhere these are the lessons for
being wildly successful in this new era
so here’s the way this plays out there’s
two models this one is the product based
model this one is the client based model
the product based model is all about we
have a product now let’s find a market
so this one’s about ubiquity economies
of scale high transaction volumes right
this is looking for wide distribution
this one goes wide and we’ve seen this
with some of the most successful
businesses on the planet like Henry Ford
is sort of a pioneer of exploiting this
idea you take a technology the assembly
line and you drive down costs you
communicate those to customers and you
build yourself an empire you corner an
entire market doing this awesome
it’s totally works this is the client
centered model if this is sheriff market
this is share of wallet this is finding
the tribe that you connect with this is
about values this is aligning about
shared understanding a shared story
needs and if this is about transaction
volume this is about routine purchases
this is about a lifetime of transactions
times and creating custom solutions over
and over again for just that tribe it’s
a whole different set of skills but of
course this one works deep certainly
works what doesn’t work what doesn’t
work is this because these aren’t really
buckets they’re actually like foxholes
this one works
this one works what’s the in between
it’s no-man’s land right this is where
businesses go to die
they don’t make decisions and they can’t
exploit the economies of scale to play
wide and they don’t know their clients
and they can’t go deep they lack the
capacity to fly their freak flag a
letter roll so you don’t find their
audience so that no man’s land is the
only place that’s dangerous but of
course you guys see this right from
already this one plays really well with
technology
it loves AI love’s AI and this one loves
EQ and so I want to teach you some of
the things that I’ve learned from these
entrepreneurs because ultimately what
we’ve seen is that the Masters of EQ the
folks who dominate in this space they
have transferable skills that we can all
employ now that this world is changing
so there are laws now this group does
not have a secret handshake but they
could they all seem to share this
mindset they all have an understanding
of these laws and the very first one is
this incredible total commitment to
authenticity like completely committed
to it and these folks aren’t doing it
because they think it’s cute or clever
they actually don’t even know how to be
anything but that they’re not trying to
be what the market wants they’re just
trying to be themselves and so who does
this really well I’ll give you a story
this is David Roark and I love this guy
he’s so much fun David is completely
authentic and he’s a wealth manager in
Boston so I mean there’s millions of
them there and David has really done
valley to seven-figure guy he’s done
that year after year and moreover he has
tons of time freedom but of course for
David the most valuable thing for him is
the pride he has that his clients had
become his community they’re his friends
he goes to work laughing he comes home
laughing he has a ball why because he’s
a completely authentic when he’s there
with them and as a wealth manager as a
retirement
expert he deals with a lot of emotions
and they register that authenticity in
him he breaks all the rules of being a
financial adviser he doesn’t sell he
doesn’t try to push you too close
he doesn’t wear big cuff links wears
jeans he drives a truck he told me a
great story about working for a big
insurance company and he knew then that
he wasn’t going to be able to fit in
here and he was going to be destined to
do this it was this one single
experience and I think it really formed
his basis for leaving and becoming his
own entrepreneur and starting his own
business here he is he’s got a family
he’s going to go visit with they have to
bring the manager with him so he’s in
the living room with the family and the
manager from the big insurance company
and it’s going well
the family are signing the paperwork
David’s making small talk and David can
hear the guy over there kind of tap it
away on the calculator and they get in
the car David’s like what are you doing
what’s with the calculator the guy was
adding his commission in the living room
and that’s that industry David knew it
wasn’t for him so he stepped out he did
his own thing and is the secret of a
success is that incredible authenticity
just to tell the truth about what he was
so why don’t we all do this what gets in
our way because sometimes we don’t fear
scarcity the imposter syndrome will get
found out and what can we do about this
well you need to know who you are first
you need to know what you stand for you
know what your values are you absolutely
have to define your worldview and you
have to find in you the confidence and
the faith and the others that are out
there that there is a market for you
exactly the way you are perfect you’re
ready now for that market second rule is
radical empathy so the best they don’t
talk about clients like their
demographics or buyer personas they
don’t talk about clients like they are
data points they know these people they
love them they understand them they can
tell stories about them they know their
fears they understand their goals they
live to serve them and they know
this is a huge difference from this
model over here right transaction volume
relationship masters of the emotional
intelligence equation they are
incredibly empathetic we’d like to think
the most successful entrepreneurs are
counting their money you know Gordon
Gekko now they love their clients they
care about them they worry about them
empathy so why are we not always
empathetic like where do we suck at this
because we do sometimes we we don’t
always get this right what I see is it
is a focus on ourselves it’s mine
chatter it’s being in the future it’s
thinking about the past it’s wondering
what we’re gonna say next
it’s thinking this is going well it’s
not being here so what can you do about
that remember your mission your job is
just to bear witness when someone shares
with you just be the listener you don’t
have to talk you don’t have to answer
you don’t have to solve it and be clever
you simply need to bear witness to that
other human being that’s the secret of
empathy it’s hard to do so mindfulness
breathing meditation these are some of
the skills these people employ because
their busy lives can encroach and then
somebody somebody sitting across the
desk is just a number one day and that’s
the end of this so who’s doing this
really well my friend Chris is awesome
at this chris is a total wildcat he is a
civil design engineer down in Asheville
North Carolina and Chris’s world looks
like this clients from out of town like
doctors people with money they come into
Asheville and they want to invest they
buy a piece of land and they go to the
engineer they say make me some plans and
it’s kind of like a vending machine type
of relationship or so they expect but
you walk into Chris Ehlers office and
you get a very different experience
because Chris will challenge you he’ll
say why did pertinent he’ll say have you
thought about doing it another way have
you considered this he challenges them
he doesn’t just take orders
doesn’t take that subordinate vendor
role he actually plays like a partner
and he co creates a much better solution
with his clients why why can he do that
because he totally empathizes with them
do you know why he empathizes because
chris is also an investor so he’s been
in that place he knows what it feels
like you know you walk in you got a
check everybody wants your money
everyone’s really happy to tell you oh
yeah it’s a great idea it’s like
Emperor’s New Clothes oh yeah absolutely
and no one will say no actually this bad
idea sorry your baby’s ugly no one will
do that yeah but Chris does and it earns
their trust and respect he gets around
the desk with them and they look at the
world together that’s being like having
a heart for the client that’s real
empathy is really imagining the
situation that they’re in and thinking
I’m gonna do it differently and of
course chris has been wildly successful
with this he’s got a waiting list so why
don’t we do this all the time the head
Jenner it dehumanizes people what’s the
next law be humbly irreverent you know
the characteristic of the entrepreneur
that you know rugged individualistic
cowboy out in the wilderness the
gunslinger
you know there’s some truth in that
because I think that there’s an
isolation there and a lot of my clients
are incredibly irreverent about the
limitations and rules of their industry
they don’t break the law they don’t do
harm but what I mean is if something
stands in the way of their doing the
right thing they just solve it this
model you respect the rules this model
you respect the client this model you
bend you push you break you innovate you
do what’s necessary being humbly
irreverent isn’t just about having an
attitude you know that’s not humbly
irreverent bending and breaking those
rules to serve the client is how you
honor that contract of trust and respect
that you develop and one of my favorite
stories I saved it to the last my
favorite story about this is about Pat
doe dr. Pat doe is an orthopedic surgeon
and when I got this guy on the phone you
know who’s younger is about
ten years ago and I was kind of arrogant
I just didn’t understand and he was
explaining me about his practice and he
was sharing with me about how he runs
this great big practice and all these
surgeries that he does he does shoulders
and knees and all these people come in
and and he is so good he runs it so well
and he spends far less time with each
patient than most doctors do he was so
proud of that I was like red flags right
everywhere it sounded like a chop shop
it sounded like one of these guys who’s
paying more attention to the production
numbers than the patient and I was so
wrong so dead wrong it was so cool I got
schooled in Wichita I go down there and
I realized that he has upended all of
these stupid and archaic rules of what
it means to be a surgeon he elevates his
physician’s assistant they become
partners in the care of the patient and
what he does is he puts them in the room
first to develop a relationship and then
he stands outside that room and he waits
for the PA to come back out and they
coach him on the patient this is what’s
going on and this is their name and how
you pronounce it and their kids name and
their wife’s name and this is what’s
happened and this is why their care is
going in the way that it is so that Pat
doesn’t have to walk in like every other
doctor this infuriating experience we’ve
all had it uh-huh
is that right and your date Jim yes Pat
doesn’t do that Pat does something
that’s quite remarkable and if I hadn’t
seen with my own eyes I seriously I
would not have believed it here’s a guy
who’s making a ton of money runs his
huge clinic and I watched him do
something and he did it every single
time I was there for almost a week dr.
Pat doe success story guy before he
walks in to sit down with every single
patient has this little ritual he’ll
close his eyes and he says this little
prayer
he says Pat you don’t need any more
money just go in there and just be with
them he puts his hand on the door and he
sits down and he’s just with them it’s
just present so he’s not treating an
elbow he’s not fixing a knee he’s
solving an entire
human being he’s not adhering to the
rules of the surgeon the almighty
surgeon he’s breaking with those so what
do we do
what Falls what’s the trap that we fall
into we pay too much attention to the
competition we pay too much attention to
our industry hey your industry I don’t
care what it is it’s ten years behind
what your clients or your patients need
if I’ve learned anything from these 400
entrepreneurs all this time I’ve spent
listening to them is that we’re not
going to compete with technology we
can’t transact fast enough we’re not to
remember all the rules in the formulas
well just not that good at that stuff we
suck at being robots but maybe we don’t
have to maybe instead what we can do is
cultivate those extraordinary human
skills develop them accentuate them
let’s be wildly authentic let’s become
rages and be ourselves and let er rip
what are we worried about let’s do it
let’s go ahead and let’s be empathetic
let’s remember that the person sitting
next to you is somebody’s son is
somebody’s daughter that these are
people with a story every single one of
them remind ourselves of that and stay
in the moment and create that kind of
unique value that you can if you’re with
another human being that’s our sovereign
opportunity and finally let’s break any
rule any rule that keeps us from doing
those things all of the industry hoo-hah
let’s serve let’s do it extraordinarily
well look I don’t know what’s next I
don’t know if any of us do but what I’m
certain of is that whatever’s coming for
us whatever it is it will be our
humanity that saves us thank you
you
it
because we feel like we’re on the brink
of something don’t we like something is
next something is coming something big I
think we’re at a tipping point
especially as it pertains to technology
we’ve heard about this AI this
artificial intelligence
let’s cross an astounding milestone
recently it has learned how to learn and
it is evolving at an astonishing pace
some of the best thinkers in the land
believe that this new artificial
intelligence will fundamentally change
our world even alter the the
evolutionary path of our species I’m not
kidding
a lot of people we’ve heard it you know
they say it’s gonna come along and it’s
gonna take a bunch of jobs some people
say don’t worry it’s like the Industrial
Revolution it’s gonna create jobs but
for those of us who own businesses who
hire and have employees we have seen
this enemy for a long time and sometimes
it feels like you either you own a
technology company or you come to
discover that you are competing with one
but I am NOT here to give a talk about
technology what I wanted to come here
and do today will share with you what
some of the world’s best entrepreneurs
can teach us about the competitive
advantage the extraordinary advantage of
just being really good at being human
because we kind of suck at being robots
don’t we really not don’t for that but I
believe there is some good news in fact
I think there’s great news I believe we
have an advantage a competitive actually
an adaptive advantage sort of humans
only no robots allowed kind
advantage and that’s why I’m here that’s
what I wanted to share with you today so
for the last 15 years I’ve had this
incredible opportunity to work closely
with a small group of some of the
world’s most successful entrepreneurs
about 400 of the top 1/2 1/2 percent
income earners and the US you can Canada
so these are 25-year industry veterans
absolute pioneers Mavericks people you
know whole host of folks you’ve never
heard of but they’re crushing it out
there and small towns all over the place
you also see with this group is that
they look at the tackling the question
of business from a really interesting
unique perspective and it comes down to
business models a lot of it so the way
I’ve come to recognize is that there
really are only two business models and
you may say hey does this apply to me
and absolutely it does cuz the lessons
learned from how they decide are
applicable if you’re a student they’re
applicable if you’re a member of a team
somewhere these are the lessons for
being wildly successful in this new era
so here’s the way this plays out there’s
two models this one is the product based
model this one is the client based model
the product based model is all about we
have a product now let’s find a market
so this one’s about ubiquity economies
of scale high transaction volumes right
this is looking for wide distribution
this one goes wide and we’ve seen this
with some of the most successful
businesses on the planet like Henry Ford
is sort of a pioneer of exploiting this
idea you take a technology the assembly
line and you drive down costs you
communicate those to customers and you
build yourself an empire you corner an
entire market doing this awesome
it’s totally works this is the client
centered model if this is sheriff market
this is share of wallet this is finding
the tribe that you connect with this is
about values this is aligning about
shared understanding a shared story
needs and if this is about transaction
volume this is about routine purchases
this is about a lifetime of transactions
times and creating custom solutions over
and over again for just that tribe it’s
a whole different set of skills but of
course this one works deep certainly
works what doesn’t work what doesn’t
work is this because these aren’t really
buckets they’re actually like foxholes
this one works
this one works what’s the in between
it’s no-man’s land right this is where
businesses go to die
they don’t make decisions and they can’t
exploit the economies of scale to play
wide and they don’t know their clients
and they can’t go deep they lack the
capacity to fly their freak flag a
letter roll so you don’t find their
audience so that no man’s land is the
only place that’s dangerous but of
course you guys see this right from
already this one plays really well with
technology
it loves AI love’s AI and this one loves
EQ and so I want to teach you some of
the things that I’ve learned from these
entrepreneurs because ultimately what
we’ve seen is that the Masters of EQ the
folks who dominate in this space they
have transferable skills that we can all
employ now that this world is changing
so there are laws now this group does
not have a secret handshake but they
could they all seem to share this
mindset they all have an understanding
of these laws and the very first one is
this incredible total commitment to
authenticity like completely committed
to it and these folks aren’t doing it
because they think it’s cute or clever
they actually don’t even know how to be
anything but that they’re not trying to
be what the market wants they’re just
trying to be themselves and so who does
this really well I’ll give you a story
this is David Roark and I love this guy
he’s so much fun David is completely
authentic and he’s a wealth manager in
Boston so I mean there’s millions of
them there and David has really done
valley to seven-figure guy he’s done
that year after year and moreover he has
tons of time freedom but of course for
David the most valuable thing for him is
the pride he has that his clients had
become his community they’re his friends
he goes to work laughing he comes home
laughing he has a ball why because he’s
a completely authentic when he’s there
with them and as a wealth manager as a
retirement
expert he deals with a lot of emotions
and they register that authenticity in
him he breaks all the rules of being a
financial adviser he doesn’t sell he
doesn’t try to push you too close
he doesn’t wear big cuff links wears
jeans he drives a truck he told me a
great story about working for a big
insurance company and he knew then that
he wasn’t going to be able to fit in
here and he was going to be destined to
do this it was this one single
experience and I think it really formed
his basis for leaving and becoming his
own entrepreneur and starting his own
business here he is he’s got a family
he’s going to go visit with they have to
bring the manager with him so he’s in
the living room with the family and the
manager from the big insurance company
and it’s going well
the family are signing the paperwork
David’s making small talk and David can
hear the guy over there kind of tap it
away on the calculator and they get in
the car David’s like what are you doing
what’s with the calculator the guy was
adding his commission in the living room
and that’s that industry David knew it
wasn’t for him so he stepped out he did
his own thing and is the secret of a
success is that incredible authenticity
just to tell the truth about what he was
so why don’t we all do this what gets in
our way because sometimes we don’t fear
scarcity the imposter syndrome will get
found out and what can we do about this
well you need to know who you are first
you need to know what you stand for you
know what your values are you absolutely
have to define your worldview and you
have to find in you the confidence and
the faith and the others that are out
there that there is a market for you
exactly the way you are perfect you’re
ready now for that market second rule is
radical empathy so the best they don’t
talk about clients like their
demographics or buyer personas they
don’t talk about clients like they are
data points they know these people they
love them they understand them they can
tell stories about them they know their
fears they understand their goals they
live to serve them and they know
this is a huge difference from this
model over here right transaction volume
relationship masters of the emotional
intelligence equation they are
incredibly empathetic we’d like to think
the most successful entrepreneurs are
counting their money you know Gordon
Gekko now they love their clients they
care about them they worry about them
empathy so why are we not always
empathetic like where do we suck at this
because we do sometimes we we don’t
always get this right what I see is it
is a focus on ourselves it’s mine
chatter it’s being in the future it’s
thinking about the past it’s wondering
what we’re gonna say next
it’s thinking this is going well it’s
not being here so what can you do about
that remember your mission your job is
just to bear witness when someone shares
with you just be the listener you don’t
have to talk you don’t have to answer
you don’t have to solve it and be clever
you simply need to bear witness to that
other human being that’s the secret of
empathy it’s hard to do so mindfulness
breathing meditation these are some of
the skills these people employ because
their busy lives can encroach and then
somebody somebody sitting across the
desk is just a number one day and that’s
the end of this so who’s doing this
really well my friend Chris is awesome
at this chris is a total wildcat he is a
civil design engineer down in Asheville
North Carolina and Chris’s world looks
like this clients from out of town like
doctors people with money they come into
Asheville and they want to invest they
buy a piece of land and they go to the
engineer they say make me some plans and
it’s kind of like a vending machine type
of relationship or so they expect but
you walk into Chris Ehlers office and
you get a very different experience
because Chris will challenge you he’ll
say why did pertinent he’ll say have you
thought about doing it another way have
you considered this he challenges them
he doesn’t just take orders
doesn’t take that subordinate vendor
role he actually plays like a partner
and he co creates a much better solution
with his clients why why can he do that
because he totally empathizes with them
do you know why he empathizes because
chris is also an investor so he’s been
in that place he knows what it feels
like you know you walk in you got a
check everybody wants your money
everyone’s really happy to tell you oh
yeah it’s a great idea it’s like
Emperor’s New Clothes oh yeah absolutely
and no one will say no actually this bad
idea sorry your baby’s ugly no one will
do that yeah but Chris does and it earns
their trust and respect he gets around
the desk with them and they look at the
world together that’s being like having
a heart for the client that’s real
empathy is really imagining the
situation that they’re in and thinking
I’m gonna do it differently and of
course chris has been wildly successful
with this he’s got a waiting list so why
don’t we do this all the time the head
Jenner it dehumanizes people what’s the
next law be humbly irreverent you know
the characteristic of the entrepreneur
that you know rugged individualistic
cowboy out in the wilderness the
gunslinger
you know there’s some truth in that
because I think that there’s an
isolation there and a lot of my clients
are incredibly irreverent about the
limitations and rules of their industry
they don’t break the law they don’t do
harm but what I mean is if something
stands in the way of their doing the
right thing they just solve it this
model you respect the rules this model
you respect the client this model you
bend you push you break you innovate you
do what’s necessary being humbly
irreverent isn’t just about having an
attitude you know that’s not humbly
irreverent bending and breaking those
rules to serve the client is how you
honor that contract of trust and respect
that you develop and one of my favorite
stories I saved it to the last my
favorite story about this is about Pat
doe dr. Pat doe is an orthopedic surgeon
and when I got this guy on the phone you
know who’s younger is about
ten years ago and I was kind of arrogant
I just didn’t understand and he was
explaining me about his practice and he
was sharing with me about how he runs
this great big practice and all these
surgeries that he does he does shoulders
and knees and all these people come in
and and he is so good he runs it so well
and he spends far less time with each
patient than most doctors do he was so
proud of that I was like red flags right
everywhere it sounded like a chop shop
it sounded like one of these guys who’s
paying more attention to the production
numbers than the patient and I was so
wrong so dead wrong it was so cool I got
schooled in Wichita I go down there and
I realized that he has upended all of
these stupid and archaic rules of what
it means to be a surgeon he elevates his
physician’s assistant they become
partners in the care of the patient and
what he does is he puts them in the room
first to develop a relationship and then
he stands outside that room and he waits
for the PA to come back out and they
coach him on the patient this is what’s
going on and this is their name and how
you pronounce it and their kids name and
their wife’s name and this is what’s
happened and this is why their care is
going in the way that it is so that Pat
doesn’t have to walk in like every other
doctor this infuriating experience we’ve
all had it uh-huh
is that right and your date Jim yes Pat
doesn’t do that Pat does something
that’s quite remarkable and if I hadn’t
seen with my own eyes I seriously I
would not have believed it here’s a guy
who’s making a ton of money runs his
huge clinic and I watched him do
something and he did it every single
time I was there for almost a week dr.
Pat doe success story guy before he
walks in to sit down with every single
patient has this little ritual he’ll
close his eyes and he says this little
prayer
he says Pat you don’t need any more
money just go in there and just be with
them he puts his hand on the door and he
sits down and he’s just with them it’s
just present so he’s not treating an
elbow he’s not fixing a knee he’s
solving an entire
human being he’s not adhering to the
rules of the surgeon the almighty
surgeon he’s breaking with those so what
do we do
what Falls what’s the trap that we fall
into we pay too much attention to the
competition we pay too much attention to
our industry hey your industry I don’t
care what it is it’s ten years behind
what your clients or your patients need
if I’ve learned anything from these 400
entrepreneurs all this time I’ve spent
listening to them is that we’re not
going to compete with technology we
can’t transact fast enough we’re not to
remember all the rules in the formulas
well just not that good at that stuff we
suck at being robots but maybe we don’t
have to maybe instead what we can do is
cultivate those extraordinary human
skills develop them accentuate them
let’s be wildly authentic let’s become
rages and be ourselves and let er rip
what are we worried about let’s do it
let’s go ahead and let’s be empathetic
let’s remember that the person sitting
next to you is somebody’s son is
somebody’s daughter that these are
people with a story every single one of
them remind ourselves of that and stay
in the moment and create that kind of
unique value that you can if you’re with
another human being that’s our sovereign
opportunity and finally let’s break any
rule any rule that keeps us from doing
those things all of the industry hoo-hah
let’s serve let’s do it extraordinarily
well look I don’t know what’s next I
don’t know if any of us do but what I’m
certain of is that whatever’s coming for
us whatever it is it will be our
humanity that saves us thank you
you
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