Fundamental Truths

Throughout my career I have paid significant attention to learning fundamental rules that consistently lead to success when applied. Removing all factors of circumstance, luck, bias, and favorable conditions, these are the practical and true aphorisms I would stake my reputation and life-savings on any day of the week.

Before listing, I would love to give 100% of the credit for coming up with these insights to my mentors, advisors, teachers, and inspirations (some of whom know I treasure their sage wisdom, while others are none-the-wiser). I wish I could remember exactly who shared which of these with me and personally thank them for the gift.

1. Be kind, be generous, help others no matter what
2. The best deals in business benefit all parties involved
3. The goal of a marketer is to make people love what you’re selling
4. A successful business boils down to four key imperatives
   • Drive revenue
   • Widen profit margins
   • Do more with less
   • Retain clients and employees
5. Good presenters demonstrate these eight characteristics. Good presenters are…
   • Effective
   • Easy to understand
   • Intelligent
   • Trustworthy
   • Focused
   • Personable
   • Informative
   • Productive
6. Be mindful of the 80/20 rule as it shows up again and again
7. Don’t quit. Don’t give up on yourself nor others
8. Provide 110% of value to earn 100% of your paycheck
9. Noone accomplishes great things in business on their own
10. If something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing right. Work hard toward high quality

I would be remiss not to share Ideba’s six maxims that also cut straight to the heart of my passion for business the same way.

1. Being strategic is cool. Being objective is cooler
2. Measured by the success of our customers
3. Make an emotional connection
4. Grow. Get out of your comfort zone (this is my personal favorite)
5. Relationships matter
6. No one ever complained about great service

I’m happy to share these truths with you and would love to hear your thoughts on them. Please reach out via LinkedIn and share your ideas.

Lee Sumner – Research Director