Yesterday, I got to see my 10-year old son, become a local legend to a group of adults. To be honest, he began to achieve this status as an 8-year-old, but now he is not just tolerated by this group, he is respected and dare I say it, a little bit feared!
I took him to a gaming store in our area of Minneapolis. This is no little game shop though, as it regularly attracts people from all over the world to play in championship games fought out on table tops with cards, dice, and/or miniature figurines.
You would be surprised at the amount of money many of these top players invest on their hobby to compete on the biggest stages of competitive gaming.
Which, makes it all the more enjoyable to see my son able to take down many of them with the limited budget I allow him to spend:) Not being a cheapskate, but you gotta be wise, you know?
So yesterday, was a big tournament attended by literally some of the best players in the world for this game he plays, called Destiny.
I have had many times in the stands on a ball field watching my daughter as a softball pitcher. But watching him fight it out with cards and dice was every bit as intense.
The games went back and forth all day. In one match, my son was paired against the #4 ranked player in this tournament. It came down to the last play and sure enough my son took him down for a well fought victory!
He ended up losing his next match, but finished in the top 16, which is not too bad.
The one thing that I noticed allows him to compete with the adults he plays against, is that he is always watching everyone else play. Most of the other players are always working on their own decks (it a card game with dice btw) and figuring out combinations they like.
They are always in search of a new combination that no one ever thought of before, so they can claim bragging rights of being the first to discover a new secret winning deck. They even name their creations, so they get credit if others see it winning at tournaments.
What I am proud of is that my son both has the courage to compete and none of the pride that will not allow home to learn from others. He has become a well respected player, not because he is so innovative, but that he takes different parts of other’s decks and fuses them together.
He may never have a deck that is named by him that is famous in the community, but he prefers winning over noterity.
One of the things I relate to with him, is taking bits and pieces from all over the marketing world to fuse my own ideas together. You will see me taking a bit of Jay Abraham, Seth Godin, Tim Ferris, or Warren Buffet, to make a sales letter or perhaps a training course.
I do not care if I get the accolades, as long as I can get results for those I work with.
If you are a coach, stop trying to be the most innovative and focus on becoming more effective.
How can you do this? Start taking a bit of everyone you follow and respect and fusing them together.
If you are deeply involved with the community that you are helping as a coach or consultant, you should be able to create a list of your favorite authors, teachers, speakers, etc.
Start compiling some of the best material you have received from each one to create a file that you can share with your audience regularly.
Don’t just do this one time, make it a habit. Even if you are a small player, like my son, you may well find yourself garnering the respect of larger players in your market.
That is how you start sitting at the same tables and seminars with them. Soon you will be beating some of them in short order too!
If you want to get some of the best marketing advice for coaches and consultants, make sure you sign-up at www.sterlingsherrell.com to get on my email list. Feel free to take from me too:)
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