I had the opportunity to hear Pat Croce speak a few weeks ago.
If you don’t know him, he’s an entrepreneur whose made several fortunes as a physical therapist, an owner of a National Basketball Association team and curator of the Pirate Museum in St Augustine, Florida.
Reviewing my notes on how he achieved such diverse tracks, a couple of characteristics pop out.
One is something I refer to as self-nomination. If there is something you think you can do, you must be brave enough to nominate yourself.
Croce says you have to be willing to ask for help. Ask for the assignment. Ask for the order.
“If you never ask, the answer is always no.”
He also points to persistence. Croce notes that none of his successes happened in order. They all had hitches. There were times when failure was in sight.
“There are times when your ‘I will’ is more important than your ‘IQ’.”
Once an effort is in motion, the ability to apply elbow grease and keep showing up may be more important than the intelligence of the plan.
