Once I was clear about who I wanted to be, I could see my next moves. The first step was finding a sales job with merit-based pay and clear expectations. Twenty years later, I can tell you that clarity comes from making decisions that are aligned with your core beliefs and values. Did you get that last sentence? You must act like a great company (or a great entrepreneur/intrapreneur) long before you ever become one. Are you following? Let me explain. In other words, I realized that for IBM to become a great company it would have to act like a great company long before it ever became one. Learning to negotiate, sell, and influence. This requires that you do your homework before every major meeting, build strategic partnerships, and progressively develop your negotiation skills and power.

One of Bet-David’s key messages is this: to succeed in business (or virtually any area in life), you need to plan several steps ahead. Specifically for business, he recommends planning 5 moves ahead since: Narrator just goes on and on, making the most basic, obvious and simple things sound like he invented something groundbreaking. If you’re looking to disrupt an industry, you’d better be armed with the right story, right team, right data, and right strategies.” I want to work with people who keep their commitments—especially leaders with whom I work and who impact my career path. Make a list of the blind spots or things that could go wrong with each decision. If you only think about what could go right, you will overlook the downside. How To Solve For XIn The 5 Love Languages, Gary Chapman divides the ways you give and receive love into 5 categories: A visionary is somebody who is not living in the here and now. He or she has already seen at least five moves ahead and is living in that reality. Explaining your future truth to others, however, may come across as unrealistic, boastful, or even delusional. Not long after we started our company in 2009, I gave a speech at the JW Marriott in Palm Desert, California, to a group of four hundred people. I said, “One day, the best comedians, athletes, thinkers, and US presidents will attend and speak at our convention.” Nine years later, Kevin Hart performed at our annual convention. Before our agency turned ten, I interviewed former president George W. Bush and the late Kobe Bryant in front of our entire company. The ability to solve problems well is the ability to take a complex issue you’re facing and break it down into a step-by-step formula that helps you identify the root of the problem. Here are three methods for negotiating in a way that sustains long-term success: Method 1: Prepare Extensively for Meetings How to hire and retain the right people. This involves attracting the right talents and advisers, having a robust recruitment process, and developing an attractive compensation plan to retain people.

When you take on the behemoth, you’ll be prone to unflattering media coverage and slander because you’re doing something bold, warns Bet-David. To counter negative rumors, share your story through social media, as this is a direct path from you to followers. When doing this, be honest, vulnerable, and consistent: Reveal mistakes you’ve made, solicit input from followers, and share content on a regular basis, so followers know when to expect it.Master three things you do better. Use your strengths to master three things Goliath can’t do and do them better than it can Choose a process. One of the best ways to identify a potential business is to find a flawed process that you can improve upon

Shortform note: If you don’t have a bench of experienced business friends to whom to turn for advice, consider heeding Robin Sharma’s advice to create a committee of imaginary mentors. These mentors can be renowned thinkers or famous figures you admire and can be living or dead. Simply imagine what advice they’d give you in your situation.) The Fifth Step: Position Yourself as an Industry Leader Build momentum by fostering trust among employees, writes Bet-David. Trusting employee relationships lead to speedier internal operations, which, in turn, helps sustain momentum. I had to look inward and get clear about who I wanted to be—and where I wanted to go. The list I made looked something like this: The difference between being smart and being wise is To take things to the next level and set the bar even higher, aspire to be heroic. Think about your heroes, and ask yourself how they would act in such situations. It’s no coincidence that there is an entire cottage industry of books asking “What would [name] do?”I understand that not everyone knows who he or she wants to be. It’s normal not to have all the answers immediately. Remember that this question—and every move in this book—is a process. All the examples I give and stories I tell exist for you. They’re meant to get you to reflect and better understand yourself. If you don’t have a clear answer at this point in time, you’re in the majority. All I ask is that you keep an open mind and keep reading with the goal, in due time, of answering this question. All the discovery questions I’m asking are to lead you to find out which path suits you best. The key is to find the best position that highlights your talents. Founder? CEO? Chief strategy officer? Sales leader? Number two? Business developer? Intrapreneur? The list goes on. We’re living in an era in which entrepreneurs get the headlines, but that life may not be for you. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a place for you to build wealth and find fulfillment. Ensure you get the best deal by having alternate deal options, Bet-David advises. Having options means you don’t desperately need any one deal and are therefore in a more powerful negotiating position. To secure many options, always be looking for new clients, opportunities, and business partners. This ensures you’re never dependent on a single relationship. IBM is what it is today for three special reasons. The first reason is that, at the very beginning, I had a very clear picture of what the company would look like when it was finally done. You might say I had a model in my mind of what it would look like when the dream—my vision—was in place. You need someone that makes you accountable for your word. Find someone you respect who is willing to keep you accountable on a weekly basis. If You Overdose on Anything, Overdose on Speed