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14 6 SECRETS TO STARTUP SUCCESS

THE BONDING POWER OF CREATION

Leaders all over the world wrestle with the challenge of getting their
team members to care deeply about the goals of a larger organization.
They don’t understand how employees who are disengaged and ap-
athetic at work can show fanatical passion in their personal lives, or-
ganizing citywide fund-raisers on weekends or maintaining Facebook
pages with thousands of friends. A core principle is at work here: We
authentically commit to those things that we have a direct role in
creating. Whether it’s a product prototype or a new client account, I
own what I create.

The same principle applies to your entrepreneurial venture. As
you move from idea to action, creating something that can be read,
seen, held, tested, or enjoyed in the world, your commitment naturally
strengthens. Whether lines of code, a new bank account, a business
plan, or a napkin sketch, every new work product puts extra wind in
your sails and amplifies your energy and ownership.

Lynn Ivey’s dream was becoming more tangible throughout the
summer of 2006, and her optimism was contagious. Everyone she en-
countered came away with a clear, positive picture of The Ivey. They
could envision the future building and its staff; they could see a hun-
dred satisfied clients and their relieved families. As a result of her en-
thusiasm and communication skills, Lynn successfully raised $2.6
million in seed money from investors and secured $3.6 million in loans
to finance construction of the center. Groundbreaking was scheduled
for October. In late July, she sent an e-mail to several of her supporters,
writing, “The money’s raised and in the bank!! The loan’s approved
and closing is at 9:30 a.m. this Tuesday!!”

About that same time, Lynn’s father called and asked her if she
would make the four-hour drive home to Wilmington. “He’s putting
Mom on oxygen,” she wrote at the time. “He says she is really winding
down and thinks she’ll be getting worse soon. It’s ironic… my mother
is the whole reason I started down this path to create the center. If she
shuts down now, it will be as if she knows that phase one of my cre-
ation is complete and that it really will happen. I’m a believer that
when God shuts a door, he always opens a window.”

American Management Association • www.amanet.org