Page 225 - Paulisms: Gold Nuggets for Small Business

Entrepreneur of the Year award. It was right out of my comfort zone, but that opportunity would never have come around if it wasn’t for Maria Johnson of EO, who nominated me. Another benefit of the network was that I chatted to a fellow EOer, Tony Falkenstein, at an EO University event in Hyderabad, India, in November 2017 (they have these all around the world as learning events). Tony Falkenstein’s company, Just Water (a publicly listed company), would eventually buy 100% of my company, Hometech. Thank you, EO, for the above and the many experiences and teachings.
There were two important things that EO taught me: 1. Leave your ego at the door
2. Talk from experience, not opinion.
Particularly point two has been huge, as I now always try and talk from
my experiences rather than give opinions. EO has forums that meet once a month, and when discussing subjects and issues, we must talk from our own experiences. It is hugely powerful and cuts out egos.
Here’s an example where talking from experience should have worked over egos and opinions.
I had a meeting with some outside consultants regarding a customer relationship management (CRM) rollout. My business culture is to bring in less experienced people from time to time to give them an opportunity to learn. In this case, a young woman was brought in. Regrettably she took over.
Four times, she said, ‘In my opinion, ...’ and worse, three times she said, ‘Paul, I think you are wrong!’