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Here is today’s message to all you business leaders out there:
YOU: “But Bill, you’re my hero! I’ve modeled my entire career–my entire life–around you!”
Yes, and in most cases you’d be correct to do so. But not in this one particular aspect. Let me explain.
For 15 years, I was the Executive Producer of a sketch comedy TV ...
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I don’t know what world you live in. I mean that literally. I don’t know what business you’re in, what your customers think of you, how people treat you–I don’t know any of those things. I don’t know what world you live in. But one thing that I do know, with certainty, is this:
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When I was in high school, I used to hang out with a guy named Vince DiCola. You probably haven’t heard of Vince, but he was—and still is—the best rock keyboardist I ever knew. I mean, this guy could play anything! And because I was hanging around with Vince, I decided to learn to play keyboards also. So I did—and I got good enough that, over the years, I’ve played professionally with a few bands. Am I as good as ...
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“Change is hard.”
“People hate change.”
“Change stresses me out.”
Bull.
As a professional keynote speaker, I’m on the road a lot. I speak to associations, organizations, and businesses across the country, and everywhere I go I hear people whining about change.
“Things are changing too fast.”
“I don’t adapt to change well.”
“Change is HAAAAAARRRRRDDDDD!”
None of it’s true, and I can prove ...
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I was flipping through the TV channels last night, trying desperately to avoid any Kardashian-related programming, when I came upon a breath of fresh air. It was a PBS biography of everybody’s favorite neighbor, Fred Rogers, who left us in 2003. I only managed to catch a few minutes of this show, but in it I heard a quotation from Mr. Rogers that I hadn’t heard before:
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I was at an event recently where one business speaker asserted that there were four words you should never tell a customer: “I can’t do that.” And he had some very good reasons for this assertion:
Your competitors love it when you tell a customer, “I can’t do that.”
It’s music to their ears.
When you tell a customer, “I can’t do that,” you’re giving them an excuse to look elsewhere, and you’re opening a window of ...
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Some of you know that I used to produce a sketch comedy TV show in Seattle called Almost Live! It was on the air for fifteen years, and number one in its time slot for ten straight years. During those fifteen years, my team and I won more than 100 Emmy Awards. At the risk of sounding immodest, we were really, really good at what we did. Our ...
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I’m getting ready to board a plane, something I do several times a week. Each time, I’m putting my trust—and my life—in the hands of the pilot. This is, in all likelihood, a person I’ve never met, and never will meet. But I rarely, if ever, think about it, and I’ll bet you don’t either. The trust is so ...
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Last night I heard a television commentator say that the Republican nomination is going to come down to “who wants it more.”
I sincerely hope that this is not the case.
Republican or Democrat, I sincerely hope that we’re not going to choose our leaders on the basis of who wants it more. I mean, really, would you make any other choice ...
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