4 questions to start 10X thinking
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Yesterday, I was speaking with a client about exponential thinking. A potential investor who’s very interested in their technology told them that they’re only investing in companies with the potential to make at least $100M in revenues. This founder had been focused on building a $10M company: An ambitious but incremental growth path. Now, in the space of one conversation, he realized they could expand their idea of what’s possible. it reminded me of this story about John McEnroe: In the late 1970s, sports psychologist Jim Fannin was coaching Adriano Panatta, one of the top-ranked tennis players in the world and a former French Open champion.
He tells the story of Panatta’s quarterfinal match with one of the newcomers at an ATP tournament.
“As the match unfolded, this low-ranked, left-handed, red-headed jerk of a guy has no respect for a top-ranked player in the world. He stalls. He berates an umpire. He yells at a ball kid. He crushes my player! We are humiliated!”
“Fourteen years later I’m at my home in Chicago having dinner with my best friend Peter Fleming and his doubles partner, John McEnroe Jr.
I turned to John that night and said, “Do you remember when I met you back in San Francisco?” He smirked and replied, “Oh, you mean when I crushed your Italian boy?”
We all started laughing. And I said, ‘Yeah, how did you do that? Your ranking was so low. How did you play like that?’
McEnroe looked me cold in the eye and said, “I was number one in the world. My ranking just hadn’t caught up yet.”
That, my friends, is what self-belief looks like. Too many founders have it backwards. They think it’s when they reach the external milestone – the high-profile partnership or 9-figure valuation — that they will finally become the confident, poised leader they want to be. In fact, it’s the opposite. You start living into your vision before it actually happens. As Wayne Dyer used to say, “You’ll see it when you believe it.” Here’s how to start: Project yourself into the 10X future of your company and look at how you’re conducting business: 1. Who do you have as clients and strategic partners? What product and services are you offering? 2. How do you negotiate deals? (Hint: Do you act like a “lowly” start-up willing to make concessions or do you understand the value you bring to the table? When founders have conviction in their mission, they negotiate differently. Their attitude is: ‘Do you want this? Or should I go to someone who does?’ Read more about how to collaborate with large corporates in my Forbes article here. 3. How can you and your team start taking immediate action on your future-focused tactics? (Hint: How do you raise the bar in the way you run meetings, take extreme ownership, address conflict?) 4. How do you show up as a leader who inspires trust and confidence? (Hint: How would [your favorite entrepreneur] behave and speak if they took over your business for a day?) Embrace your vision and, as much as possible, start acting that way now — make your decisions from where you want to be, not from where you are. Sooner rather than later, reality will catch up. Love, Renita p.s. This is the exact exercise I lead founders through in a "Create From Your Future" call. Schedule a get-acquainted call here to see if you're ready... |
Renita Kalhorn | The High-EQ Founder
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