1. Hustle, Hustle Hustle-I don’t like Pete Rose. I’ve met him and he’s a jerk. But I sure do like “Charlie Hustle.” As a player Pete was the epitome of the word hustle. I personally relate a lot to Pete when it comes to hustle. I’ve never had the most talent. I’m not the smartest guy you will ever meet. But, take me on in anything and I will out hustle you and, more often than not beat you. I will take you in a game of one on one basketball. I will out hustle you all day long. You might beat me, but you are going to have some wounds to show for it.

That is the mindset you need to be successful and move your business to the next level. You have to be determined to out hustle the other guy, gal or business. The great thing about hustle is it requires no God given talent. It just requires God given heart which we are all supposed to have.

2. Have a Game Plan-Nothing happens without a strategic game plan. The plan has to be well thought out.  To do that you have to “get up early and stay up late”. A solid plan requires research, time and talking to others. Those around you see and know things you cannot possibly know. It will surprise you at what you can learn from people you would normally discount as not being important or having much to offer. Your plan should be constantly developing, growing, expanding. Adjustments are a part of the game. It you know anything about racing you know they are constantly adjusting the race car during the race to make it better. If you follow other sports like football you know there are always halftime adjustments. Those who can adjust to the changing conditions increase their chances of winning. You need to have the same mindset with your game plan. Put the plan in place and be ready to make adjustments.

3. Think Fast-Think fast and move fast should be your motto. The great advantage of not being part of the corporate world is your ability to react quickly to the changing economic and business environment. Decisions and changes need to be well thought out, but if you’re “up early and stay up late” you can make fast decisions that will bury your competition. Just be quick like Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jumped over the candle stick.

4. Communicate, Then Do it Some More-Communication starts by listening and responding. It takes a combination of meetings, memos, emails, and phone calls to distribute information. The keys are updates and progress reports. The more information you share with your staff the more progress you will see and the more your team will develop. The more the team develops the more butts you kick. When you communicate with your team then you kill the rumor mill. The more you kill the rumor mill the more productive your staff becomes. Just a fact of life.

5. Get Back to Empowerment-Yes, times have been tough. We have pulled back and cut back. but now is the time to get back into the “Yes” mode. Years ago automobile dealers took a page out of the airline book of customer satisfaction by allowing staff member to make on the spot decisions to satisfy customers. With the tough economy that has been now drilled up to upper management. Our policy for years was if the customer asks then the answer is “Yes.” That’s not to say that you don’t need to have limits, but you must empower your people to “just handle it” Nine times out of ten you’re going to do it anyway, so let them handle it in the trenches. You will have happier customers and happier employees because they can avoid putting a customer off.

6. Pick Up The Intensity-when you combine Intensity with Hustle it’s almost impossible not to kick some serious butt down the road of success.

There’s nothing magical here. These are the things we sometimes forget that separate the winners from the losers. The ones who are moving ahead vs. the ones who are stagnant. It all gets down to how much you are willing to separate yourself and your business from the competition.

Tommy’s Tips:

• There is no substitute for Hustle.
• Develop a game plan and be ready to change it quickly.
• Give people the power to do their jobs.
• Combining hustle and intensity is a formula for some serious butt kicking.

That’s all I’m gonna say, Tommy Gibbs