Sokanu: The Blog

When we are young and new to the world, we often try to gain as much knowledge as possible in the shortest amount of time.  No matter what profession or career that you are involved in, you are always trying to learn.  And people will have always done what you want to achieve, which creates the mentor effect.  In fact, mentorship and role models are so important that we decided to create a special section for them in Sokanu.

In something like a trade, mentors gather "apprentices" and show them the exact ropes to deliver that trade with the utmost quality.  It is a proven formula that can be repeated and shared through mentorship.  This is the way that mentors should act in that specific profession.  The same goes for the culinary arts.  Food should be prepared a specific way in order to meet standards.  Only after you master the basics are you allows to experiment and create "fusion" or artwork with your dish.  But what about for professions that aren't as easy to teach, such as entrepreneurship?

The issue that I have with most role models and mentors is the way that they go about giving advice to younger versions of themselves.  This is especially relevant when it comes to small businesses.  In entrepreneurship, while there may be a destination (sale, IPO or sustainable profits) the journey to get there is never the same.  Success is garnered by attaining profitability, selling or changing the world.  Whatever the metric is, there is no one single path to get there.  And this is the problem.

Go to any conference, read any book and watch any show, and the first thing that you hear is: find a mentor.  This is good advice.  The tough thing is, because you are so new at the beginning of any process, you don't know whether that mentor is good or not. There are many people that have run a business, competed in sports or played an instrument, but very few that have done it well.  And those people that do those activities well are often very difficult to get to.  Because of this lack of access, we purchase their books and read their biographies, pinpointing the exact steps those people took. "Oh, Michael Phelps started swimming at 5?  I better get going!", "Michael Dell started Dell Computers in his dorm room? Well I should do the same thing!", etc...

The issue with this methodology is that you are unique.  I used to always say that you should try to find role models to mold yourself after. Finding these positive influences would be good for you.  I now take a different stance. Role models and mentors are good, just not in the way that we think.

First of all, the only person you should look up to is yourself.  As corny as this may sound, it is true.  You are not Bill Gates, Roger Federer (my issue when playing tennis) or Gene Simmons.  There is no way to replicate the exact steps that Oprah took to get to where she is now. No, instead of studying the specifics of these successful people, study their philosophies.

Mentors & Philosophies

Philosophies?  What does that mean exactly?  Well first, let me point you to one of the best business books I have read in the past year or so. It's called Four Seasons: The Story Of A Business Philosophy.  I'm sure you have heard of the hotel chain the Four Seasons. You may have stayed (or wished) in one of their hotels in the past.  Now let me ask you a question.  Say you haven't clicked on the link above yet.  Who is the founder of the Four Seasons?  Not sure?  Most people (even business) have no clue, and that's an amazing thing.

In a world obsessed by personal branding and marketing ourselves, it is so refreshing to see a company so successful, yet so underrated. The founder's name is Isadore Sharp, a Jewish man from Toronto.  He is also one of the inventors of the Terry Fox run and one of the wealthiest men in Canada, as well as one of the best philanthropists.  He has managed to build one of the greatest luxury brands on earth by implementing business philosophies and executing upon those.

No matter what field you are in, try to find mentors and role models that talk about their philosophies rather than themselves. Don't get somebody to tell you to do x,y,z unless it is a repeatable formula like we mentioned above.  Just like Dan Pink mentions in this talk about motivation, humans that are in careers that demand creativity need different motivations behind what they do. Not only do they need the specifics to get to the goal in mind, but they also need the correct philosophies behind those specifics.  I put up a talk from John Wooden a while back, and in it he talks about his idea of success. If you listen (or watch college basketball), you know that play calls and training are huge components of winning.  But in order to reach success, Wooden implemented a winning philosophy that enabled his team to be embedded in history.

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So what can we learn from this idea? How can we implement these philosophies?  I mean, isn't the point of philosophy that it is subject to the readers interpretations.  Yes, exactly.  Normally we have mentors that give us specific directions, telling us what not do along the way.  Very rarely do we get a mentor that outlines a philosophy, a core purpose, behind their method. Only once they have this philosophy do they then guide you along the path.  

To end with an example, a role model that I use in business is someone that is quite popular nowadays.  I've already mentioned Isadore Sharp as a role model, and this is true.  But more on the tech side, I follow closely the workings of Tony Hsieh.  In his new book, Delivering Happiness, I feel that Tony's most valuable pieces of information are not in the first two sections, but rather the last section.  In this section, Tony talks about the science of happiness, or the guiding philosophy behind why his company makes decisions. 

Look at Zappos from an analytical perspective for a second:

• Were they the most successful company in the last decade in terms of exit size?  No, although $1 billion is nothing to sneeze at.
• Were they the most profitable company in the last decade?  I doubt it.
• Was the way that Tony ran the company (nearly bankrupt many times) the right way to do it?  No, especially according to this article: http://www.gladwell.com/2010/2010_01_18_a_surething.html
• Did they run the "right" business at the "right" time? No, nobody would give Zappos money (even after a $265 million exit) because "why would shoes sell online?"

From this perspective, Tony and Zappos does not seem like a model that you may want to follow.  Sure, they sold for a substantial sum of money, but would you want to copy their path?  I would guess not.  But of course, this is not what makes Zappos so popular.  It is their culture, their dedication to employee happiness and their odd recruiting service that makes them stand out. Isn't Zappos the company that writes their culture manual every year?  They do this because they want to mandate the philosophy behind the company, plain and simple. Because of their focus on the science of happiness and delivering the best experience on every level, the decisions along the way are easier to make.

I try and remember this along the path with Sokanu.  Rather than follow exact instructions from people (which sometimes I need), I try to learn about the business philosophies that I agree with, and let those principles guide the decisions that I am presented with.  Some people use data (better economically), but some use philosophy.  Try and find a mentor(s) that can help you by sharing their philosophies, not just their lessons.