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We’ve all heard the business cliché: think
outside the box. It means to think freely and
not be bound by old, nonfunctional or limiting
structures, rules or practices.
Th at doesn’t work anymore, says Jeff rey
Hayzlett, primetime TV and podcast host,
keynote speaker, best-selling author and global
business celebrity.
Today, for companies to prosper, their
leaders must fearlessly do what it takes to
be successful, he maintains. Th at means
“throwing out conventional wisdom, reframing
limitations and steamrolling obstacles” to
make things happen.
Hayzlett delivered this message in the
keynote address to this year’s Heavy Duty
Aft ermarket Week. An annual event, it is North
America’s largest gathering of the independent
heavy duty aft ermarket.
Don’t Die
“Th ere is no secret to success,” he told his audience.
“It’s all about hard work and business
leaders must adapt, change or die. Th ere is
no other option. Leaders always need to
be moving their people and organizations
forward, innovating and changing. Th ey can’t
just coast.”
Change inherently entails risk, added
Hayzlett. If a leader isn’t willing to risk
anything, there is no way to facilitate change.
Don’t be Afraid to Fail
Hayzlett shared some core lessons on business
transformation, leadership, innovation and
change management to drive business growth.
He learned these lessons during his long business
career and from many business leaders.
8 Fleet Maintenance | JULY 2017
Th ey are detailed in his book, Th ink Big, Act
Bigger: Th e Rewards of Being Relentless.
One essential lesson is to understand that
change is extremely important for moving
businesses forward, but it is usually diffi cult
to accomplish.
“Don’t be afraid to fail,” says Hayzlett.
“It’s okay to fail, but fail fast. Learn from the
mistakes. Every failure is a chance to learn
something new, regroup and press on.”
Most businesses fail because the people
in charge “didn’t think things out, didn’t put
enough resources behind it, didn’t spend
enough time, didn’t spend enough sweat equity,
or they just picked a stupid idea to begin with,”
noted Hayzlett.
“If you’re going to do it right, make sure you
do all your homework, put enough money
behind it, be realistic and then work your frickin’
ass off ,” he says.
Block and Tackle
Implementing change boils down to “doing the
blocking and tackling – doing the things you
have to do,” Hayzlett stressed. However, even
with this, he says “failure is still a possibility.
Th at’s just the nature of business, and most
people are afraid of failure. Th e fear of failure
stifl es businesses. I say embrace it.”
Hayzlett described a two-million-dollar
campaign he did while he was Kodak’s chief
marketing offi cer. It was a mobile campaign
for movie theaters that he thought would be
great because of the captive audience.
“It seemed like a brilliant idea, but it failed
in execution because of one tiny and seemingly
obvious problem that no one had considered,”
he says. “We forgot to look at the basics.
Everyone turns off their phones when they
walk into a movie theater.”
Th e campaign was repurposed and it grew
a part of Kodak’s business by 1,427 percent
within one year.
Create Tension
Another piece of advice Hayzlett shared is for
leaders to play it unsafe and create tension with
the organization. Doing so “moves people out
of their comfort zones and makes them react
and stretch their boundaries as they think of
ways to get things done,” he says.
However, he warned that this has to be
“good tension”. Th e intent is not to make
people feel uncomfortable, but rather inspire
them to generate new thinking, innovation
and inspiration.
Bringing his address to a conclusion, Hayzlett
said that to think big and act bigger, leaders
have to get over any failure and move on.
“Th ere will always be things that are going
to get in the way,” he says. “But keep in mind,
nothing gets done until you get started doing
something. Keep pushing, be relentless and
steam roll through those things.”
It’s All About You
By David A.
Kolman
Editor
» For companies to remain prosperous,
their leaders must “fearlessly” throw out
conventional wisdom, reframe limitations and
steamroll obstacles to make things happen,
says global business celebrity Jeffrey Hayzlett.
Photo courtesy of DK Communications
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Fear of failure
stifles businesses.