Learn What The Rich Know: Pillar 4.1 - The B-I Triangle

• “There are many people with great ideas but few people with great fortunes. The B-I triangle has the power to turn ordinary ideas into great fortunes.”

• There are three sides to the B-I triangle: mission, teamwork, and leadership. Each side is critical to the stability and long-term success of the business.

• As the world market becomes ever more glutted with products and competition becomes increasingly fierce, the businesses that thrive will be those that use their mission as their beacon.

• “Just to make money is not a strong enough mission. The mission of a business should be to fill the customer’s need.”

• Too many would-be business owners are driven by the desire for profit alone. Unfortunately, money alone won’t provide the entrepreneur with sufficient stamina to weather the storms his or her young company will inevitably face. 

• The problem with the profit-only mission is that it doesn’t take into account customer need.

• “If the mission is clear and strong, the business will weather the trials every business goes through during its first ten years. When a business gets big and it forgets its mission ... the business begins to die.”

• If you stay focused on your mission and pay attention to your customers’ or tenants’ needs, you’ll fulfill your mission.

• In school, students are taught to take tests as individuals, and they bring home individual report cards. But in business people are measured by their ability to perform teamwork. If there is no teamwork—if every person is an island—then the business will fail.

• “Business is a team sport.”

• A team is not a group of people with the same skills.

• A business team, however, is not like a union. It is a collection of specialists— accountants, bankers, attorneys, insurance agents and so forth— with differing skills.

• The investors fund the company. The owners work with the employees to make the business grow and bring a return on the original investment. The employees serve as an extension of the owners and represent the business to customers. And all the while, the specialists help the owners keep the business moving in the right direction.

• “A leader’s job is to bring out the best in people, not to be the best person.”

• A true leader is part:
• Visionary
• Cheerleader
• Pit boss
• Listener
• As visionary, the leader conceives the mission and keeps all eyes focused on it. As cheerleader, he or she heralds the successes of the team as it strives to fulfill the mission. And as pit boss, this person makes the tough calls regarding issues that distract the team from its mission. The leader is able to take decisive action while focusing and inspiring the troops. True leaders aren’t born, they’re made. They have the ability to listen, and by listening, they gain invaluable feedback from the team.

• Feedback helps them correct what they’re doing wrong and hone their leadership skills. It stands to reason that leaders are humble— they know their advisors have much to teach. And leaders, as any successful military commander knows, trust their team. The person who thinks he or she is the smartest person on the team isn’t a true leader; this person has no faith in the others and has never bothered to develop leadership skills. It is the person willing to listen and learn who has the makings of a great leader.

• “To force good ideas to bubble up within [your organization], you must listen to what your associates are trying to tell you.”
  —Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart