Be consistent, creative

In most businesses, I believe you must operate with the following fundamentals: productive consistency, appropriate uniqueness, creativity and a purposeful sense of urgency. We all need refreshers on our fundamentals as we get roped into our day-to-day business lives.
Our golfers have hit the road to compete against the world's best on the PGA Tour.

Our baseball players are gearing up for spring training.

Our broadcasters are preparing to call games for new networks.

Our corporate and equipment sponsors want to see these guys at the top of their game on a consistent basis. Our clients garner sponsorships and endorsements because we help create unique partnerships for celebrity brands and companies.

We all must enhance the individuals and/or brands that provide us with the money and resources we need to succeed.

We can do it with the following qualities:

Productive consistency
Athletes are a tremendous example of the need to be consistent. A golfer must shoot low rounds four days in a row to win tour events. Baseball players' batting average or ERA are barometers of their consistency. Coaches are measured by their wins and losses. All of the above are rewarded based on their ability to deliver consistently.

In a traditional business-development environment, your retention of existing business and growth of new business are directly related to your ability to consistently deliver.

Pending your business model, ask yourself this question: Is anything more important than consistency in making your product successful?

Appropriate uniqueness
People always ask me, "Why do your clients get paid so much?" Because, at the most basic level, they do something few can do --- they leverage supply and demand to their advantage. Our job is to help them understand their value and then secure it. When you can throw a baseball 98 miles an hour --- and know where it is going --- you can make a lot of money. But we can all be the "demand" in the supply chain --- and it doesn't have to be on a field --- if we deliver something unique to a marketplace demanding that product. What makes us more unique, more valuable and more visible in the market?

We have all heard the old saying "differentiate or die." In our highly competitive world, we have to fill a special niche to be successful in the marketplace. There will always be a need for talent --- whether it's an athlete or you. What is your unique selling proposition? Create purposeful urgency around it and success will follow. Enjoy it!

Creativity
There is usually room for improvement in all that we do in life. I often refer to it as evolving. Is there a more efficient way? A more profitable way?

In other words, being willing to change and adjust to ensure success is imperative. In our economic environment, building an agile company will help you survive and give you an enormous advantage.

Creativity is not just the domain of a talented few. We are all creative by nature. Creativity is instilled in each of us and can fulfill our need to work in solutions. It breeds innovation and creates platforms for needed change.

Charles Darwin is credited with coining the phrase, "the survival of the fittest." The "fittest" are a lot of things --- but one thing about those who survive is that they are creative --- for sure. If you're on the fringe, ask yourself what club will get you closest to the hole --- a 7 iron, wedge or putter. Let's be creative and we're more likely to throw strikes and drain puts.

Sense of urgency
One Sunday afternoon I was at a neighbor's house and my cellphone continued ringing. I answered each call, from various clients. After about the fifth call, my neighbor looked at me and said, "What do they want? It's Sunday afternoon, what do they need right now?"
I explained that my world is 24/7 --- if our clients want to tell me about a conversation with a manager, or something they read, they want to tell me now. That's okay, I understand. In fact, I welcome it and it's all I've known after 15 years as a sports agent.

My neighbor is a neonatal intensive care doctor and he really understands the meaning of urgency and of "right now." So I humbly replied, "I guess 'right now' is relative."

At the most basic level, I embrace the "now" with a sense of urgency whether it is Sunday at 5 or Tuesday at 2.

At the micro level, a successful tactic to improve your value starts with being productively consistent, appropriately unique, creative and approaching life with a purposeful sense of urgency. Invest in these qualities. Execute your business plan now and great things will happen.