How To Become The Most Valuable Player

[00:00:00] Welcome. You're listening to The GrowOrtho Podcast presented by HIP. This podcast is dedicated to orthodontists who want to stand strong in their market and be leaders in their community.

[00:00:13] Now, on to today's show.

[00:00:16] This episode of The GrowOrtho Podcast is taken from HIP's April All Hands Meeting. We hope that you enjoy it.

[00:00:22] How do you become the most valuable player?

[00:00:26] If you were here with us in January, then you know that we talked a lot about value.

[00:00:33] What is the big opportunity moving forward? We talked about how it's not a number. It's not a number of clients.

[00:00:40] It's not a revenue number, but it's really just to get better every single day.

[00:00:45] And with that add more value.

[00:00:48] This really sets the frame for today. So strive not to be a success, but rather to be a value.

[00:00:56] And the cool thing about this talk is you can apply it to HIP and the teams at HIP as a whole.

[00:01:04] And you can apply it to your own life and personal development if you're into that.

[00:01:09] How do you become the most valuable player?

[00:01:11] Number one, you need clarity. You need to know what you want, why you want it and where you're headed.

[00:01:19] Imagine if HIP didn't have a niche, we didn't have our teams, we didn't have ClickUp, we didn't have core values, service values, all these things.

[00:01:27] And I can remember those days. Some of you can remember that too.

[00:01:31] I think back to 2018 or even 2014, most of this did not exist at all.

[00:01:37] And we had mild success. We really focused on our product and really trying to deliver great service, but we just didn't have this clarity around HIP and what we were doing.

[00:01:48] Many of you know the story, all that began to change in 2020. We're still getting a lot of clarity.

[00:01:54] We've never arrived, but once we started to get momentum, when you start to get clarity, it just goes like this.

[00:02:03] One key is to be valuable to a specific group. And for us, that was orthodontics rather than attempting to be all things to all people.

[00:02:13] You cannot serve everybody. A professional athlete becomes an MVP by mastering their specific role and excelling at the highest level within the sport.

[00:02:24] An organization becomes truly valuable by defining its niche, building the right team and culture, and executing its unique mission with excellence and consistency.

[00:02:36] And that's the key is consistency. If you do it one time, but you can't repeat it or you know one out of a hundred, it's not really going to be effective.

[00:02:45] So without that clarity and commitment to being world-class within a category, a company lacks impact and I believe most of them become unimportant.

[00:02:56] It's probably why so many businesses fail. I pulled this stat, you know, 40% of businesses fail within the first three years.

[00:03:02] I read a stat that says 80% fail within the first 20. It's probably more and it's probably faster, but that's just one of the stats that I saw.

[00:03:11] So focus is the path to creating extraordinary value. The core idea here is that greatness comes from being specialized, not being generalized.

[00:03:23] Specialist versus generalist. We talk about this all the time with our partners. I can remember one time with Smile Moore, Harrison and I walked in and it's like, oh yeah, there's the TC and then sometimes she's doing this and sometimes she's doing this

[00:03:38] and then we pull this other person and they're the TC and nothing was really great. The team was not specialized at that moment and we began to make some changes, some tweaks

[00:03:49] and Zeta can tell you Smile Moore is crushing it now. Those little things, Harrison taught me this quote, small hinges swing big doors and it's so true, but you've got to focus on being specialized.

[00:04:03] By honing in on a specific domain using the right talent and resources and striving to be the absolute best in that space an individual or organization can deliver huge value to those that they serve.

[00:04:18] Knowing who you are, what you stand for and who you serve, that's the foundation for making an MVP level impact.

[00:04:27] I love this quote, if you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. It's the opposite of living intentionally.

[00:04:36] Alright number two, to become the most valuable player you have to be decisive. Now this doesn't mean rushing into a decision. It means knowing when and how to make decisions.

[00:04:48] I used to be really good at rushing into decisions. We've got to have a decision and make a decision now. And I had to learn the hard way that you cannot rush into every decision.

[00:04:59] Yes, it's good to be decisive. At the end of the day, you got to make a decision, but you also have to be calculated.

[00:05:05] The reason why we cannot make decisions most of the time is the fear of making mistakes. But the ironic thing is that's how we learn right?

[00:05:15] We learn by making mistakes and it can suck to make the wrong decision. But none of us are perfect. Sometimes you will have to fail forward.

[00:05:23] And I think that's the key you want to learn when you make mistakes. And the people who do not learn, they just keep repeating the mistake and they can't gain momentum.

[00:05:33] They won't be an MVP. And remember the way that we think it quickly becomes a habit. The habit of indecisiveness can condemn us to failure

[00:05:43] and stagnation is worse than a temporary wrong turn. I don't know about you guys. I don't want to be stagnant. I don't want to stay stuck. I want to grow.

[00:05:52] So we can have the best talent and the best service, but if we cannot make decisions then it won't do us much good.

[00:05:59] And going back to clarity, it's easier to make decisions when you know where you are, where you're going and what it is you're supposed to accomplish.

[00:06:07] Knowing that we serve orthodontist, knowing that this is the goal, whatever it may be, even on the video side.

[00:06:13] Zack, you know, knowing here's the video we're going to produce. Here's why we're doing it. Here's who we're speaking to.

[00:06:19] You can fly through it and do it with excellence because you have clarity.

[00:06:23] So if you need clarification, stop and ask. People around you can help. 100% I am certain that people around you can help. Your team can help.

[00:06:33] And all too often we find ourselves in silos due to slack, due to being remote. I personally do not like being remote.

[00:06:42] I like being in person. I'm a people person to some degree, but I like being around people and feeling that energy.

[00:06:49] And it can be tough when you don't have that. Remember stop, get clarity and then move forward. And I do it all the time.

[00:06:56] You know, hey Justin, I need help with this or hey Jess, what about this or hey Harrison, you know, hey Zack, get clarity and then take action.

[00:07:05] Fortune favors the bold. I think we've all heard that one Aristotle. So number three, you have to have a vision to be an MVP.

[00:07:14] You have to have a vision. You have to have a vision for your life. What do you want to accomplish?

[00:07:20] And who do you need to become to make those accomplishments happen? All the greats in history have a dream. They think it, they see it, they speak it before it ever happens.

[00:07:31] MLK Jr., I have a dream or Muhammad Ali, I'm the greatest. Patrick Henry, give me liberty or give me death.

[00:07:37] He saw a free country and he fought to make it a reality. He had that dream. All leaders have vision.

[00:07:44] If you don't dream, you lose the thrill and excitement of life. This makes me think about kids. My daughter, Aislin, she's like one of the best dreamers draws these stories, comes up with these crazy stories depicting her drawings.

[00:07:58] And it's so exciting to hear her talk about it. And as we grow older as adults, society tells us to lose that. Don't dream. That's unrealistic. You need to fit in this box.

[00:08:10] But if we can keep that and know how to channel it in what we're doing and keep that thrill and excitement, that's contagious.

[00:08:18] Has anyone here seen someone rise from nothing? From obscurity? Maybe they become a leader or maybe they become a known athlete or performer? Think of that person.

[00:08:29] You're seeing someone who had a vision for their life. So dream big dreams. Your dreams should both inspire you and frighten you.

[00:08:40] And I hear Harrison all the time, I hear him through the wall because we share space. We're right next to each other.

[00:08:44] And he's always saying, hey, if your goal didn't scare you or if moving forward with hip didn't scare you, you know, I would be a little worried.

[00:08:52] It should scare you, you know? So if it doesn't scare you, if your dreams don't frighten you and at the same time inspire you, then, you know, it's probably not big enough.

[00:09:02] Great vision stretches beyond our comfort zone. And they call us to continually grow. And that's the key is just incremental growth little by little every single day.

[00:09:13] The best way to predict the future is to create it.

[00:09:17] So number four, we're almost done. There's just five points for today. But number four to be the most valuable player, you have to have a commitment to excellence.

[00:09:27] Getting to excellence obviously is a journey, but it starts with the right mindset and how you think. How many of you again know someone extremely successful, but they're not excellent at what they do?

[00:09:39] Typically, it doesn't work that way. You've got to be excellent and then you become successful.

[00:09:45] If you're not good at what you do and you don't really have a chance, you know, with how competitive society is, you have to be good at what you do.

[00:09:54] And this is just the way that the world operates. Remember, it's a journey. It's not a destination and complacency is the enemy of excellence, that stagnation.

[00:10:04] So strive to be at least 1% better every single day. When we do something well, it gives us a feeling of self-esteem, positive self-esteem.

[00:10:13] Here can relate, maybe you had a win. Many of you shared these wins or a partner thanked you or a co-worker or you just know that you did something well.

[00:10:23] It feels good, right? When you're just okay though or average and you may get some things done but it never really moves the needle.

[00:10:31] The opposite actually happens. It actually lowers your self-esteem.

[00:10:36] Now I'm not talking about being the next Zuckerberg. Certainly I don't think that's what's in store for myself.

[00:10:41] But in terms of helping small business owners, I'm certain that I can add value.

[00:10:46] I'm certain that I'm above average among most small business owners and it took me a long time to get to that point

[00:10:53] and I'm still learning every single day. I have a lot of gaps but it was first a strong desire.

[00:11:00] It was a mindset and it was a belief and it was a desire. I want to be able to add value to these people and their businesses.

[00:11:08] So pursue mastery. Not just competence. Competence is just the minimum baseline.

[00:11:14] It means you're capable of doing the job but mastery is the next level.

[00:11:18] Like Kobe Bryant, he got that mastery. How long did it take? How hard did he have to work?

[00:11:23] Mastery means constantly honing your craft and deepening your knowledge and skills.

[00:11:29] True excellence comes from a lifelong commitment to mastery.

[00:11:34] And I love this quote. We are what we repeatedly do.

[00:11:39] Excellence then is not an act. It's not a one-time thing. It's not an act but it's a habit.

[00:11:45] It's how you show up every single day. All of the time, it's a habit.

[00:11:49] Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time. Perfection is not attainable.

[00:11:54] You can't be perfect guys. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence and that's the goal.

[00:12:01] So lastly, number five. To be the most valuable player you have to concentrate.

[00:12:07] And I think this goes back to the quote that Anastasia shared.

[00:12:11] Concentration for today. Concentration on what you're working on. You have to be able to focus.

[00:12:16] What do these things actually mean? You know, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

[00:12:20] I'm like concentration, focus. Those kind of sound like the same thing and they are very similar.

[00:12:25] Here's what Google said. Focus refers to the ability to direct your attention toward a specific task, object or goal.

[00:12:33] It can also be used to describe the mental state of a person indicating whether they are attentive or distracted.

[00:12:40] Concentration on the other hand refers to the ability to maintain that focus for an extended period of time.

[00:12:47] Maintain your focus for an extended period of time.

[00:12:51] You know what most people do? Most people flounder around spending their time on low impact items.

[00:12:57] Here's my list. Let's start with the easy stuff, the non-pressing stuff. You guys ever do this?

[00:13:02] I mean, I'm guilty of it. Let's just get some things done. These things don't really matter but I can knock some things out.

[00:13:09] But successful people do the opposite. They focus on the top items first.

[00:13:16] They focus on the items that add the most value. Truly, anything else is a waste of time and time management is life management.

[00:13:25] To focus on what matters most we have to be willing to say no to everything else. This was really hard for me.

[00:13:31] I wanted to be a yes person and I had to learn to focus, to have momentum, to be able to grow.

[00:13:38] You gotta say no to everything else. This means regularly assessing activities, cutting out the non-essentials that train our time and our energy.

[00:13:48] By guarding our concentration and directing it only towards our highest leverage task we maximize our impact.

[00:13:56] Nothing great has ever been accomplished without the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time.

[00:14:02] Getting things done, one thing at a time. Being focused. Being present. Fully engaged in the here and now.

[00:14:08] That's the ultimate form of concentration. And it is the key to peak performance.

[00:14:14] So I will leave you guys with this. I had never heard this quote and it's a great quote.

[00:14:19] The successful warrior is the average man or woman. The average man or woman. But they have laser-like focus, Bruce Lee.

[00:14:28] Thanks for listening. If you'd like to learn more about HIP or any of the topics in this episode, send an email to hello at hipcreativeinc.com.

[00:14:39] That's hello at hipcreativeinc.com or jump over to our website at hip.agency.