After reading Steve Jobs’ autobiography I really thought about how he changed the world and his employees at Apple. Based on the book Jobs was not easy to work for. He demanded perfection and when he didn’t get it he got In the face of the offending employee. There was no such thing as ‘good enough’ there was only one way, the right way. That is according to Steve Jobs. He believed that whatever his vision was he could will it into reality. I’m quite sure the turnover rate of those working directly with Jobs at Apple was very high. Apple recruited only those at the top of their class from the top schools in the country. The best of the best of the best.
Even with this top talent there was no guarantee of top performance. In other words high intellect or high levels of technical skill did not necessarily equate to success when working for Steve Jobs. He demanded more, he demanded that you find a way to be great. And if Jobs surrounded himself with enough ‘A’ players Apple was sure to succeed now and well into the future.
Nearly all of those who worked for Jobs cursed him for demanding perfection or demanding more than they thought they could give. Many called him an a__hole to work for. However nearly all said that in the end they would not have been great without him. He brought out more in themselves than they thought they had. Steve Jobs was a Great Coach.
Here in Green Bay we had a great coach who brought greatness to his players and his team. Vince Lombardi demanded perfection from everyone in the Green Bay Packers organization. Although most of his players were very talented and gifted. Vince believed that if you diligently followed a process and demanded more of yourself than you thought possible you would succeed as well as lead to team success.
Teams knew the plays the Packers were going to run, but because they ran them to perfection the defenses could not stop the Packers offense. Many of Lombardi’s players cursed him but after their careers were over, thanked him for making them great. Vince Lombardi was a Great Coach.
All great coaches make their ‘players’ do things they did not want to do. Great coaches know that ‘it’s different this time’ does not work. Great coaches know that if you diligently follow a prudent process you will succeed in the long term
The lack of an investor coach will lead to inferior results. Many investors keep searching for the investment strategy that works best for ‘right now’. The Wall Street bullies encourage investors to continue searching for the ‘new’ best solution for right now.
It has been proven over and over that stock pickers….market timers do not succeed over the long term. Even if you have the best tools available with the best products you will not do as well as you would with a Great Investor Coach.
Your coach will demand you do things you do not want to do, like buy stocks when the market is down OR sell stocks when the market is up. Sometimes you will lag behind the market for short periods of time but over the long term you will succeed. Of course, past performance is no guarantee of future results.
A Great Investor Coach will not tell you what you want to hear. Nor will they sell you what you want to buy. They will show you a prudent investment process and keep you disciplined.
So, fire your broker/agent and hire a (Great) investor coach/fiduciary adviser.
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