I have an advertising partner who has told me several times that he knows next to nothing about marketing.

He’s not a stupid man, he knows more about the medical and health care professions than I would ever want to know.  He approached the radio station I work for looking for help to spread the word about a book he wrote and the ideas behind it and I get to work with him.

Jim mentioned to me that I’m different from the others he has contacted at other media outlets around the country.  A small smile appeared on my face as he said those words.  I’ve heard them before and when someone else recognizes that I’m different, that’s good.

I dress differently than my co-workers.  I don’t own a suit at the moment.  I’ve worn a tie twice in the past 4 months.  I am that bearded sweatervest guy who asks a lot of questions is probably the first impression I make after the 1st 5 minutes.

While the previous 165 words are true, they are just an illustration.

An example of 4 Success Principles for All of Us to keep in mind that we can apply to ourselves and our organizations:

1. Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses.  Use your strengths and partner or hire someone to take care of your areas of weakness.

2. Don’t Try and Change People so that they are carbon copies of you.  If there are two of “you” than one of you isn’t needed.

3. Encourage Others to Grow in their Areas of Strengths. This is different from #2.  Here you are pushing people to test their boundaries and step out of their comfort zones, but it is based on them, not your expectations of what they should be.  This is actually a freeing experience.  At the radio station where I work, I am one of 5 advertising sales people and while we can offer the same basic marketing solutions, each of us has a different style based on, well each of us as individuals.

4. Fail More.  It’s okay to screw up, to make mistakes and not be perfect.  However we need to eventually learn from these unsuccessful attempts.  If you are not failing, you are being too cautious in life.

4.5 Learn from others.  There is no need to repeat the same failures that others have.  Talk to others who have attempted what you are thinking about doing. Read their stories in books and online.  Ask lots of questions and pay attention to the answers so you can add their experiences to yours as you move forward.