The Power of Preeminence

To my

father and mother,

Wim and Riet Rulkens,

and my sister

Anneriëtte

Paul Rulkens

The Power of Preeminence

High performance principles

to accelerate your business
and career

2nd revised edition

Vakmedianet

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

Editing by Dorseda de Block
Book and cover design by Douwe Hoendervanger grafisch ontwerp bno

(www.douwehoendervanger.nl)
Photo author by Marc Schols, www.mcmproductions.nl

First edition: Camelopardalis Research Press, 2015
Second edition: Vakmedianet, 2017

ISBN 978 94 6276 185 8
ISBN e-book 978 94 6276 187 2

Copyright © by Paul W.P. Rulkens. Maastricht, www.agrippaci.com and

Vakmedianet, Deventer, www.managementimpact.nl

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Table of contents

Introduction

Who should read this book?

About this book

1 - The razor’s edge

Achieving Preeminence

The secret of the razor’s edge

Why are some people or businesses wildly successful?

Future pacing

Conscious versus subconscious brain

Accessing the subconscious brain

Imagine wild success

The Columbus principle

The 10-goal exercise

2 - Stepping out of the hamster wheel

Me, Inc.

In versus on

Marketing, innovation and strategy

In versus on: accelerate your business

In versus on: accelerate your career

In versus on: the final secret

3 - Preeminent strategy principles

Mindsets

Needs versus wants

Strategic focus areas for Preeminence

Preeminent strategies for business growth

Risk reversal

Opportunity costs

The danger of one

The positive power of negative preparation

Fungus, giraffe or sidekick

4 - Preeminent marketing principles

Referrals

The velvet rope policy

Raise your fees

Educate your marketplace

Buy your customer

Fall in love with your clients

Move to a sweet spot

The magic of a customer list

5- Preeminent innovation principles

Why the majority is always wrong

Breaking industry standards

Portable memory bank

Freenoting

The 20 ways thinking technique

Mindmapping

Cornell note taking

The mastermind group

6 - The power of strategic quitting

The mindset of strategic quitting

Delegation

Elimination

The problem with classic priority setting

Outsourcing

Systemization

7 - Increase performance, not potential

Theory of constraints

Decision making

Project management: good, cheap, fast

Overcoming procrastination

Serendipity

21-day habit

8 - Communicate anything to anyone

CLEAR communication

Learning styles

The power of know-feel-do

Communication styles

Open with impact

Executive communication

The perfect pitch

Feed forward

9 - The incredible time machine

The mindset

The 13 building blocks

10 - Why smart people do stupid things

The Dunning-Kruger effect

The God complex

The endowment effect

The Gell-Mann amnesia effect

Thinking in reverse

The dead horse fallacy

The SETI fallacy

The pre-mortem

Sustainable high performance

11 - Final thoughts

12 - Getting started

50 books to achieve Preeminence

Acknowledgments

About the author

Introduction

When I finished my education as Chemical Engineer, I was young, ambitious and broke. So I quickly accepted a job as a plant engineer in a big chemical plant. I felt like a kid in a candy store because I could do what many engineers are trained to do: solve problems that do not talk back. I was convinced I was on the right track for corporate success.

However, after a few years it slowly dawned on me that my peers were moving through the corporate ranks much more quickly than I was. I was flabbergasted: how is this even possible? What was going on?

This was the moment I became fascinated by a single idea: what is it that the most successful people, teams and organizations do differently when they want to achieve business and personal success in the easiest, fastest and most elegant way possible? This search for answers became a magnificent obsession for me. I studied successful people and organizations, became a voracious reader of books about personal and professional development, developed the habit of audio learning while driving in my car and attended every course and seminar I could get my hands on.

As a pragmatic engineer, I immediately applied what I learned. Based on the information gathered, I adopted the best ideas and, with simple focused actions, often got results that were staggering. I also realized that the best way to internalize an idea is to teach it to other people. I reinvented myself.

Since that time, I have been speaking, training, coaching and consulting. My subject is high performance; in other words, making successful people, teams and organizations even more successful. I have worked with hundreds of professionals, executives and business owners in more than 10 countries around the world. I have helped them accelerate their careers, while coaching them to adopt a few simple changes to move their teams and organizations to high performance and dramatically grow their businesses. I call this “Preeminence in business.”

Who should read this book?

My best clients have one thing in common: they know you don’t have to be sick in order to get better. They are pragmatic and always willing to test new approaches. They also know that if they do what everyone else is doing, they are not distinguishing themselves and are probably stuck. When it comes to high performance, the majority is always wrong.

This book captures the best ideas I have found to help successful people, teams and organizations become even more successful. All of these ideas have been tested at the front lines of modern business and professional life. All of these ideas have proven to work.

This book is written for two groups of people who realize that doing more is no longer the answer to having too much to do:

The successful corporate executive and business leader looking for practical ways to raise the business bar even further, while avoiding working even more hours and taking the fun out of playing the game of business. This book provides not only a wealth of practical ideas for business leaders, but can also be the perfect gift for their high-performing employees. They understand that their business life will become vastly better when their teams become better.

Ambitious professionals who understand that the enemy of success is perfection. They realize that the best way to grow their business career is no longer to become even more proficient at what they already do very well. Instead, learning certain new business skills will accelerate their careers and turn them into unstoppable goal achievers.

About this book

You will find 10 ideas in this book. I call them “big ideas,” because they have changed my life and the lives of many others, and they have the power to change yours as well.

Each big idea sometimes looks like common sense, can actually be contrary to prevailing wisdom and may simply provide a new angle to an existing idea. Yet, each big idea is profound by itself.

Big idea 1: The razor’s edge

If you want to double your results, you do not have to become twice as good. You only need to become a bit better in a few crucial areas that really matter. This is the strangest business secret and it is called the “razor’s edge.” It is the key to dramatically accelerate your success in business and in life.

Big idea 2: Stepping out of the hamster wheel

In order to make use of the razor’s edge, you need to step out of the hamster wheel and start working on yourself and on your business. You do so by focusing on the only three activities with unlimited leverage: strategy, marketing and innovation.

Big idea 3: Strategy: how to achieve Preeminence

Certain business and leadership concepts will move you much more rapidly toward high performance and Preeminence than others. These strategic concepts are universal and can be applied by anyone, anywhere under any circumstances.

Big idea 4: Marketing made simple

Whatever your product or professional service, clarity about the value you can deliver to the marketplace is essential for your success. I call this concept Preeminent marketing, a set of simple ideas that have the power to deliver magnificent results.

Big idea 5: Innovation: the majority is always wrong

If you do what everyone else is doing, you are not distinguishing yourself and are probably stuck. There are many ways to do things differently. This is the core of innovation. What I have found is that innovation doesn’t require big budgets, long lead times and uncontrolled risks. It requires a relentless focus on breaking the standards in your industry or professional field instead.

Big idea 6: The power of strategic quitting

Doing more is no longer the answer to having too much to do. You have to let go first in order to reach out for new and better things. Your ability to succeed equals your ability to quit.

Big idea 7: Focus on performance, not potential

All big accomplishments start small: Small improvements, systematically applied in specific areas, will help you to rapidly get everything you can out of everything you have.

Big idea 8: Communicate anything to anyone

Success is never achieved in isolation. The ability to rally people to your cause starts with the quality of your communication. The quality of your communication starts with some powerful ideas to communicate anything to anyone.

Big idea 9: The incredible time machine

Time is the great equalizer. Your results three months from now are determined by how well you use your time today. Therefore, we all need to become excellent in the highest and best use of our time. You can build your own time machine with a set of practical, proven and powerful ideas to get twice the results in half of the time.

Big idea 10: Why smart people still do stupid things

In spite of everything, even high-performance people, teams and organizations sometimes show low performance behaviors. These behaviors are caused by a few very distinct thinking flaws. Low-performance thinking carries certain warning signs. Once you recognize these red flags, you will avoid getting stuck in the low-performance trap.

Each big idea chapter contains a set of practical ideas. The best way to use this book is, therefore, to read it entirely first and then pick the one or two ideas that have the biggest potential to help you most. After you have applied these ideas in your own world, come back for more.

The reason people often get stuck is not that they are doing ineffective things. Their actions are ineffective because they aren’t the most effective use of their time and energy. It is the difference between doing things well versus doing things in an excellent way. It is the difference between the proper use of time versus the best use of time. It is the difference between applying reasonable ideas versus implementing brilliant ideas.

My goal is that, after applying some ideas from this book, you will be able to move to high performance, achieve Preeminence and stand apart like a tall giraffe, surrounded by tiny field mice.

Are you ready?

Paul Rulkens

Maastricht, The Netherlands

1
The razor’s edge

Would anyone care if your business disappeared overnight? Would anyone care if you left your company today? Would anyone care if you said goodbye to your profession right now?

In this case, I’m not talking about the wailing and gnashing of teeth by your employees, family and close friends. I am referring to your clients (will they panic?), your competition (will they dance in the streets?) or your raving fans (will they despair?) If the answer is “no, they will probably not notice I am gone,” you might not be Preeminent yet. Preeminence means that you and your business stand out like a tall giraffe surrounded by tiny field mice.

Achieving Preeminence

In order to attain the highest pinnacle of success, you must reach the status of Preeminence. Examples of companies who have achieved Preeminence are Ferrari, Apple, McKinsey, etc. Needless to say, Preeminence is a great position to be in.

You know when you have achieved Preeminence when:

People specifically ask for you and your business: “Get me…”

Prospects come to you with minimal marketing. For example, you won’t see many Rolls Royce advertisements, because of the brand’s Preeminence. It virtually sells itself.

The conversation is about how to use you, your product or service, not whether to use you, your product or service.

Price is never an issue. Your availability and the availability of your product or services is the only concern.

You are seen as a benchmark by your competition.

You command premium pricing.

Your ideas are copied and imitated.

You are a thought leader in your field.

For many of us, this sounds like a lot of work -- time consuming and frankly out of reach. What if there is a proven way to achieve Preeminence fast? The key is the fascinating concept of the “razor’s edge.”

The secret of the razor’s edge

Even in a depressed economy, the top 10 percent of businesses and professionals in virtually all industries is becoming more successful than ever. The remaining 90 percent is either floating, treading water, or even drowning. More millionaires are being made in difficult economic times than in good economic times. And many of the most successful companies were started in a bad economy.

Why are some people or businesses wildly
successful?

Some decades ago, while studying race horse performance, a group of scientists stumbled upon a fascinating discovery: in the long run, the number 1 race horse earned up to ten times more in prize money than the number 2 race horse. However, the number one race horse was less than 3 percent faster than number two. They called this strange phenomenon the razor’s edge, a small, yet consistent advantage, which can result in a massive, exponential positive effect on performance and success.

What we know now is that the razor’s edge is not limited to horse racing, but is equally valid for modern businesses and professionals.

Here is a little truth: wildly successful people do not know much more than you do. They also do not necessarily work longer hours than you do. They only do a few things slightly different, with a few small advantages in certain key areas, which are systematically, consistently and relentlessly leveraged. They have a razor’s edge that carves a significant chasm between a business that prospers beyond imagination and a business that struggles to survive.

They called this strange

phenomenon the razor’s

edge, a small, yet consist-

ent advantage, which can

result in a massive,

exponential positive effect

on performance and success.

Take for instance David Beckham, the soccer player. At the time of this writing, David Beckham earns an estimated 100 times more than the average professional soccer player. And yet, he does not score 100 times more goals. Come to think of it: a few years ago he retired from soccer all together and still earns 100 times more. This is an example of the razor’s edge in action.

Yet, the razor’s edge is not limited to the famous and well connected. It is everywhere. In my home town there is the bakery. Actually there are many bakeries, all vying for clients. Some survive, but many eventually go out of business. Bread, cakes, pastries: they are all commodities. But there is only one bakery. Tourists, as well as people from all over town patiently wait in a long line to get in this little shop, located behind a standard store front at an unremarkable corner in an anonymous part of town. The only distinction is the long line which invariably starts in the middle of the street. This bakery has the razor’s edge. Its revenue is undoubtedly multiple times higher than that of its nearest competitor.

This book is all about how you can get the razor’s edge in the easiest, fastest and most elegant way possible. Achieving your own razor’s edge is the key to succeed beyond your wildest imagination. But first you must learn the premier secret to launch the razor’s edge: future pacing.

Future pacing

A couple of years ago I saw an interesting commercial on television. This commercial was about instant soup. Frankly, there was nothing remarkable about the soup. However, in this commercial, a young manager, type A personality, had the annoying habit of loudly trying to energize and cheerlead his entire team non-stop the entire day. Exhausted after a full day of running around, he would sit down and drink his instant soup. Remarkably, after 10 minutes, his energy level was completely restored and, to the agony of his people, he’d start all over again. The interesting thing about this commercial was the young manager’s catch phrase: “success is a choice.”

This is a fascinating revelation. However, if success is a choice, there must be something like a master key to access it. This key can be found by taking a closer look at the human brain.

The brain is probably the most complicated thing in the universe. In the past two decades we have gained more knowledge of the workings of the brain than in the centuries before. Yet, despite this progress, we have barely scratched the surface of real brain understanding. Brain scientists have therefore developed models to describe what little we know of the brain. One model reveals that we have a conscious and a subconscious brain. And here, the quest for the razor’s edge becomes interesting.

Conscious versus subconscious brain

Your conscious brain is the little voice that is constantly talking inside your head. Its main function is goal-seeking For instance, if you ask it to find the color red in a crowded room, it has no problem locating multiple sources of red. In order to do so, it will filter out everything irrelevant to achieving its goals. Thus, if you are focused on the color red, you will not see the color blue, even when looking directly at it. Likewise, we often cannot find the misplaced car keys right in front of us, because we convinced ourselves we must have placed them somewhere else. In other words: we see what we believe instead of seeing what is actually there

While your conscious brain is always at the forefront of your thoughts, your subconscious brain is a different animal, working 24 hours a day in the background. For instance, think about a time you saw a picture of a famous person in the newspaper and you could not remember her name. Then three days later, you are about to step into your car, and all of a sudden the name pops up in your conscious brain. This is your subconscious brain in action.

While your conscious brain thinks in language (the little voice inside your head), the subconscious brain thinks in pictures and feelings. A picture reveals more than a thousand words. And this is also true for the brain. The conscious brain is fast; in many ways it is still faster than a modern computer. The subconscious brain, however, is estimated to be more than 10,000 times faster.