I was asked to speak to all the partners in a Private Equity Firm to explain how I do my deals because I typically get paid to receive equity and this is very out of the ordinarily for corporate private equity professionals.
The first words out of my mouth were:
“Acquisition deals are the end of a process which is began with an intention.”
I explained how the only part of any deal we really control is our intention, that when we focus on leading with value by solving their problems and to do so we must understand their problem first.
I explained how working this way can drastically improve their business, revenue, the money in their pocket and the quality of relationships they forge.
Every Humble Alpha knows that all we do is based on H.I.T. I explained H.I.T. stands for Honesty Integrity & Transparency: Honesty is being true to who you are and how you live. Transparency is communicating your honesty for anyone to observe. Integrity is the result and your ongoing reputation. This is how you turn everyone that you ever talk to about your business into a human sales funnel for you.
This is how the rest went:
Let’s talk about the ONE thing that every single one of us either struggles with or has struggled with. Imposter syndrome. This idea that you’re a fraud and that somehow everyone’s going to find out. Like everyone else has it all figured out and it’s just a matter of minutes before it all falls apart.
Anyone who’s acquiring a business or a business in a new industry for the first time is in this phase and the reason you feel like a fraud, the reason you’re terrified is because you’re attempting to be better than who you are in this moment. You’re attempting growth. That’s something to be proud of, it’s incredible when you embrace this. You’re not just sitting on the couch and watching TV and doing business as usual.
Why does H.I.T. work so well with fraud?
H.I.T. ensures that you’re clear with yourself first. You can stand there naked and no one has anything on you. Because you are self-assured, but this is different than pride. Pride invites a defense mechanism, which itself invites attacks, which is why prideful people often are in conflict. When you are self-confident, your results, your behavior and your presence speak for itself, no need to justify or defend it.
When you put yourself out there, you must be clean – when you want to be big time, you must be big time from the INSIDE OUT. This attracts those who seek your advice, solutions and sometimes simply those who just want to be around you.
I see my life as an enterprise, my “Life Enterprise” and like the CEO of a business enterprise I am responsible to the stakeholders in my life enterprise. This means I always leave everyone I meet in a better place than when I met them. Every interaction. The postman, a random person on the street, my wife or business partners and clients. This elevates all those around me, making them want to work, be or spend time with me, but this is only the by-product, not the reason for my actions. I care, I really care about one thing that impacts my world and that is the value I give creates radiant value in the lives of those I touch. It’s important to me because true change and true impact starts with you and your immediate world. Make a big enough impact and that radiant value will spread your value far and wide and pay out in a big way.
Because I operate according to H.I.T., the honesty and transparency aspect forces me to either verbalize an expectation, or not to have one at all. This is incredibly powerful for all relationships, as powerful as the integrity aspect because they go hand in hand.
You see, if I expect something from you and do not verbalize it, you will feel it and you will resist subconsciously and resistance will make you feel something is off and that is the integrity wavering. EVERY healthy relationship on the planet is based on Integrity.
The next part I go through is creating space, now this is an incredible tool and it really works. This is how I close 50 million, 100 million 220 million-dollar deals. Creating Space is the conscious focus on the only part of a conversation that you can control: The intention. That’s it. No cookie cutter solution, no preconceived notions, no pitches. You are only there to add value by solving their problem and this means being there wholly and fully for them and not for you or your agenda. Do this consciously before each meeting and you will fly, I promise you.
Then, when I connect with others, I start investing in what I call Relational Capital, which has a guaranteed return, you will always get a return from somewhere when you operate in this manner. This means simply that after you meet them as a H.I.T. person, and you create space, you then deepen the relationship by adding more value, elevating them and ensuring the interaction you have are meaningful and solves problems. That’s investing.
So, all of the above: H.I.T., Life Enterprise, Creating Space & Relational Capital lead to one thing and that is what everyone on the planet seeks, always. That is Quality of Life.
Simply put, when you bring the H.I.T. mindset to work with you, shit gets done.
How does this relate to a human funnel?
Your authenticity dictates your market value and you can’t be authentic without knowing who you are and believing in what you do. If you want people to take you seriously – and if you’re selling something you can’t afford not to – you need to amplify this loud and clear.
And it’s how you’re going to turn everyone that you ever talk to about your business – whether they buy from you or not – into a human funnel for you.
Brutal honesty with yourself is paramount as a Humble Alpha. It is very difficult to be honest with yourself when you have external motivators because you’re then always dancing to someone else’s expectations. Therefore, you can’t be honest with yourself unless you take a deep look at your true identity and purpose.
When I say who, I don’t mean what. We have all heard the person say “do you know who I am?” and then they state a position or title”, well that’s not who they are, that’s what they do.
Until you uncover your true identity, your purpose will seldom be aligned with who you really are and that makes it next to impossible to have a total life presence with self-esteem integrated throughout your life enterprise, keeping that one thing everyone seeks, always an arm length away…Quality of Life.
Then I explained 3 deals I recently did where I was paid an upfront fee, equity and profit share.
And explained how I did this.
All of these were only possible because of the powerful relationships I developed using the above-mentioned principles and because I solved their problem first before I presented my agreement.
This is how it goes: In my discussion, I ensure I’m prepared to create space before I begin the meeting by visualizing emptying my head of all preconceived notions, cookie cutter solutions or ideas of what I think they want. I then begin by creating space, being wholly and fully present, leading with value by focusing on the intention to solve problems. Once I find the problem, I get really clear what they need and then we wrap up and I give them assurance I will get back to them.
I then go out and gather the solutions: A distributor, product placement, investor, manufacturer and so on, only then do I return with a complete solution, how can they say no? They can’t, which then makes it possible to come to a handsome agreement.
All three deals were referrals from people I had solved problems for in the past and gained their trust.
It is all based on us, our beliefs in our ability to solve problems and the will to lead with value. Anything else is pot luck, you have heard it: win some, lose some. Why not win them all, it just means redefining what winning means to you!
After I finished, there was dead silence until someone spoke up and said: I think I just learned 4 brand new concepts that will change my life, in just 30 minutes? At my age I never believed that could happen. Then the questions started and we went on for a bit longer.
Moral of the story? A Humble Alpha dictates their own reality.
If you have not read our book “Unleash Your Humble Alpha” yet, grab a copy before the 2nd of August and for each book you purchase, three children are fed in the USA through our partner Generosity Feeds. Grab a copy here: https://humblealphabook.com/product/humblealpha/
You may be a leader thinking to yourself, how can I learn this? Join us in our “Humble Alpha Leadership Program” and work directly with Lane and myself every month for a year. 3-4 months of massive learning and then the rest is pure integration and developing the skills, mindset and beliefs, check it out here: https://members.qolenterprises.com/humble-alpha
