I was talking with a client of mine and the conversation touched on that in 2020, since the pandemic, many of us in business had to pivot our game plan to adjust to what was going on. Now, as we got deep into this conversation, we started talking about the words pivot and shift, kind of like a running back, that pivots and shifts to avoid a tackler. However, pivot and shift are sideway moves. Colleen mentioned, in reading somewhere, “We need to elevate instead of pivot and shift.” What a great concept, in business. If we’re pivoting or shifting, we’re going sideways. If we’re elevating, we’re going up.
I would like to share a story of a gentleman named Jesse Cole. Jesse Cole was a baseball player. He played all the way from T-ball all the way through the college ranks. In his final year of college, he was getting all sorts of offers from pro teams. His dream was always to sell out Fenway Park, to be a pitcher on the mound at Fenway. This was his dream and hopefully, it was on the horizon. However, in his senior year, being a pitcher, he blew out his shoulder. His dream in an instant essentially went poof. After some soul searching, he felt that he had to shift or pivot, and he started analyzing the game of baseball.
As he was looking at the game, he felt like baseball was getting somewhat boring. It was taking way too long. He began to look at all the concepts of baseball and chose to challenge them. He eventually bought a baseball team in Savannah, Georgia. Unfortunately, after about two years of doing everything, he and his wife could possibly do to get fans to the games, they were failing. They were $1.8 million in debt. His wife looked at him and said, “We need to go all in. We need to sell our home.” That’s a gut check; 1.8 million in debt with a losing baseball team that’s not attracting fans.
At that point in time, when they went all in, he made an elevation. His mindset shifted up instead of sideways. He started challenging everything about baseball. They are now a baseball team/entertainment. The games have a two-hour time limit. There are no walks, there’s no bunting. Why? “Because that’s boring”, Jesse says. They have created a brand that’s fans first. Their players are having fun. They have a culture. This is becoming a national phenomenon. They’re out of debt, very successful, and making money. They have a product line, they have a waiting list for all their games, and have sold out every single game since.
Why do I share this? Because Jesse, didn’t shift, he didn’t pivot. He elevated his mindset to create something that hasn’t been done before. Are people defying him saying, “That’s crazy”? Absolutely, yes. But anytime you’re successful in life, some people are going to pat you on the back and a lot of people will say, “No, that isn’t right. You can’t do that.” Well, that’s what makes a success.
I encourage you to view https://thesavannahbananas.com/ . Learn about their story because this has every ingredient of success. Could have quit, could have choked when they were $1.8 million in debt. They went all in. They defied the game of baseball the way it’s being played. Created a whole new vehicle of entertainment and they’re extremely successful because of it.
So, if you’re a little bit stuck right now, let’s skip the pivot, let’s skip the shift, and let’s ask ourselves, “How can I elevate my thinking to think way outside the box to create something that hasn’t been done before so I can take my business, my brand, my team, my culture to a whole new level of success?”
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com