Chapter 5 3. Take the initiative to find ways to make you stand out

In September 2002, I participated in the World Chinese Entrepreneurs Conference.At the meeting, the speech of a famous Chinese businessman surnamed Yang left a deep impression on everyone. Mr. Yang is from Wenzhou, Zhejiang. More than ten years ago, a distant relative of his opened a restaurant in Europe and invited him to help.Unexpectedly, not long after he arrived in Europe, his relative suddenly fell ill and died, and the restaurant soon collapsed. Mr. Yang didn't want to go back to China, so he found a job there.A few years later, he went to work in a medium-sized health care product factory.The company's products are good, but its popularity is limited.

He started as a salesman and has been a supervisor.Once he was on a business trip by plane, but unexpectedly encountered an unexpected hijacking.After ten thrilling hours, with the efforts of all walks of life, the problem was finally solved and he could go home.Just as he was about to step out of the cabin, he suddenly thought of a scene he often sees in movies: when a hijacked person walks out of the cabin, many reporters will always come to interview him. Why don't you take this opportunity to promote your company's image? So, he immediately made a move that no one had thought of in that situation: he found a large piece of paper from the box, and wrote a line of big characters on it: I am XX from XX company, and I and XX from the company Brand health products are safe and sound, thank you very much to those who rescued us!

As soon as he got out of the cabin with such a sign, he was immediately captured by the TV cameras.He immediately became the star of the hijacking, and he was interviewed and reported by many news outlets. When he returned to the company, the company's chairman and general manager, along with all the middle-level executives, stood at the door to welcome him.It turned out that his ingenious behavior at the airport made the name of the company and product a household name almost instantly.The company's phone calls are almost ringing, and customers' orders are one after another.The chairman said emotionally: I didn't expect you to think of the company and products first in such a situation.Without a doubt, you are the best sales executive ever!The chairman announced his appointment letter on the spot: deputy general manager in charge of marketing and public relations.After that, the company also rewarded him with a generous bonus.

The story of Mr. Yang illustrates a truth: in any unit or organization, those who can actively find solutions to problems are the easiest to stand out! The method can relieve inconvenience for people, enable others to have greater development, and create the most direct benefits for the unit.Which unit's leader can not pay special attention to people who find ways to help the unit solve problems? I once taught a class on the CEO class of Chinese private enterprises held by Peking University in which the trainees decided to make money by thinking, in which I told the story of this CEO.

This story aroused enthusiastic responses, and one president said with emotion: This story reminds me of the famous American entrepreneur Iacocca.They also illustrate a truth: at any time, the person who takes the initiative to find a solution is the easiest to stand out. The Ford Motor Company of the United States is one of the earliest and largest automobile companies in the United States.In 1956, the company introduced a new car.The style and function of this car are very good, and the price is not expensive, but it is strange that the sales are mediocre, which is completely contrary to the original idea.

The managers of the company were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, but they couldn't find a way to sell the product after racking their brains.At this time, in Philadelphia, where the sales volume of Ford cars ranked last in the country, a college student who had just graduated had a strong interest in this new car. He was Iacocca. Iacocca was a trainee engineer at the Ford Motor Company at the time and had nothing to do with car sales.However, the anxious expression of the company boss because of the unsalable new car was deeply imprinted in his mind. He began to wonder: Can I figure out how to make this car sell well?Finally one day, he had a flash of inspiration, so he went straight to the manager's office, proposed an idea to the manager, and advertised in the newspaper, which read: Buy a Model 56 Ford for 56 yuan.

The specific method of this idea is: whoever wants to buy a Ford car produced in 1956 only needs to pay 20% of the purchase price in advance, and the remaining part can be paid off gradually at a monthly payment of 56 US dollars. His suggestion was adopted.As a result, this method is very effective. Everyone knows about the advertisement of buying a Model 56 Ford for fifty-six yuan. The practice of buying a Model 56 Ford for fifty-six yuan not only dispelled many people's worries about the price of the car, but also created the impression that only fifty-six yuan a month was too cost-effective.

The miracle happened in such a simple advertisement: In just three months, the sales volume of this car in the Philadelphia area jumped from the bottom to the national champion. The young engineer's talents were quickly appreciated, and the headquarters transferred him to Washington and appointed him as a regional manager. Later, Iacocca continued to launch a series of creative measures based on the company's development trend, and finally sat on the throne of Ford's president. After reviewing Iacocca's experience, the boss shared his experience of reading "Iacocca's Autobiography" with everyone.The first time he read this book was when he was in college, and there was such a plot in the book that left a deep impression on him:

After Iacocca became the president of Ford, he was fired by Ford Jr., and was later invited by Chrysler, the third largest automobile company in the United States, to take charge.At that time, Chrysler was in crisis and was on the verge of bankruptcy. Iacocca tried his best to save the company, and finally saved the company and let it regain its glory.The story of Iacocca's restructuring of Chrysler has inspired many Chinese entrepreneurs.However, the boss said: Iacocca's story touched him the most at the time, and it was how he stood out from the crowd and finally became the president.

He said: At that time, as a college student, the question I was most concerned about was how can we stand out faster after entering the society?Better get everyone's approval?And Iacocca gave me the best answer: those who take the initiative to help the unit solve problems are the easiest to stand out!People who can find a way to help the unit solve problems are most likely to be recognized by people! In the United States, the young railroad postman, Fore, was one of thousands of other postmen who distributed letters in the old fashioned way, often delaying many letters for days or weeks.

Foer was not satisfied with the status quo, but tried his best to change it. Soon, he invented a method of collectively delivering letters, which greatly improved the delivery speed of letters. Foer was promoted.Five years later, he became deputy post office, then general manager, and finally general manager of AT&T. Yes, when everyone thinks that work only needs to be done step by step, there are some outstanding people who will find more effective methods to improve efficiency faster and solve problems better!It is precisely because they have the awareness and ability to find a way that they have been recognized as quickly as possible! Let's look at another story: In 1793, the French army guarding the city of Toulon rebelled.With the aid of the British army, the rebels guarded the city of Toulon like an iron wall.The French troops who came to quell the rebellion could not take it.The city of Toulon is surrounded by water on all sides, and three sides are deep water areas. The British warships were cruising on the water, and opened fire violently as soon as the French army coming to attack the city approached.The warships of the French army were far inferior to those of the British army, and there was nothing they could do. The French commander was in a hurry. At this moment, in the ranks of quelling the rebellion, a twenty-four-year-old artillery captain had an idea, immediately wrote a note with a quill pen, and handed it to the commander: Your Excellency, General: Please send a hundred ships urgently The giant wooden ship, equipped with artillery used in land warfare instead of naval guns, bombarded the British warships from the middle, and the inferior defeated the superior! When the commander saw it, he praised it again and again, and hurried to do it. Sure enough, once this new weapon was deployed, the British ships could not stop it.In just two days, the British ships that originally guarded the city of Toulon were bombarded to pieces and had to flee in embarrassment.Seeing this, the rebels quickly surrendered. After this incident, the young captain was promoted to brigadier general of artillery. Do you know who this captain is?He was Napoleon who later became the emperor of France and who shocked the world! Like many outstanding people, Napoleon's success, to a considerable extent, is to seize a key opportunity to stand out, and in this way, he embarked on a new starting point with a high level! Only with such a new starting point can we have a bigger stage, attract more people to follow our example, and have more resources pooled towards us. In fact, people who take the initiative to find ways to solve problems and can find ways to solve problems are always rare resources in society.Whether it is past or present, domestic or foreign, as long as there are such people, they will be able to shine like stars.Even if he didn't deliberately pursue the opportunity, the opportunity would come to him on his own initiative. Ask yourself: Did you solve one or more difficult problems and impress others?Did you do a few outstanding things that your leaders and others appreciate? If you haven't, hurry up and make up the class.If you do one or even several admirable things through actions, you will usher in more opportunities for development, from success to greater success!