Whenever anyone asks me what I do for a living I have a difficult time explaining my job. I own a artist management company, a booking agency, two record labels, a publishing company and a conference company. We represent three contemporary music artists, three comedians, three children?s acts, one speaker/author and a men?s ministry conference. It may sound like a big deal but the truth is we are a small, diverse company trying to survive in a new era. The most amazing thing to me is that we operate this complex organization very effectively with only four full time people who office out of my house. Crazy as it may seem we have plans for expanding our roster and products in the near future without adding any additional significant overhead.
How is that possible? We now operate from an organizational system that we learned by studing David Allen?s book ?Getting Things Done?. Prior to instituting his program we were a typical stressed out bunch who were stretched beyond our ability to perform meaningful work. If you have not checked out his book I highly recommend it to everyone. It transformed our company.
Now let me say that 27 years of experience has played an important role in our success too but that one move changed our lives more so than anything we?ve tried. When you add in the fact that we only work with smart and talented people who are nice folks it makes the job easier. Long range planning helps as does staying up to date on the latest technology and social networking tools. But the number one reason that we are able to succeed in these difficult times is that I made a decision years ago to listen for God?s voice in all that we do. Whenever I stray from that promise we fail miserably. Whenever we follow his lead great things always happen.
So there is my secret to success. Anyone can do what I have done.
Mike,
Great post! It’s good to see you giving GTD some love. The principles are great but as an objective observer, I’d say the biggest secret to your success is quality of the people working in your organization. You are all top flight!
A. Pace
Thanks for the kind words. You are right, we have a great bunch of folks working here. You have helped us immensely by leading us through Getting Things Done. I am deeply indebted.
This is a great post Mike. As one of Mike’s technology advisors over recent years, I would love to be able to take credit for Mike’s success but that would not be true.
I have been amazed by Mike’s productivity and ability to do so much with so little. God has greatly blessed Mike and I have been blessed myself to have Mike in my life.
Keep up the great work!
Micky Thompson
Micky I am a big fan of yours and am rooting for you to be the most successful man I know. Thanks for all your help and inspiration over the years. The best is yet to come!
You are so awesome for helping me solve this myrstey.