What we can learn from one of the world's highest-paid consultants

Here's an interesting thing I learned when I used to consult for venture capital firms. If all goes according to plan…

Out of a ton of potential deals, a VC firm will invest in 10 companies.

5 of those will go bankrupt. They know this and expect it.

3 of them will “trade sideways,” meaning they'll basically putter along.

But 1 of them will be a huge hit. Like Google/Uber-worthy hits. That single deal pays for everything else.

What are the interesting things to take away from this example?

1. After a while, you can build a model of what you expect and optimize for it. For example, I used to get random speeding tickets, but then I realized I could predict when I would get them, so I built them into my automation model.


2. Being the best is way, way better than being #2. Like 1,000x better.

I want to talk about studying the best, because I've noticed too many people studying nutjobs and weirdos and thinking it's okay.

I see people buying courses from some random guy living in his mom's basement, selling an ebook on how to make a billion dollars, and I want to put my head in my hands.

I'd rather introduce you to amazing, successful entrepreneurs who can show you new ways to think. There's major value in learning from the best: They've seen tons of scenarios, they've surrounded themselves with better people, and they've gotten more “at-bat” opportunities than almost anyone else.

To do that, I went to one of the most successful consultants in the world. In fact, if you google “helping successful leaders,” you'll notice something strange. Virtually all of the 3,530 search results point to one person: Dr. Marshall Goldsmith.

Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal note that Dr. Goldsmith is one of the top 10 leadership and business experts in the world. He's also the author of What Got You Here Won't Get You There (one of my favorite book titles of all time).

I recently sat down with him and asked him questions I'd been wanting to ask for years. Like, “What do you really teach the CEO of Wal-Mart when you do a consulting project? How does it even work when you walk in the room?”

Being the best is never an accident. If you're aiming to be amazing at what you do – whether it's your business, your job, or even your relationship – one of the best things you can do is elevate who you study from.

(For example, no more reading life coaches who are secretly struggling to pay their bills.)

Dr. Goldsmith is one of the few people who can answer these questions. Recently, I sat down to talk with him as part of my Brain Trust Program.

I want to share one of my favorite parts from our chat. In it, he talks about:

• What it really means when you attract and repel people – on purpose (1:16)


• A fatal mistake that smart people make - I am guilty of this (5:02)


• Why you should stop starting sentences with “no,” “but,” and “however” - a classic flaw of successful people (7:50). Again, I do this!

Check it out here:

Notice there's a reason top CEOs hire coaches and trainers.

Of course, they could read the same techniques in some book. But they know a great coach can take the material in a book and help them APPLY it. If even one idea helps them perform better, it's worth every cent.

The full session is available to members of my Brain Trust program. If you'd like to learn more about it, you can find more details here.

What we can learn from one of the world's highest-paid consultants is a post from: I Will Teach You To Be Rich.