Become A Leader
There are a couple of things to do in order to become very memorable. One is to pick somebody that you remember, and ask yourself: what are the characteristics that made you remember this person?
What was it about that person that made you think of them beyond your initial encounter? Was it was that they made you feel? Was it the way that they listened to you? Was it the way that they engaged you in conversation? Was it something that they said that was particularly interesting? Think about it. Life is all about modeling – you can model yourself after somebody.
I’d like to share a story. Back when I was 24 years old, I was a wannabe actor in New York City and I really hated waiting tables and wanted to bartend. I went into this bar that my friend Pilar – this blond girl – was working in, and I said, “teach me how to bartend.”
She said, “fine, here are the 20 drinks you need to memorize.” I had no problem with that, but I asked, “do you mind if I come here every single night and just watch the way you move?” Bartenders have a certain way that they move behind the bar; you want to make it look good. She looked great behind the bar – the way she shook the cocktail shaker, they way she moved her arms up and down in making shots – there are so many particular mannerisms.
So I literally watched her mannerisms behind the bar every night for two weeks. I memorized the drinks; found myself a job, and what happened next? My first night bartending, there were probably a thousand people in the club, and at the end of the night they hired me as the head bartender because I was the best they’d seen in a long time. And I had never bartended before in my life!
It was the same thing when I went into the car business – for some reason or another, I always wanted to own a used car lot, because I was obsessed with cars and wanted to have 50 of them at once to play with and drive. I was at the point in my life and in my career where I was investing in real estate in Colorado (buying and selling foreclosures) and I started hanging out at my ex-partner Greg’s job: he was a salesman for this certain used car lot.
I’d go in there everyday and negotiate with him over cars. Then I would go to every single car dealer in Denver and negotiate with them over their car deals – I learned how they negotiated. I wanted to learn everything, and I learned the lingo they were using. I asked them about their business, and everything that I could possibly know about the business – the wholesale end, the retail end – everything.
So then I opened up my business with Greg, who ended up being my partner, and three weeks into it these wholesalers came into the dealership. I forgot their names, but I think they were Johnny and Roger. They were two really old wholesalers; they’d been in the business something like 30 years.
They looked at me and they said, “it’s so great that you’re a car guy. We hate all of the guys that just get into this business to make money. You’re one of these old-fashioned car guys.” I was thinking to myself, I got into the business not only because I liked cars, but I also knew it would be a good investment – but because I had talked to all of the dealers and asked so many questions, I was able to become that “car guy.”
Everything in life is about becoming memorable. How you do this is by mirroring somebody that you respect.
There are two options for participating in a weekend bootcamp with me. Most people choose the first one, which is where I watch you in action, and then you watch me, and then I’ll watch you, and we will alternate to see exactly how you do, and I’ll keep critiquing you.
But there’s a great story about a guy who came to attend one of my coaching weekends and chose the second option. He looked at me and said, “I just want to follow you the entire weekend. I don’t want to talk or anything. I’m going to take notes, I’m going to record you speaking, and I’m going to follow you. The last hour of the weekend is going to be me going out and being you.” Read the rest of this entry »





Jordan and Josh chat with the guys at Project Rockstar about their complete makeover.
Wayne Elise aka Juggler stops by to chat with us about building charisma.



