02: Success Leaves Clues with Miguel de Jesus

Welcome Misfit Nation!

Today's guest is a great friend and mentor, Miguel de Jesus.  Miguel is the founder of Purpose and Action. He's credited with leading the growth efforts of a Fortune 1000 from $40 million in sales to over $2 billion. We take some time on Miguel’s story as it really represents a trip through history with some of the most storied companies in history. Starting from humble beginnings in New York’s lower East Side. Miguel started out his entrepreneurial career as a Trumpet player in high school, playing gigs around the city. He then started a retail clothing company with storefront on Broadway in Manhattan…where he used everything from arbitrage to unique radio spots to drive sales. Miguel also explains how he learned the hard lessons with this business and those spurred him to continue his entrepreneurial career in the early days at Xerox and was there for 20 years including 8 years in Puerto Rico.

In this episode, we take a little walk down memory lane from my early days at Paychex working with Miguel. Miguel will help to learn the inner workings and perseverance needed to get things done in a larger company, how founders think differently that the rest of us, how to find the sacred cows and don’t be afraid of them, but also be conscious to their importance, and lastly, learn to gain leverage by having all of your assets and resources clearly defined. Assess where you are today and determine where your gaps are.

Tune in at the 16 minute mark to learn how Miguel used his entrepreneurial skill to help take a $40 million company to over $2 billion. Miguel talks about the importance of people development and how Miguel founded the University of Paychex, one of the Top 100 corporate training programs for over 15 years, but more importantly, he gives us model he has used in growing and making businesses successful.

Here's Miguel's model that he has used for 40+ years:

Dissect your business into 4 categories:

1. People – You cannot grow without people, but more importantly, the absence of people ready to assume higher responsibility that are “ready” is going to limit growth. You must have a bench that is well trained and ready to step up.
2. Programs- What programs do you have in place? Which ones are needed? Is leadership aligned on doing them? Are you prepared to execute on those needed and see them through?
3. Process – Take a look at your existing processes and #1, if you don’t have them documented, get them documented. Immediately. This will not only allow your business to grow faster and easier, but save tremendous headaches later on.
4. Execution: Deliberate, planned, written. Then you Practice, Practice, Practice Best

Quote from Miguel: "Tomorrow you’ll be the same person that you are today, except for the workshops that you attend, the books that you read, and the coaches that you work with."

Miguel's Misfit 3:

1. Always be and stay curious. The 3 most dangerous words in personal development are “I know that.” You have to check your ego and be open to be coached and get coaching.

2. Stay aggressive. Don't get complacent or comfortable. If you feel you are comfortable in your role or business, everything is about to change, so get moving!

3. Attend as many worthwhile workshops, seminars, podcasts, etc. that you can in the specific areas you want to learn or grow and focus making sure you are working with those that are true experts and SME’s in the area you are focused on. There is a big difference between and SME and a motivation speaker, make sure you understand that.

 

Learn more about Miguel at www.purposeandaction.com