Positivity and Listening Fueled Success for Sam Adams Founder
Do you wonder how some entrepreneurs become wildly successful? In many cases, attitude is the primary key to success, and the second key is communication skills. Here, Lisa B. Marshall, aka The Public Speaker, shares how one entrepreneur used these skills to change his industry.
I recently received a copy of Jim Koch’s book, Quench Your Own Thirst. Jim is the founder of The Boston Beer Company and brewer of Samuel Adams beer. He’s also been credited as a key catalyst of the American craft beer revolution.
Although I do enjoy a cold Sam Adams, particularly on very hot days after working in my garden, today I won’t be discussing craft beers. Instead, I’ll focus on two insights I gained from reading this book.
Positive Attitude Leads to Success
Koch starts with some simple advice, which seems so obvious on the surface, but really isn’t. It’s a message that I wish I had internalized early in my career, because I believe it’s critically important for the success of an entrepreneur, or really any professional. Jim indirectly suggests that we should follow the mantra he heard from his Dad throughout his childhood: Every problem has a solution.
It’s interesting when I compare that to the message I received from my father. Followers of my podcast know that I learned some terrific lessons from my father, who was a huge and very positive influence on me. But in this one area, the indirect message I received was not helpful. My Dad was an engineer—his job was to point out potential problems—and that’s how he handled many of our conversations. (I was full of ideas for businesses when I was young.) I’d eagerly run to him to share my latest concept and he’d proceed to point out all of the potential problems. And that’s when I’d get stuck and deflated. I never had enough knowledge to overcome the issues he raised. And unfortunately, I didn’t recognize that I didn’t have to have all the answers! I’d think about the issues, but often I didn’t have a response and I never thought to reach out to others to help me solve the potential problems. So I never moved forward with my ideas. I felt frustrated.
See Also: Business Tips from Jim Koch, Founder of Sam Adams Beer
What I wish I had understood more clearly is that recognizing problems is only a first step; every worthwhile project will have roadblocks and challenges. What matters is how you move forward after identifying issues. The key to success, as Jim’s dad preached, is to believe that every problem has a solution. You just need to put in the time and money, find the resources needed, and perhaps most importantly, not let the problems diminish your excitement for the idea. (That’s why I really admire people who are working on big problems—the people that have the ability to wait years, sometime a lifetime, to see progress (and their impact) on the problem they are working on.)
Now, as an adult, when I’m faced with an issue, I often repeat to myself, “This is just a problem that needs to be solved. If I keep thinking about the problem and working on it, I will eventually see a solution and I will move forward. Just keep going.” Knowing and really believing that obstacles are just temporary keeps me from getting frustrated and stuck. I wish as a child I had heard and internalized the message that all problems have a solution. (I’m curious, what message did you receive growing up? Please post in the comments section below or on Facebook.)
Listening Skills and Success Are Linked
Another bit of wisdom that really resonated with me from the book was Koch’s focus on the importance of listening. At one point in the book, he writes, “People think a $200,000 market research report is good quality data—better, in any case, than sharing a beer with a few customers. I’d take a beer with my customers any day.” He then goes on to explain how he made the decision to move into draft beer based on a conversation with a bartender and how he changed the messaging about the product from listening to someone who was a die-hard Heineken drinker (someone who should have been a customer but was not).
I couldn’t agree more. To expand any business, you need to listen to your customers, and you also need to listen to people who are not your customers but should be! These are the people who will tell you what resonates with them and what doesn’t. Particularly from the second group, you can gain significant insights about your business from a single conversation—that is, if you’re listening carefully with an open mind.
In the book, Jim explains that, prior to one conversation, the hangtag message for Sam Adams read “America’s Only Classic Lager.” A Heineken drinker Jim was talking to thought that all American beer was mass-produced and therefore inferior. Jim explained that the beer was made in small batches by people who really cared about the quality of ingredients and taste, and it was only with that message that he was able to persuade the man to give it a try. That’s when he understood he needed to change the brand messaging to “the beer is handcrafted in small batches,” so that people were willing to try the beer and accept that it could be better than the imports (and be willing to pay a bit more for it).
In my own business, I have created programs, many programs, directly as a result of customer conversations. I always listen carefully to the questions I receive, particularly the private questions I receive after a long presentation or training program. This is where I learn what I missed and what might be of interest to others. Similarly, questions that I have received from listeners (and responded to) have become some of the most popular episodes of The Public Speaker. Again, listening is critical for gaining the perspective of others—and in business and communication, to be successful, it’s always important to gain the perspective of others.
One of the perks of this job is that I often receive books for review. I like to occasionally read one that I wouldn’t normally pick out for myself. I think it helps me to practice my listening skills, and it also helps me to gain new perspectives (which in turn help me to solve problems more creatively). For me, this book, Quench Your Own Thirst, by Jim Koch, was one of those books. If you’re interested in starting your own business, or learning more about the craft beer industry, or just want to gain insights from a highly successful professional, this is a book you’ll want to read.
Check out the book, Quench Your Own Thirst: Business Lessons Learned Over a Beer or Two. It’s available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, Booksamillion, and Apple.
This is Lisa B. Marshall changing organizations, changing lives, and changing the world through better communication. If you’d like to learn more about leadership, influence, and communication, I invite you to read my bestselling books, Smart Talk and Ace Your Interview and listen to my other podcast, Smart Talk. As always, your success is my business.
As always your success is my business!
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About the Author
Lisa B. Marshall Lisa holds masters with duel degrees in interpersonal/intercultural communication and organizational communication. She’s the author of Smart Talk: The Public Speaker’s Guide to Success in Every Situation, as well as Ace Your Interview, Powerful Presenter, and Expert Presenter. Her work has been featured in CBS Money Watch, Ragan.com, Woman’s Day, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, and many others. Her institutional clients include Johns Hopkins Medicine, Harvard University, NY Academy of Science, University of Pennsylvania, Genentech, and Roche.
