Do The Work

I’m in the process of setting up an internship program with the Crowell School of Business. This is the same school that I did my undergrad and MBA. It turns out that one of the people who is point-of-contact was my old ‘Intro To Marketing’ professor. I got a D in his class and when I started my MBA I was on academic probation due to that one grade.

Honestly, I really enjoyed his class. Les Harmon is a great teacher. His classes were engaging and I don’t think I missed a single lecture. His presence at the school caused more people to chose marketing as their emphasis than any other field. (I still chose management).

If the class was so great, why did I get a D? I arrogantly thought that if I knew the material then that would be enough. I even went so far as to sit down in his office and say, “I can summarize the entire course in one sentence.” After listening to what I had to say he said something like, “You’re right but I still have to give you a D because you didn’t complete enough of the daily assignments.”

While it doesn’t show up on the transcript… that was one of the best lessons I learned in college. You can’t just know what to do… you have to actually do the hard work on a daily basis. I think that is the problem with a lot of really talented creative people who are not successful. They think that their talents will be enough so they don’t bother to do the daily things that would make someone even less skilled a success.

This was actually a wonderful reminder to me as I start the next phase of my startup company. All the plans in the world are not going to work unless we do the daily tasks that are necessary for success and let honesty and hard work be our constant companions.