Enjoy this excerpt from the just-released book, Don't Take No for an Answer: Anything is Possible, by Les M. Goldberg.

Excellence is the Only Option

By Les M. Goldberg

I’ve heard average defined as the “cream of the crap.” I agree—it’s the best of the worst. At LMG, excellence is the only option. That doesn’t mean everything is always going to run smoothly. In fact, we know we can count on challenges. We’re prepared and when things aren’t going right, we work on a solution.

Another element of excellence is initiative. You want people who demonstrate initiative, who aren’t afraid to speak up and take action. Someone who knows there’s a problem and ignores it instead of trying to solve it is not the kind of person you want on your team.

Excellence means doing whatever it takes to make sure the customer’s show is perfect—or at least looks perfect to the audience. In the early days, my customers knew they could call me in the middle of the night to tell me they needed a piece of gear on a show, and I would get out of bed, run to the shop, pack up what they needed, drive to the airport, and have it on the next flight out to wherever it needed to go. We still offer that level of response.

People in the live event business need to understand that their suppliers have their backs no matter what happens. That’s what we do. We know that while our clients might be at least somewhat sympathetic to the challenges we’re dealing with (such as equipment failures, transportation delays, and other situations beyond our control), the bottom line is that they want what we promised, and anything else is just an excuse. We don’t make excuses.

I’m wired to play to win. I’m driven by a competitive spirit. I started out as a David in an industry full of Goliaths, and I’ve now become one of the Goliaths. I didn’t do that by being average or by accepting an average performance from the people on my team.

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