David Kertesz

Never stop learning, because life never stops teaching

Here are learnings from my experience as a start-up co-founder, restaurant waiter, technology account manager and sales executive. 

1) Obsess over all aspects of the customer experience. 

2) Treat employees well, and they will treat customers even better.

3) Remember, little things add up, and small details matter. 

4) Ensure teams are aligned and working towards wildly important goals. 

5) Collect customer and employee feedback regularly.

6) Roll up your sleeves and help in the trenches. Respected leaders aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty. 

7) Celebrate wins with gestures of appreciation.

8) Exceed expectations, go the extra mile and follow through.

9) Prepare early and always be ready. 

10) Understand that problems are opportunities to turn bad situations into positive outcomes. 

11) Invest in learning, coaching and training. It always provides the best return on your investment. 

12) Serve your clients the same way you want to be served. 

13) Execute quickly. Time is money, and no one wants to wait. 

14) Treasure your reputation. It takes 20 years to build one and five minutes to ruin it. 

15) Imagine yourself in another person’s situation or circumstance, understand or empathize with their perspective, opinion, or point of view. 

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm

They say Muskies are the fish of 10,000 casts.

Thomas Edison said it best “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” And If you were wondering, this 🐟 measured in at 42 inches!

Have fun with it!

Some of the best advice I received from a mentor, colleague, and friend: have more fun!

As someone who tends to take life and my career seriously… and at times, probably too seriously. Sometimes, I need to remind myself to just have fun with it.

This might sound cheesy, but don’t be afraid to let your personality shine. Laugh, tell a joke, be human. Life is short, embrace the journey and always try to have fun along the way.

Responsibility

Sometimes I need to remind myself that I need to take responsibility for everything that happens in my life.

Look at the word responsibility. “response + ability”. The ability to choose your response. How I respond to life is 100% within my control. I should not blame circumstances, conditions or the cards I’ve been dealt. My behaviour is the product of my conscious choice. Between what happens to you, the stimulus and, your response to it, is a moment in time. Stimulus and response are separate. The freedom or power to choose your actions lives in the moment of time between stimulus and response.

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.” – Viktor E. Frankl

Be like a Duck…

I learned this early in my tech sales career at Xerox. Be like a duck. Calm, graceful and composed on the surface. Behind the scenes and below the water’s surface – paddle furiously.

The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend

Is our interpretation of situations aligned with reality? It’s difficult to say, but you can change how you feel and what you see by changing your perspective. Try looking at things from a different point of view, you will be amazed by what you see. But remember, one must be open to the fact that, perhaps, our perception is not always the reality.

Just do it!

Starting is the hardest part, when you take that first step, silence self doubt, push past your comfort zone. You can do more than you think is possible.

I was invited to a 10 km (6.2-mile) run. Should I sign up? After deliberating back and forth, I told myself “just do it”.

On race day and throughout the run, I wanted to quit. I wanted to get back into my comfort zone. My mind was telling me to stop, slow down, take a break. But I pushed through, silenced the self-doubt, focused on my attitude, encouraged myself with positive self talk and pushed past my preconceived limits.

You can do more than you think is possible. Stagnation, staying comfortable, maintaining the status quo and not adapting, growing, or evolving is detrimental to both business and personal growth.

If you’re not improving, pushing, and challenging yourself, you’re doing yourself a disservice. If you’re not learning, growing, and pushing to new heights, you’re selling yourself short.

The only way to discover your true capabilities is to continuously step outside your comfort zone and embrace the challenges, discomfort, and sometimes pain that accompanies growth.

Break through your glass ceiling. Your brain and thoughts are not always right. Take that first step, commit and just do it. You’ll be amazing at what you can do.

IRL

Nothing compares to meeting clients in the flesh. The most value and joy in my life comes from in-person experiences.

A growing body of research shows that the need to connect socially with others is as basic as our need for food, water and shelter. In the book “High Tech, High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning” by John Naisbitt, Nana Naisbitt, and Douglas Philips, the authors emphasize the importance of preserving human relationships in the age of complex technology.

I remember my university professor explaining the value of places like Silicon Valley. He asked the class “why does a place like Silicon Valley exist when we have access to telephones and webcams?” The answer is, something special happens when people collaborate, brainstorm, and problem solve together, physically in real life.

While technology advancements have revolutionized communication, healthcare, entertainment and social interactions, these innovations can sometimes undermine genuine human connections.

As we navigate an increasingly digital world, it’s important that we think twice about the decisions we make which sacrifice human connection for convenience.

Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg

Lean In was recommended to me by a female leader whom I admire. I recommend this book to any woman or any man who wants to understand what a woman- a colleague, partner, mother, or daughter- is up against so that he can do his part to build an equal world. Below is an unexpected excerpt from the book.

“Women became 50% of the college graduates in the United States in the early 1980s. Since then, women have slowly and steadily advanced, earning more and more of the college degrees, taking more of the entry-level jobs, and entering more fields previously dominated by men. Despite these gains, the percentage of women at the top of corporate America has barely budged over the past decade. A meager 23% of the S&P 500 CEOs are women. Women hold about 25% of senior executive positions, 19% of board seats, and constitute 19% of our elected congressional officials. The gap is even worse for women of colour, who hold just 4% of top corporate jobs, 4% of board seats and 6% of congressional seats.”

Reading this book has helped me see the world differently. Empowering me to be a better partner, coworker and uncle. Check it out!

P.S. You are going to fail.

After almost a decade in the hospitality industry, I found myself selling Xerox printers in the Toronto Pearson Airport area.

May 10th, 2016 wasn’t an ordinary day and nothing could have prepared me for what would happen at 11:30 AM. After a morning of prospecting on foot and countless “sorry, not interested”, I finally found what I was looking for… a business in the market to replace their current Multi-Function Printers (MFPs). They weren’t happy with their current vendor and were looking for a change.

The friendly IT Manager took me on a tour of the office. We went from printer to printer, inventorying their models, speeds and features. As we made our way around the office, we discovered there was one printer left to inventory. Unfortunately, this printer wasn’t easily identifiable. I needed to bend down to read the model number on a small sticker at the lower back corner to identify the printer. As I bent over, I heard it…The sound of the fabric of my pants losing the battle with my butt cheeks. I immediately sprung upright like a soldier standing for attention…but it was too late. The damage was already done. The IT Manager and I looked at one another and when I looked at my behind to assess the situation, I couldn’t believe my eyes…As you can see in my image below, I was the victim of an untimely wardrobe malfunction, a massive rip down the seat of my pants.

I share this story because 1) I thought it was pretty funny. 2) It was a valuable life lesson. We all make mistakes. We are all going to fail, feel vulnerable and embarrassed. In life, this is inevitable. Therefore it is not what happens to us that is important. It is how we react to situations. It is about having grit, determination and persistence to keep going despite the setbacks. What’s done is done. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off. You can not change what happened, but you sure as hell can learn, improve and get better for tomorrow.

Oh, and one more thing I learned, don’t continue to wear pants that are two sizes too small!

Be Relentless and Resilient

“Goals live on the other side of obstacles and challenges. Be relentless in pursuit of those goals, especially in the face of obstacles. Along the way, make no excuses and place no blame” – Ray Bourque

Ray had to wait 22 seasons and 1,826 games to finally win hockey’s ultimate prize. No other player who’s won the Stanley Cup has had to wait longer!