A few weeks back when we were visiting our office in India, we took a few days and flew on over to Bangalore to attend the EO India regional event called RIE.  The India EO events are always a great time, as they’re known for bringing in fascinating speakers and holding dinner events in extraordinary places such as castles, old forts or roof top venues.  This year, staying true to their reputation, they brought in Praful Patel, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Vijay Mallya, the Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines and Rasmus Ankersen, a self proclaimed high performance anthropologist.

The latter, Mr. Ankersen, was especially intriguing to me.  He has done some very unorthodox research around the world to back up his hypothesis of determining how to spot potential in someone when it may not be presently visible.  Ankersen is a native of Denmark, has written 3 bestselling books and has been in training camps in Moscow, Jamaica, Africa and Brazil (to name a few) to train with and help produce some of the most successful athletes worldwide.

Ankersen traveled to Moscow to study the training of the top tennis players in the world.  He went to Jamaica to study the best sprinters in the world, to Kenya for the best long distance athletes, and Korea for the best female golfers in the world.

Checkout this video of Ankersen discussing his theory.

His research thus far has resulted in some key factors in spotting potential:

1) Always look behind a performance.

To determine what caused a performance, you have to see what was behind the performance itself.  Was it raw talent that can be coached, or was it pure technique and heart without much raw talent?

2) Magnify what you can see.

Look at what you have and don’t let it be static. A vision of what is possible with someone is important to see where the future is with them.

3) Know Yourself.

Know your capabilities, and know the difference between what you can improve and what you can’t change.  If you are gifted at growing managers of people on a business team and have a candidate with amazing analytical skills, but low people skills, you could develop their people skills, but couldn’t contribute much to the growth of their analytical skills.

4) Give hunger greater priority than ability.

Hunger is something that you can’t teach, and is much harder to pull out of someone than the skills necessary to be the best.  If two people have the same basic skills, the one that demonstrates the hunger is the one you should be watching.

5) Stay Open Minded.

In order to do this, it requires that you not judge a candidate that may take more time to mature.  Keep people curious about their potential and don’t feed them negatives that can hold them back.

6)  Have the courage to believe in potential.

It requires courage to believe that you can take someone that is not yet there and ripen them to reach their potential, even if it will take time.  In our India office, we seek the candidates that are hungry to grow and learn, even if they possess less experience in software skills, and bring them along to blossom into their full potential.

Listening to Ankersen’s talk made me see the similarities between being a coach and being a manager.  If you have a camp that consistantly leads with medals, then it says something about the opportunity to grow the talent that is around you.  What are you doing to pull out the best in the people around you? 

Here’s another video of one of Ankersen’s interviews.

“Are you listening?” my teacher said. “Pay attention!” “Why don’t you like to read?” they would question. Seems like I heard this over and over when I was growing up. Looking at words and not grasping what they meant. Spending hours standing up in front of my mother and brother, just to repeat over and over the 20 words I had to spell on the test the next day. This part of me felt so lacking and behind the other kids at school. Kids were expected to be proficient enough by the third grade to read something more than Dr. Seuss. Not me. No, not me. I was the exception. By the third grade my reading was terrible, my spelling was worse, and my vocabulary suffered to say the least. Needless to say, I was placed in summer reading classes.

It’s seems a little funny now but it definitely was not then. It was like teetering on a rock between ignorance and intelligence, only I was unable to find a balance. My reading troubles made me feel stupid, while in other areas I excelled without trying. I didn’t know the cause; I just knew this “problem” was causing me a great deal of stress in school. I learned to read and write, but throughout grade school and into college, I lacked the ability to take notes and listen at the same time. There was a hitch somewhere between hearing something and getting it down on paper that I just couldn’t get past. In contrast, I found I had a great ability to observe how things worked in the world and find patterns. It wasn’t easy, but I had sense enough to take those strengths, identify habits that worked for me, and apply those to my studies. I managed to keep my grades mostly above average, and graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration.

My experiences led me to examine my strengths and weaknesses more closely, which led me to discover the world of Dyslexia. It was then that I learned about the gift I possessed. Yes, the gift…not the “condition” as most people refer to it. Believe it or not, the strengths that come with Dyslexia far outweigh the weaknesses. It is this gift that has contributed more than anything else to my entrepreneurial experience.

Many people refer to Dyslexia as a learning disability; to the contrary, Dyslexia is a gift that simply provides people a different perception of how they take in the world. Dyslexics process information in a pictorial, multidimensional way, whereas most people process information on a linear level. For a child in school, learning is slowed down by the standard process of teaching by reading…lineally. We process and retain much more information, much faster, when we can imagine how it appears. The weakness lies in taking those words we read and imagining what they look like, since not all words can be represented in picture form.

Think of it this way. The non dyslexic mind is like reading a Harry Potter book; you can imagine what’s happening, but you’re limited. The dyslexic mind is like seeing the movie on the big screen in 3-D. The difference in these is nearly indescribable. The dyslexic mind has a keen ability to think strategically…to be creative and see not only the big picture, but all the details that it encompasses. As we receive information, we are constantly building a picture in our mind that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It is these abilities that, study after study show, are so common in successful entrepreneurs, such as Richard Branson. (click to see his interview)

Even though I didn’t really know all that much about Dyslexia, or why I struggled in the reading, vocabulary and spelling areas, I still felt an inner confidence about my strengths to go after the success I desired in life. I recently I read the book by Ronald Davis titled The Gift of Dyslexia. I really feel like this book does so much more than just teach people about Dyslexia. For me, it just confirmed that I have something really special and possess a gift that can allow me to do something that not everyone is capable of.

To give you a better understanding of the traits of a dyslexic person, here is a list from Davis’ book:

1. They can utilize the brains ability to alter and create perceptions

2. They are highly aware of the environment

3. They are more curious than average

4. They think mainly in pictures instead of words

5. They are highly intuitive and insightful

6. They think and perceive multi –dimensionally

7. They can experience thought as reality

8. They have vivid imaginations

From a scientific perspective, thinking in pictures instead of words can allow someone to process information thousands of times faster. It opens up the mind for a more comprehensive, deeper and thorough imagination.

The point is this: Dyslexia is not a “condition” when you look at the strengths and utilize them. I did this, I saw opportunities, and I capitalized on them. I hope that others with Dyslexia can understand that what they have is a gift they can use to their advantage, and not have to wait 40 years to learn that like I did. If you know someone who may be Dyslexic, please share this with them.

Check out this video on The Power of Dyslexia.

I was born an entrepreneurial spirit, an inherent desire to create opportunities and realize them. My journey has led me around the world, given me the opportunity to learn from some remarkable people, and experience leadership on a whole new level.

In my life I have gone from pumping gas, delivering newspapers, and making clown shoes to creating a mutual fund from scratch that helped carry my firm to $1Billion in assets. I then created the first mutual fund in the world run solely by its shareholders. I have seen my ideas and investments flounder, and I have also seen them thrive. I have felt stupid and genius at the same time, and discovered the world of Dyslexia. I have identified the difference between my strengths and my weaknesses, and learned to use them to my advantage. I have found a world of people who share my entrepreneurial spirit within the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), and with them I have been everywhere from the Pentagon to the Playboy Mansion.

Today I run a custom software development company called Efficience, with offices in both the United States and India (Effindi). My team and I have realized success and failure, and from that have developed an effective form of execution that we call FlockGPS.

I know that I did not get here alone, and I feel that my path to success is ongoing. My point is this: I got here from what I learned from other people, and it’s only fair that I pass along my awareness and experiences. Our economy suffers right now. We are the only ones who can fix it. I want to succeed, and I want to see Entrepreneurs around the world succeed, as well. We are the ones providing the innovation and job growth in our economies.

I was told a long time ago that if you really want to know something, you teach it. So if sharing this blog exposes you to ideas that will help you grow your business and inspire the entrepreneur inside of you, then I think they refer to that as a win-win.