For someone who tries to steer clear of politics as much as possible, I absolutely love political television shows. My favorite show, without question, is Netflix’s House of Cards. Say what you will about Kevin Spacy and the allegations against him, but in this instance, I beg you to separate the actor from the character.
In this high-stakes political thriller, Senate Majority Whip Francis Underwood starts the series as nothing more than a glorified Senator. Put in charge of influencing certain key Congressmen and Senators to vote a certain way, he already has some taste of power. But his appetite far outweighs the current meal on his plate. He wants more.
He wants the White House to himself.
Over the course of the first two seasons, we watch Francis take a ruthless, cutthroat path from the Capitol to the White House. Blackmail, Influence, and even murder does not stop this political tyrant from achieving his goals.
As an Entrepreneur, I relate to this character very closely. No, I’m not out murdering my enemies or blackmailing my colleagues to get ahead. But in order to truly achieve your goals, you have to be ruthless with your approach, stopping at nothing to win your desired outcome.
Ever since I watched this show the first time years ago, I related to Francis solely on this characteristic alone. He had goals, I had goals. He stopped at nothing to accomplish them, and I shouldn’t either.
But with all the political nonsense happening in America right now, I thought it would be entertaining to re-watch the show, to see how it parallels with the political scandals in the real world.
What shocked me though, during the course of my re-watch, was something I hadn’t even considered during my initial screening.
Whenever a President takes office, he has an agenda. Whether it be to lower taxes, decrease unemployment, or negotiate with foreign countries, every man that takes the oath of office has goals he wants to see come to fruition.
While I watched this show, I began relating the duties and agenda of the president, to my own company.
For example; Francis wanted to push a bill through Congress that helped education in America. Higher pay for teachers, improved infrastructure, etc. One of my main goals in life, is to offer an alternative to our current education system, so teenagers don’t have to go into debt to learn the skills to succeed in life (My current project – SkillSharks).
If you’ve listened to my Jumpstart Podcast, I’ve told you that when it comes to running a business, you have to be fully invested, or don’t bother. A business isn’t just a part time hobby that you can grow when you feel like it. A business is an entity that must be constantly worked on, and requires your full attention all the time.
Just like the President to his country.
The President of the United States can very easy parallel to any CEO. Putting out fires when problems arise, leading and directing his staff towards a common goal, and putting his country / business before himself.
And as I began to see these parallels, it made me entirely rethink my approach towards running my business.
My employees are my citizens, who need to be lead, directed, and compensated. My companies are my programs, each in a different sector that I care deeply about improving. My decisions are executive orders, changing the direction my companies move forward.
Thankfully, my United States is small right now; just 4 employees instead of 330 million citizens. I don’t have to go through Congress to try and get my agenda passed. I don’t have to deal with approval ratings, political opponents, or all the other drawbacks of a career in Washington.
But, it’s a refreshing perspective to take on my current ventures, and how I plan to manage and grow them in the future.