Persistence and Coaching Part 1

<h2> Let Others Help You Find Success <h2>

<p> I had just finished watching a program about an investment banker, when it struck me that they really had important lessons for all of us. <p>

<p> A few years ago, he had learned of a gold mine in Ontario, Canada. Upon visiting it, he found that it was all but abandoned due to the lack of gold production. The equipment was unkept, the workers were quite apathetic; and the mine was barely functioning. It had laid untended since 1952 when the owner gave it up. With some research, he found that there were other gold mines in the area that were performing fairly well – well enough to keep them up and running. His expertise was in investment banking and raising venture capital for entrepreneurs and profiting from it. He had no experience in running any kind of mine, let alone a gold mine. However, he did have a hunch and good instincts in his favor. He eventually raised $10 million dollars to revitalize the mining operations: new equipment, modern processes and better employee relations. He took a completely new approach to uncovering the mine’s bounty. <p>

<p> Mine owners consider their mining operations top secret. They NEVER disclose to anyone where they are digging and where in the mine they are unearthing the gold. That information is literally their treasure map and disclosing it could cause them untold harm. Yet, our friend took a completely contrarian approach. You see he realized that the best minds of the day might be able to uncover the secrets to this mine. So, he went public with the information he had and made an international request for suggestions – what we would call coaching. He posted mine maps on the internet and offered financial incentives totaling half a million dollars to geologists who could help him find the primary veins of gold. It wasn’t long before the word spread in the geology community and he began to receive information. He received many suggestions from different sources, but the one thread that ran through the majority of the suggestions was that he needed to dig deeper. You see, the old mine floor had been set at about 1000 feet below the surface. While there was gold at that level, it was hardly a sufficient amount to be worth recovering. The main vein went down 6000 feet, but it started only a few feet below where the former owners had quit! In just a short period of time, his investment and his hunch paid off. The former owners had stopped digging just a few feet from the mother load. The mine that was once left for naught is producing $250 million dollars worth of gold each year. This has been declared the richest gold content ore in the world. <p>