Results matter, but...

Past results matter because they are one thing that others have to judge us on. When Brad Lidge, the now infamous closer for the Philadelphia Phillie's, was flawless in relief in 2008 and led the team to the world series, every Phillie's fan in Philadelphia sang his praises as a hero.

A "closer" in baseball is a pitcher who comes in at the every end of the game when the team is leading by a few runs to get the other team out and make sure his team wins. He's kind of the goalie in hockey, the last may between the team and a win. The pitcher is credited with a "save" when he keeps the team from losing late in the game. There are specific rules to determine what is or is not a "save situation," that is a situation the exists such that a save could be earned. They keep statistics of a closer's "save percentage," that is the number of times the pitcher saved the game divided by the number of save situations.

But in 2009, when Lidge had the worst result of any closer in his league and got the loss for a key game in the world series, which Philadelphia lost to the New York Yankees 4 games to 2, everybody was ready to lynch him. They hated him, more than Bryan Madson, even though Madson blew more saves than Lidge. Madson didn't pitch nearly as much in those situations in which he could have gotten a "save." And Lidge was close to the top in the number of saves he made. So, go figure.

2009 was an unwelcomed change for Phillies fans. But what matters for Lidge's career is how people see the results. So, while results matter, what matters more is how people interpret them.

You may remember Ronald Reagan being called the "Teflon president." I don't know if there is still Teflon, but it is, or was, a substance with could be applied to a frying or baking pan and fried or baked food wouldn't stick to it. Of course there were health concerns when Teflon started coming off in your food, but that's a different story. Reagan had all sorts of bad results, and a lot of it never hurt them, never stuck to him. Another president, not Teflon coated, would have been toast because no matter what he did, everything would have stuck to him.

So this means, you have to get results, and get results that others see in the propert light.

I recommended to a SCORE client Thursday that she volunteer to get experience and recommendations so she could start her business while keeping her day job. The one thing professionals need in business is experience, good results, and people who will testify to others. Entrepreneurs need results, too, and results that to which others will testify. an idea of how others see your results.

My goal here is to bring out more skilled entrepreneurs. How am I doing?

Entrepreneurship is the life's blood of all my professional activities. It makes them go. It informs my connection strategy.

It makes Your Stop for Real Estate, my real estate referral business, go. See www.yourstopforrealestate.blogspot.com.

It powers my writing. Go to www.timswritingblog.blogspot.com for my ideas on writing and publishing and read my mystery for free at wwww.kearneymusicschoolmurders.blogspot.com or buy it from Amazon.com more cheaply than you can print it out.

It fuels my publishing enterprise, By and for Writersgo. See www.byandforwriters.blogspot.com where you can get a poem or a short story published.