Hip-Hopping to the Top: Simmons’ Rise to Success
Hip-Hopping to the Top: Simmons’ Rise to Success
From dealing drugs on the streets of New York to becoming one of the most creative, successful and well-respected entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Russell Simmons has learned what it takes to reach your goals:
Focus. “Everybody has a great idea, but very few are successful without true focus.” Simmons never strayed from his goal of promoting hip-hop music and culture to his core audience – African Americans. He wanted to present the truth about what was going on in the streets and wasn’t going to gloss over anything for anyone. Eventually, hip-hop’s appeal spread to a wider, primarily white audience, but Simmons stayed true to his roots, focusing on his niche market and keeping his message constant. “That’s the most basic thing,” he says. “Stick with your vision.”
Determination. “You have to stick with what you start,” says Simmons. “Don’t let other people dissuade you because you don’t have instant success.” Simmons knew what it was to face obstacles and criticism along his way to success, but he didn’t let that stand in his way. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to achieving his goals and remained confident in his abilities to do so.
Duty. “I try to make my life about service, and hope that one day we can all ‘see’ a little better,” says Simmons. Recognizing that his success came from the very struggles that his audience was facing on the tough streets, Simmons dedicated himself to giving back to those communities. He founded numerous projects to encourage education and political awareness and involved himself in other social causes such as animal cruelty and HIV awareness. “I'm not a politician. I only want to help relieve the suffering in communities, and I want to help people see their community in each other.”
Creativity. Simmons recognized that it was only because he was doing something different that he was going to be able to succeed. Crediting his yoga and his keen street sense with giving him the confidence to pursue new avenues of opportunity, Simmons found success where others weren’t looking for it. From marketing rap music with Adidas shoes to voting with LL Cool J, Simmons achieved success by doing things differently and thinking along lines nobody had thought along before.
Teamwork: “A lot of people like to think that an individual makes or breaks his or her own success, but that’s not really the case,” says Simmons. “Often your success is determined by the people you surround yourself with.” Simmons created a hard-working and efficient workforce by creating an open environment and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit at all levels of his companies. Simmons’ staff wanted him to succeed because he wanted them to succeed.
Nobody expected success from Russell Simmons; nobody expected anything from Russell Simmons. Having been written off by society as a drug dealer, Simmons dedicated his life to proving that he could be more. He focused on his passion for hip-hop, identified a void in the music industry at the time, and set out to fill that void. Since that time, his keen sense of business and promotion has turned the Simmons name into a marketable brand in and of itself. With a personal net worth of approximately $500 million, Simmons is now approaching the age when many choose to retire. But, he shows little interest in slowing down. He still goes to work daily and asks himself, “What else?”
HipHopping to the Top Simmons Rise to Success
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“Everything you need to know about success is inside of you, because I believe it is inside of all of us,” says Simmons. “That is, all human beings have potential for infinite success.”
From dealing drugs on the streets of New York to becoming one of the most creative, successful and well-respected entrepreneurs of the 20th century, Russell Simmons has learned what it takes to reach your goals:
Focus. “Everybody has a great idea, but very few are successful without true focus.” Simmons never strayed from his goal of promoting hip-hop music and culture to his core audience – African Americans. He wanted to present the truth about what was going on in the streets and wasn’t going to gloss over anything for anyone. Eventually, hip-hop’s appeal spread to a wider, primarily white audience, but Simmons stayed true to his roots, focusing on his niche market and keeping his message constant. “That’s the most basic thing,” he says. “Stick with your vision.”
Determination. “You have to stick with what you start,” says Simmons. “Don’t let other people dissuade you because you don’t have instant success.” Simmons knew what it was to face obstacles and criticism along his way to success, but he didn’t let that stand in his way. He devoted himself wholeheartedly to achieving his goals and remained confident in his abilities to do so.
Duty. “I try to make my life about service, and hope that one day we can all ‘see’ a little better,” says Simmons. Recognizing that his success came from the very struggles that his audience was facing on the tough streets, Simmons dedicated himself to giving back to those communities. He founded numerous projects to encourage education and political awareness and involved himself in other social causes such as animal cruelty and HIV awareness. “I'm not a politician. I only want to help relieve the suffering in communities, and I want to help people see their community in each other.”
Creativity. Simmons recognized that it was only because he was doing something different that he was going to be able to succeed. Crediting his yoga and his keen street sense with giving him the confidence to pursue new avenues of opportunity, Simmons found success where others weren’t looking for it. From marketing rap music with Adidas shoes to voting with LL Cool J, Simmons achieved success by doing things differently and thinking along lines nobody had thought along before.
Teamwork: “A lot of people like to think that an individual makes or breaks his or her own success, but that’s not really the case,” says Simmons. “Often your success is determined by the people you surround yourself with.” Simmons created a hard-working and efficient workforce by creating an open environment and encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit at all levels of his companies. Simmons’ staff wanted him to succeed because he wanted them to succeed.
Nobody expected success from Russell Simmons; nobody expected anything from Russell Simmons. Having been written off by society as a drug dealer, Simmons dedicated his life to proving that he could be more. He focused on his passion for hip-hop, identified a void in the music industry at the time, and set out to fill that void. Since that time, his keen sense of business and promotion has turned the Simmons name into a marketable brand in and of itself. With a personal net worth of approximately $500 million, Simmons is now approaching the age when many choose to retire. But, he shows little interest in slowing down. He still goes to work daily and asks himself, “What else?”
HipHopping to the Top Simmons Rise to Success
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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