Don't Be a Hot Doorknob

This past Saturday, my friend Corwin Brown and I attended a Masters Class at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. We met a man there whose father was a salesman, and this 'hot doorknob' was a term his father used to refer to other salesman who were afraid to walk through a door and make a cold call. It was as if they were afraid the doorknob would burn them, and they would miss out on any possibility of a sale. So, he would advise his sons, 'don't be a hot doorknob.'

I loved this story, because so many times in my life in business, I have had to force myself to do things I don't like to do. Jonathan and I don't have other employees to fall back on, so when something comes up, we just have to do it. So often I want to be a hot doorknob, and only the reality that there is nobody else to pick up my slack forces me to walk through that door.

So, this is for anyone who has the luxury of working in a larger organization -- DON'T BE A HOT DOORKNOB!!!!