Sam Jacobs: Kind Folks Finish First

What if everyone’s overarching go-to-market strategy were kindness? Well, for Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, it’s a concept that has been central to building a $200 million company. CEO Sam Jacobs launched Pavilion, his membership-based leadership community, after coming to a deep understanding of something very basic: We start to gain when we learn to let go. He is sharing with us the human-centric elements that are foundational not only for successful business ventures but for successful (i.e. peaceful and meaningful) lives. Sam explains how he moved away from grasping and attachment to outcomes in favor of something more authentic expansive. You’ll come away from this heart-centered conversation with a clear understanding of the interplay between how we talk to ourselves and what we offer the world; why failure can be our friend and how to take a long-term approach that replaces the transactional with ongoing connectedness, personal fulfillment and long-term business growth.Sam founded Pavilion in 2016 as a support network for revenue leaders and has since opened chapters globally, establishing a robust platform for peer-to-peer connection, training, development and career resources for all high-growth professionals. Most recently, Sam is out with a new book that will change the way you think about engaging with the marketplace, whether as a corporate employee or aspiring entrepreneur. Pick up Wall Street Journal bestseller "Kind Folks Finish First: The Considerate Path to Success in Business and Life"and you won’t be able to put it down!If you’d like to learn more about Host Chris Schembra and his 7:47 Virtual Gratitude Experience, please visit this link. And click here to listen to previous episodes of Gratitude Through Hard Times. KEY TOPICS:What’s a moment of adversity that you’ve overcome in your life or career that you’re actually grateful for? After four firings from five jobs in a short period of time, Sam seized an opportunity to change his trajectory and patterns of thought/behavior.Ultimate Job Satisfaction: Knowing how to generate happiness and a sense of peace.About how high participation and low attachment correlates with a universal flow of abundance in our direction.Negotiation as a career hack (and source of protection) amidst constant turnover:Do your due diligence.Pre-negotiate your severance.Be realistic about the shifts that happen after the honeymoon phase.Sam Defines Success Based on Three Key Elements:What you’re good at.What you’re (truly) interested in doing.Where the market is moving.About Pavilion’s evolution, based on letting go of pre-conceived notions and creating self-sustaining revenue as well as a source of kindness and light in the world.Contemplating an entrepreneurial risk? Consider what might happen when you stop giving all your best ideas (and energy) to someone else’s enterprise.Sam reflects on the agility required to move with markets, keeping fluid and aligning through empathy with what’s happening in real time (as Pavilion did while riding the waves of pandemic)Sam’s Principles for Kindness – and Success:Thinking long-term rather than transactionally builds connection.Releasing attachment decreases neediness and increases openness to surprising outcomes.Winning every single negotiation isn’t the endgame. It’s about building relationships over time.Sam’s Formula: How to manifest $25 million in funding and a business valued at more than $200 million by emphasizing not what’s missing but the joy in what’s already here!Creating the Mental Attitude to Prevail:Don’t chase the dollar!Re-channel negativity (true or not) towards the big-picture goal.Change the negative narratives in your head.Retrain the Brain: Substitute affirmations and self-care for unkind mental tapes.It takes nothing from anyone else for us to be kind to ourselves! QUOTABLE“What I expected when I started my career was that as you became more and more senior you achieve some level of stability, prosperity and independence but that was not happening for me.” (Sam)“Five years ago I decided … I cared more about a feeling of being independent, believing in myself, establishing some level of stability. What I most wanted was peace.” (Sam)“Gratitude is the frequency most harmonious with abundance.” (Sam) “(Pre-negotiated severance) is not about the money, it’s about reducing the level of anxiety you have when you show up to work every day.”  (Sam)“When you work for somebody else you’re not even renting, you are selling – forever – your best ideas to somebody else.” (Sam)“If you can listen to what the market is telling you and try to respond and provide a solution rapidly, then you can be aligned with the market. It’s a process – not a static state.” (Sam)“It increases the likelihood that wonderful serendipity will happen when I don’t need anything specific to happen tomorrow.” (Sam)“I’m really good at being generous and thinking long-term … and it always has a way of coming back around.” (Chris)“I try to do the right thing and treat people well … I’ve left my mark on this planet and hopefully I’m only halfway done, so that’s something to be proud of.” (Sam)“One of the cool things you can do in life is to not be so goal- or purpose- or destination-oriented but just give yourself the chance to do nothing, take a walk in nature with no particular aim.” (Chris) LINKS/FURTHER RESOURCES:"Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It," by Chris Voss.Click here to learn about the works of Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman. "The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World," by Dorie Clark."Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success," by Adam M. Grant."The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself,"by Michael A. Singer. ABOUT OUR GUEST:Sam is focused on helping people unlock and achieve their professional potential. He has built Pavilion in order to help members, employees and stakeholders realize the greatness within themselves. Through its paid membership for leaders of all levels, Pavilion is dedicated to providing support, assistance, education, and career growth. A global organization with over 9,000 members and hubs in every major city, Pavilion is all about helping members (and their teams) perform better in their roles, develop the skills necessary to take the next step and expand their networks to create an engaged and supportive professional community.  FOLLOW SAM:WEBSITE | LINKEDIN | TWITTER ABOUT OUR HOST:Chris Schembra is a philosopher, question asker and facilitator. He's a columnist at Rolling Stone magazine, USA Today calls him their "Gratitude Guru" and he's spent the last six years traveling around the world helping people connect in meaningful ways. As the offshoot of his #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling book, "Gratitude Through Hard Times: Finding Positive Benefits Through Our Darkest Hours," he uses this podcast to blend ancient stoic philosophy and modern-day science to teach how the principles of gratitude can be used to help people get through their hard times. FOLLOW CHRIS:WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | LINKEDIN | BOOKS