A number of years ago I wrote a blog that took a whimsical look at things people did not know about me. It turned out OK, but it never really told people who I am and what I do or why I do what I do.
I hope from what comes next you either confirm your thoughts of me or at the very least change them.
The Question!
Who is Scot Duke?
I have never really asked myself that question but after doing so I found there are a couple of things I didn’t know about myself worth mentioning. One being how hard it is write about ones self while answering the question. Confused..so am I. However, being confused is not part of who I am..just the answer to this question makes the task difficult.
Who am I?
Simply put, who I am is what I am and what you see or hear of me is me. Yeah..that is not really simple is it, but it came out as describing exactly who I am to me. However, I know you are wanting to know more. So, here goes.
I am someone who obviously has been around awhile. There are a lot of us out here who are experience in life and business. However, there are even more who are not. The point is, there is noway anyone who has been around as long I have could go through life without picking up knowledge on a thing or two. In my case, I have picked up knowledge of hundreds of things over the years. All of which has to do with what I do. So, what I do is who I am.
I’m A Professional Storyteller
Clearly what I do for people professional is offer them my experience in all things I know. I counsel business people on the direction in business they need to take to keep from making the mistakes so many others have made. I have found explaining the facets of business operations..any business’ operations.. turns into a story I tell of an experience I have relevant to the direction they should..or need..to take. Those who listen to the story usually succeed,,those who don’t…well..the internet is full of them and yes, they are the ones who see themselves as succeeding but really are not.
I’m a Visionary
No, I am not one of these dudes that see the earth ending in a year or who predicts Facebook will file bankrupts in 2016…though it could unless Google buys them. I would say I am more of a realist than a visionary but I do have clear vision of what is right and what is wrong. I gained that clarity from my years of working through other people’s failures.
I’m a Business Golfer!
Not all I do is totally work related. I actually have a few hobbies. However, like so many of you, finding time for anything outside of working to pay the bills is a full-time job in itself. Fortunately, I find time to play golf.
Getting back to that time management thing, back in 1999, when the corporation I worked for lit up the door to retirement and pointed my cubical so I had to look at it everyday for five years, I started looking for ways on how I could expand my employment horizons when I retire.
I found playing golf with business people highlighted my talents and skills more than can be written in a half page resume. However, I also saw how many people were attempting to use Golf as a six hour sales pitch. That is when I started my personal project of discovering ways to show people How To Play Business Golf.
That project turned into an after retirement book I wrote in 2005, then revised in 2007. In 2008, Golf became a four letter word to business people and I had to shelve my project to again go back to offering business people what I am experience at doing and they are not.
I’m a Blues Guitarist…kinda!
It is no secret I love music. More specifically, I love to play blues and rock guitar. If it was not for all of the football injuries I received over the five years I play football in school I probably would not be talking about all my business experience and telling stories of the bands I played in.
But, there is a reason things happen the way they do. The fact is I still plug in my Les Paul and run through a few rock blues licks to see if I can the neighbors dog to howl.
I’m a Horseman!
Being a fifth generation Texan it is kinda hard to not have some connection to your roots. My roots go back to the days when farming and ranching was the ONLY way of life. My introduction to horses and how I grew to love horses would make for a entertaining book in itself. I worked cattle with a horse and later in life enjoyed competing in Penning Cattle. My favorite horsemanship event to watch and participate in was Reining. I’ll leave it to you to Google all this since I am sure it is all foreign to you.
That gene I have for horsemanship was passed on to my daughter who I got to watch grow up on the back of a horse. So, once a horseman..always a horseman.
I’m a Valued Commodity!
Since you ventured this far into searching for the answer to who I am, I’ll wrap this up with saying… I am not through. I’m still developing who I am.
I continue to discover things that interest me. Things like how people, mostly young and inexperienced, use social media and believe the unverifiable statistics being pushed out to them to convince them what is suppose to be popular. I find it amazing how startup businesses today do not feel the need for constructing a business plan or how many businesses who do not have someone overseeing their operations keep asking why they are not profitable.
I am still relevant and my point of views are not just outbursts or rants. What I have to say is based first upon what I see, hear and taste and then from what I have learned from my many years of asking questions to thousands of people of all ages.
All this makes me a valuable commodity someone needs to pick up on. So please. Let me know how I can Help!
I understand that these view points are considered by many as being old school..but is it? I realize that many of the things I have experienced in the business world will probably never happen again…
