Mark Burnett: Choose Your Companions Before Your Road

In this video, Mark Burnett, one of my heroes in television, talks about what makes you and your business successful. Burnett is an expert in producing reality television and has had a successful run with creating such shows as "Survivor", "The Apprentice", "The Contender", and now, "Sarah Palin's Alaska". He is a "no-nonsense" entrepreneur with the business savvy and interpersonal skills to be one the most successful media giants. I have been reading Mr. Burnett's book, "Jump In, Even If You Don't Know How to Swim", and have been quite inspired by his can-do attitude followed by the model of just jumping in, even when you are not sure what you are doing.

 I have learned quite a bit from this exemplary man, and am happy to have stumbled upon this video, highlighting the importance of building the right team of people around you on whatever project you are working on.  It once again proves the man knows what he's talking about. In his time with creating reality television, Mr. Burnett has succeeded in building one of the most successful teams in the industry today. In the video, he notes that he has kept about 85% of his employees from his first reality endeavors with EcoChallenge. He has indeed built a team of rock stars who produce top-notch entertainment. 

Mr. Burnett wisely says to the entrepreneurs he is speaking to in the video, "Having a successful business plan is one part of it...you have to have good people surrounding you." He goes on to say that if there are poor employees in your organization, business, etc, it's best to fire them, or you will not reach the full potential of success. Though firing is something not always easy to follow through on, it's a necessity in order to bring the most success to any project. 

I find Mark Burnett to be an incredibly fascinating human being, one who has certainly not let his thinking remain "in-the-box". His knowledge regarding business, entertainment, reality tv, casting, and life in general has been most inspiring as I have read through his book over the past few weeks. I highly recommend, "Jump In, Even If You Don't Know How to Swim", to anyone looking for a little inspiration to follow your dreams and not be bound by your doubts. And from listening to this excerpt about building the right team, I am confident he is speaking from the heart and from experience. Thanks, Mark, for your incredible energy, vision and drive. You are truly an inspiration.