From the Big Screen to the Real World

We find that movie quotes can be a great source of inspiration for many aspects of running a business. Take goal setting for example. In Rocky, Sylvester Stallone (Rocky Balboa) sets a very specific goal for himself. The night before the big fight he says, "I just wanna go the distance." There are several goal setting lessons you can learn from this quote. The first is that you sometimes have to redefine "success."

In this scene, Rocky convinced himself that he can’t win the fight so he sets a new goal. By "going the distance," he can feel that he was a success because he achieved his goal. But, it’s possible that he might just have sold himself short. On the other hand, if Rocky’s goal was to beat Apollo Creed, he might have. However, he never even gave himself a chance. Conversely, Apollo Creed set his goal when he said "I’ll drop him in six." This was after ignoring concerns from his trainer who noticed Rocky’s unusual training method of punching raw sides of beef. It seems that the message is, that if you set a goal, you should first gather all the pertinent information about the project. Apollo did not reach his goal even though he won the fight. Rocky lost the fight but made his goal. Rocky must have been watching Clint Eastwood (Dirty Harry Callahan) in Magnum Force, when he said, "A man’s got to know his limitations."

Another challenge that many business people have is selling tactics. The problem is that they talk too much and listen too little. They volunteer information when they’re selling, buying, recruiting or even talking to their competition. We always teach our clients that you never volunteer unsolicited information because it’s often used against you later. For example, James Caan (Sonny) in The Godfather, was censured by his father, Marlon Brando (VitoCorleone) after they finished their meeting with Al Lettieri (Sollozzo). He tells his son, "Don’t ever let the other person know what you’re thinking." During that meeting, Sonny voiced interest in Sollozzo’s idea to invest in narcotics, even though Vito was against it. Sonny’s obvious interest, led to the attempted assassination of his father. Now, hopefully, making such a negotiation faux pas won’t lead to such drastic measures in your mediation, but it could mean the death of your deal. It’s better you should just "make them an offer they can’t refuse."

Volunteering unsolicited information also got Mary McDonell in trouble in, Sneakers. Mary goes undercover to date an employee at the corporate headquarters where Robert Redford’s team breaks into. She’s caught by Ben Kingsley, the computer genius bad guy and boss of the geek she’s "dating." Ben buys her story at first and she’s let go. As she is leaving, she casually mentions that she’ll never go out on another computer date. Kingsley immediately determines that no computer would have matched those two, and her cover is blown. She should have followed the advice of Jack Nicholson to Karen Black in Five Easy Pieces when he says, "If you wouldn’t open your mouth, everything would be just fine."

The power of silence was best illustrated in Weekend at Bernie’s. Nobody seems to notice that Bernie is dead. While propped up on a sofa at a party, dead Bernie receives an offer to buy his Porsche for $35,000. Bernie’s silent. Minutes later he’s offered $40,000. Bernie says nothing. Then he’s offered $45,000. Silence. Even when the offer tops $55,000, Bernie still says nothing. Sometimes you’ll get more by saying less.

There are many other lessons learned from quotes in the movies. We’ve compiled some that we thought would get you thinking. Some stand on their own. Some only make sense in context with the movie or scene. But they all, in some way, help to reinforce many of the ideas and philosophies that will help you become successful.

Larry Winget
Jeff Slutsky

Larry Winget

Larry Winget is a philosopher of success who just happens to be hilarious. He teaches universal principles that will work for anyone, in any business, at any time, and does it by telling funny stories.

He believes that most of us have complicated life and business way too much, take it way too seriously and that we need to lighten up, take responsibility, be more flexible, stay positive and keep it in perspective. He believes that success and prosperity come from serving others.

He teaches that business improves when the people in the business improve and that everything in life gets better when we get better and nothing gets better until we get better.


Jeff Slutsky, CSP

Jeff Slutsky is a "master at free and cheap marketing" according to the Wall Street Journal. His business philosophy embraces shrewd thinking, innovative problem solving, shoe-string budgeting, combined with a strong work ethic, which he simply refers to as "Street Fighting." He teaches principles that help people do it better, cheaper, smarter, and easier.

Jeff believes that sales and marketing is fun, rewarding and the life-blood of any successful business. He illustrates his "Eleven Success Principles" with funny real-life stories and practical, yet highly entertaining examples. As Jeff puts it, "When you think like a Street Fighter you learn to use your brains not your bucks."