Mark Cuban's Lessons for Revolutionaries

Regulars here know that I am a huge Mark Cuban fan. After I scanned all the chatter about Strumpette and his/her ridiculous and faceless prediction that I will not last in my new job, as an antidote I spent an hour watching this fascinating interview with Mark.

I hardly know Mark. We traded a few emails about blog search and he was kind enough to give me tickets to a Mavs game. Yet, I feel like he's my unofficial mentor. I have read and re-read his outstanding lessons on success and motivation dozens of times. He is to me like Ann Rynd's characters are to him - an inspiration. Now that some at least feel that I too am a "public figure," I look to Professor Cuban for more wisdom. The timing of the interview's release was perfect.

As I watched the piece I kept thinking "what would Mark do if he were in my situation?" What would he say if he pulled up an IceRocket search to find dozens of bloggers speculating that he was selling the Mavs or getting out of films or whatever the case may be. The answer is he would keep being Mark. Despite his billions, Mark makes himself completely approachable. He answers a good many of the 1000 emails he receives daily from fans and, I bet, foes. This shows he's true to himself.

Mark Cuban is a maverick. No doubt. He saw the PC and broadband revolutions coming long before we did and, god bless him, he capitalized. More recently he turned around a fledgling basketball team by making them more fan-friendly. Now he's trying to reinvent entertainment distribution, basketball and even PR in the process.

Mavericks have friends and they have enemies because they're often successful revolutionaries. They're pushing what Robert Scoble (another revolutionary) so eloquently calls the membrane. Mark is taking plenty of heat for his revolutionary plan to distribute movies on DVD at the same time they're in the theaters. But you know what, he listens, occasionally takes on his critics and does his thing.

So that's what I take away from this whole Smurfette episode. I listen, do my thing and continue to be part of the revolution. After all, that's what I was hired to do. If I veer from that then I will let everyone down - me, my employer and perhaps even you. That's not going to happen if I can help it. And I can.

Technorati Tags: markcuban, mark+cuban, mavericks, nba, basketball, success, motivation

Comments

[Trevor Cook]

Well said Steve. Just ignore the naysayers. The caravan moves on.
Don't spend a lot of time worrying about the bloggers who spend their time creating and morphing rumours etc
Or the PR types who call for top-level rebuttals at the drop of a hat.

[hugh macleod]

I was very unimpressed with the Smurfette post. Any fool can take a pot shot at an A-lister. What's much harder is creating something that's interesting and valuable for lots of people.

[makethelogobigger]

Coupla' two tree tings. (Sorry, was in Sopranos mode.)

Strumpette's move was bush-league. Using someone's name on your blog to draw attention is one thing, we all link to the famous. But betting on their demise? 'nuff said.

Two great things about Cuban:

- He could care less about typos. For a very public CEO, that’s both rare and cool.

– More importantly, he’s also one of those rare owners in any sport willing to engage their consuumer/customer directly and on a regular basis.

There was a thread on his blog a while entitled: They did it at the All Star game and no one noticed."

A perfect example of listening to fan input, but also taking to explain why most of those suggestions might not work, and why some might. But at least he diffused fan discontent and better explained team decisions. Who else in charge of a major brand or company these days does that?

[jeneane]

I would have laughed and placed a bet.

[Alice Marshall]

B.L. said you came out smelling like a rose, how often does she say that of anyone? I think you handled yourself very well, so well that I am making a mental note of this as an example of how this should be handled.

The whole thing is straight out of News of the Wierd.

[Daniel Bernstein]

Steve,

Your handling of Strumpette's attack on your character was exactly what we’ve come to expect from you. It was deft, thoughtful, intelligent and, here’s a new one, very brave. From what I’ve seen and heard, your name stands for humility and your work up-levels the PR industry as a whole.

Rock on,

Danny