No Victim Required

Humor doesn't have to come at anyone's expense. That's harder than it sounds.

What I'm Noticing

Chuck Norris passed away late last week after my newsletter was more or less baked. My wife and I were talking about the jokes. You know the ones…

“When Chuck Norris jumps into a pool, he doesn't get wet. Water gets Chuck Norris.”

“He can divide by zero.”

“His email address is [email protected].”

What she pointed out is that these jokes are genuinely clever, funny, and nobody gets hurt by them. No punchline at someone else's expense. No group made the butt of it. Just pure, absurd, delightful creativity.

I've been thinking about that in the context of how we show up… in rooms, on calls, on the internet. There's a version of sharp and entertaining that lifts the whole room. And there's a version that gets laughs by cutting someone down.

The first one is harder. It requires more creativity, more generosity, more confidence that you don't need a victim to be interesting. In some ways, they represent the very best of what we’re capable of.

Hit me with your favorite one. You can reply to this email, or click the little speech bubble in the header to leave a comment on the web version.

This Week's Read

Before you go looking for new customers, take a hard look at the ones you already have.

Expansion within your current client base is the warmest channel you have, the lowest cost, and the most overlooked. This week's blog is about what good looks like, and why "Is there anything else I can help you with?" doesn't count.

Read it →

Deeper Thought

Last week's prompt: Who do you need to become to deliver the results you want?

I came across something James Clear said a few months ago that reorganized how I was thinking about this:

"Your life is perfectly designed for the results you're currently getting."

That's not criticism. It's a diagnostic.

If you want different results, you can tweak habits at the edges. But bigger differences require bigger changes; sometimes at the foundational level. The shift isn't "I'm going to start doing this." It's "I'm the kind of person who does this."

That's an entirely different conversation.

This week's prompt: What makes a great day?

Take a walk. Think about it. I'll share mine next week.

What I'm Into

Still can't put down Blair Enns' The Four Conversations. I said it last week, and I mean it more now.

There's a category of books that teach you something new, and then there's the category that reorganizes what you already know in a way that makes it more accessible. More usable. That’s this one.

Also, I was on The Sales Hunter Podcast this week. It’s always fun to jam with Mark, and I think you’ll find a lot of value in this episode, talking about the human element in the age of AI, and one of my earliest recorded conversations about the concept of “what good looks like here.”

The Shoutout

Warmth. Passion. Strength. Integrity. Badass.

That's Yesi Sevilla.

Yesi was the most memorable part of my onboarding when I started at RTI back in the day. Not just because she ran the thing, but because of the conversations in between. She got it. She saw that I got it. And I was excited to be somewhere that felt like that.

What I appreciate most is how much she's thrown my way over the years. She sought me out and published my work when I was just getting started. She recruited me as a mentor for the Wond'ry. Then she held me accountable for taking too long to respond, and still wouldn't let me buy lunch.

I don't believe my career would have taken the shape it has without her.

The Nudge

Know Why You Win is available as an ebook and is now in audio. You're now out of excuses, and can finish the whole thing in 35 minutes or less.

Get it here →

Cheers,
JB

P.S. When did you last have a conversation with a top client that wasn't about an open order? If you can't remember, the blog this week is your starting point.