The WAY to WOW Shows
Don’t Give Up the Ship
October 21, 2025
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[0:03] Who are you and where are you going? What do you want? [Music] Hello and welcome to Business Lessons from the Military. I've been off for the last couple of weeks for the Jewish holidays. And so now we're back or now I'm back doing live episodes and uh heading into my favorite time of the year, fall and and then of course uh into winter. So Halloween is coming up

[0:38] in uh what about a week and a half, two weeks and uh and then into Thanksgiving and uh Christmas and New Year's. So um it's good to be back and uh thank you for joining me today. So, uh, today's show I'm going to talk about the, uh, Battle of Lake Erie, uh, which took place 212 years ago, uh, last month, actually. And it, it was a a signal victory um, on the part of Oliver Hazard Perry um, and the, uh, nent United

[1:16] States Navy. The Navy at that point was only a little over 30 years old. It it was um young yet it uh challenged uh the British Navy which was uh by far the most powerful navy in the world at that time. And it also uh helped turn the tide in the war of 1812 which is also sometimes known as the second American revolution or the second war for independence. So give you a little background uh to to the battle and then

[1:54] and what what happened. So as I mentioned just a moment ago uh the battle uh took place during the war of 1812 which as you might guess uh started in 1812. So it was the the war was fought o over a number of issues. Uh, one of them was the United States was e extremely angry at the British practice of stopping uh non-British ships going on board and taking away

[2:31] sailors that the British deemed to be British subjects, a practice known as impressment. So, uh, because the United States was a relatively new country in 18, uh, in in the early 1800s, uh, um, and because a lot of the people who lived in the United States in the early years of the country were of English descent, if not actually from uh, from England. So the the American ships in particular were kind

[3:07] of easy pickings from the British standpoint for the impressment of sailors and you know from the from an from the American standpoint they they were now American citizens. They were no longer subjects of Great Britain. uh but in many cases uh British uh ship captains uh ignored that issue and and took these sailors away anyway. And so one of the issues again over which the war of 1812 was fought was impressment. Another was

[3:44] free trade. So again, the the uh Great Britain being the most powerful naval force, one of the things it sought to do was restrict trade to its benefit. And so uh the United States often found itself on the losing end of the free trade battle. And and in fact, one of the the slogans that came out of the War of 1812 was free trade and sailor's rights. naming those two uh issues a as as crucial among those

[4:19] over which the war of 1812 was fought. Now from the United States perspective, there was a third issue and that was there were there was a a um a group within the United States who felt that the United States should essentially take over Canada and expel Great Britain from essentially the balance of its holdings in North America. And this is where the Great Lakes became a a

[4:54] battleground uh because there was a a contemplated invasion essentially of Canada by the United States and of course the British sought to repulse that invasion and so much of that conflict was fought over the Great Lakes. So um at the age of hold on to your uh your to to your pants 27 Oliver Hazard Perry was given command of

[5:31] the US naval forces on Lake Erie. Uh, and this was um after the British had dominated this region early in the war, cutting off the US a US access to the Northwest. So, uh, Perry was given the job of, uh, rapidly building a fleet on Lake Erie with which to face the British. And so he ended up building a fleet of nine

[6:06] ships, small ships. Uh he built them at uh Pres Preskyle Bay, which is essentially near Erie, Pennsylvania, including his flagship, the Lawrence, and another ship called the Niagara. He used local timber and minimal resources, and he was often under attack by the British as he was building this fleet. So if you can imagine it was very difficult circumstances in which Perry built out his his little fleet. The British squadron on Lake Erie was commanded by Captain Robert Harriot

[6:43] Barklay. It was smaller at six vessels but it was more experienced than the uh American fleet than the sailors and officers in the American fleet. Um it was the case though that in total firepower which was essentially at that time measured by the size and number of cannons and carinades that were carried on on ships. So the Americans did have more total firepower and a larger number of ships but they were less experienced than the British. So the the battle took

[7:20] place on September 10th uh 1813. Uh and at uh and they and the fleets or the squadrons really fleets is kind of a grand term for for what were you know six and nine uh small ships each. But they met at Putin Bay, Ohio. Uh Lawrence's Lawrence's uh flagship, the Lawrence, initially bore the brunt of British fire and it suffered heavy damage and casualties, including most of her crew. So at the at at at one point

[7:59] the Lawrence became essentially disabled. It was dismasted. It it it could not uh navigate any longer. And so Perry realized he had to move his flag to another ship. He decided to move it to the Niagara. And he in a small boat uh he and his few remaining uh shipmates rode through heavy British gunfire to the Niagara carrying his battle flag on which is was inscribed the the now

[8:34] famous slogan don't give up the ship. Uh and you know this this sort of daring uh transfer of his flag really turned the tide of battle because the sailors on the other American ships saw their commander risking danger ris risking death to continue to lead them. They saw his battle flag don't give up the ship flying from this this this small boat and it gave them renewed confidence. it

[9:09] it boosted their morale to keep fighting. So once on board uh the Niagara uh Perry re-engaged uh with with the British squadron breaking through their line. Okay. In in again in those days uh battles were fought sort of ships in line. I'm not going to get into that. Um that's that's a a talk for another day. Um but he uh but by breaking through the British line he forced the entire enemy fleet to surrender and and this was the first

[9:45] time in history that an entire British naval squadron had been captured. So it was not only a tremendous victory for Oliver Hazard Perry and the naent United States Navy, it was in many ways a crushing defeat for the Royal Navy uh because they had never they had never suffered this kind of defeat uh before. And it really showed the the the growing

[10:20] ability and confidence of the American Navy and its leadership. And it it it it proved to the British that the American Navy could and would stand toeto- toe with it in defense of American interests. Now, at the time, the Royal Navy was a truly worldwide navy, whereas the American Navy was not. Um, but and so the the the American Navy was not looking to challenge the the

[10:57] Royal Navy, you know, throughout the seven seas, so to speak. Uh but when it came to um advancing American interests, then indeed the the the the battle of uh Erie, Pennsylvania, uh the battle of Lake Erie um proved to the Royal Navy and the British government that indeed um the US Navy was a formidable foe. So, um, the aftermath of the victory is Perry sent a a s succinct and now absolutely legendary dispatch to

[11:37] General William Henry Harrison and and and it had just uh I think eight words. We have met the enemy and they are ours. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine words. Just nine words, right? But this this redounded throughout American military history, whereas typically, you know, fairly long involved afteraction reports would be sent. Um, in Perry's case, he sent just this nine-word message. And it really it really inspired again not just the

[12:14] United States Navy but but the United States military in general that this pluckucky little you know nineboat squadron had defeated the great Royal Navy and and that its young commander uh was was so bold, so confident and and um you know just exuding the spirit spirit of of the young nation that was the United States of America. So, um the the victory gave the United States control

[12:49] of Lake Erie. It allowed uh Governor, I'm sorry, um General Harrison uh to retake Detroit uh in in the Michigan territory and it directly led to the defeat of uh British and uh Native American forces at the Battle of the Temps and it securing the Northwest Territory of the United States uh as as an American uh possession. So Perry became a national hero as did by the way William Henry Harrison who was elected

[13:24] to president to the presidency uh uh later a little bit later uh he unfortunately served in office only six months before dying. Um, Perry did not have a a political career, but he was nonetheless a national hero and and as I mentioned before, his victory demonstrated the growing skill and confidence of thei young United States Navy. And it it really cemented his motto um don't give up the ship as as a symbol even to this day of American

[14:00] resolve. You will at times see a battle flag with the motto don't give up the ship on American ships. Um I I believe it last happened during the Second Gulf War. Um ships were authorized to fly. It's uh typically it's a blue flag with the the the words in white on it. Uh I you know what? I think I actually have a I should have brought down my little miniature 3x5 inch flag to show you what it looks like. But in any event, uh it it it remains a vital motto of of

[14:37] especially uh the United States Navy uh to this day. So that's the history of of the Battle of Lake Erie. Let's look now at some business lessons that we can learn from uh Perry's uh really astonishing astonishing accomplishment. So uh first of all build with what you have not with what you wish you had. Okay. So Perry

[15:12] lacked man manpower he lacked resources. He lacked infrastru infrastructure and yet he built his little fleet of nine small boats from local timber using raw materials under siege without what are called ways which is the the sort of harbor type facilities that are normally used uh when you're doing ship building and and his ships were they were plucky they got the job done. Okay. So he focused on what he had, not what he

[15:47] didn't have or wished he had. Um, you know, in contrast this with among others, uh, General Meade in the Civil War, who was, uh, the commanding general of the Army of the PTOAC, who would sit in camp endlessly making ever more demands of the War Department and President Lincoln to prepare for battle rather than taking what he had, figuring out how to use it effectively, and taking the fight to the Confederacy. So, uh, me ended up his career in

[16:25] essentially ignamy. Uh, whereas Oliver Hazard Perry stands today still as one of the great heroes in American history. So, here's here's the here's the reality. And and I and we live in a country of such plenty uh that that I think we forget this. Uh creativity is more likely to come from constraints than it is to come from abundance. Because when we have to overcome

[17:00] constraints, we have to figure out creative ways in which to do that. And so uh that you know from a business standpoint we are much better off putting the creative power of our team to work on a problem than fretting over what we might view as insufficient resources in order to accomplish uh whatever you know goal or tasks task with which we've been given. So it it

[17:36] it's it's a a very important mindset and and one that uh the reason I'm talking about this first is I think it undergurs so much so many other issues in business and while uh so this show for example is is an outgrowth of that idea idea. So, if you've ever seen any of the original seasons uh of the Way to Wow show, the first two seasons, it was a much more

[18:13] elaborate production. I converted my living room once a month into a TV studio and we brought in a a pretty pretty full cl pretty full crew. My longtime producing partner, Rick Carter, was directed the show. I produced it. We had our our regular cameraman Steve there. We had our sound guy. We had uh our um uh production coordin we had a production coordinator. We had craft services and I had a a wardrobe coordinator as well. And and you might

[18:49] say, "Oh my god, how could you possibly afford all that?" Well, I mean, we did it we did it relatively inexpensively, which is why we shot all the shows or we shot multiple shows, four to eight shows on the same day. But the time and energy it took uh was was a lot. Okay. I would have loved to have continued that show, but due to some personal uh things that happened in my life, I couldn't. Uh and so rather than um you know, not doing the show until I could afford to do it

[19:25] in that elaborate way, um I shut down and figured out a new way to do it. And hence the current version of the way to wow shows in in a podcast format came into be. So I built with what I had, not with what I wish I had. Okay? And I became my own wardrobe coordinator. That's why you see me still wearing a tie to this day. Okay? So that's number one. Build with what you have, not what you wish you had. Next, prepare relentlessly before the fight. So

[20:02] Perry's success began months before the actual battle and it it it it started with meticulous planning, very rigorous training and also all of putting together as well as he could the ship building logistics he needed in order to build a fleet that could possibly uh confront and defeat the British. So um in in this regard and it this is this is sort of a real life example of what

[20:39] later um authors uh such as um gosh I'm going up their names. Um they uh one wrote the Horatio Hornblower series. the other uh wrote the um uh uh um Jack Aubrey, Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Matarin series uh if you ever saw the movie Master and Commander. So in both of those fictional works, so the captains of the the the respective captains, Horatio Hornblower on the one

[21:16] hand and and Jack Aubrey on the other were well known for rigorous training of their crews, especially in gunnery. So they both would, you know, use as much of their resources as they could possibly afford for extra gunpowder and shot in order that their gun crews could practice and become maxim maximally proficient. And in that way, when they were in battle, more of the shots would tell. And and and so whatever they might

[21:54] have used in gunnery practice was well used since they didn't need as many shots to disable or sink a ship in an actual battle. Right? So that idea on the part of of the the authors of those books I think came from the real life uh history of naval commanders like Oliver Hazard Perry who again very rigorously trained his his crew and we can do the same thing in business whether it's whether it's our our people involved in

[22:30] sales customer service in actual operations Whatever it is, we can give them rigorous training. We can afford them the opportunities for to to go to classes, to go to conferences, to take online courses, to engage in in in mock sessions for training purposes. We can do all of this if we choose to so that when it's truly crucial that they perform well, they have the training and

[23:08] and they've had an opportunity to practice essentially in as real world as possible and can therefore maximize their results. So, uh I mean of course you see this in the military even today, but you see I I know in uh whenever I do any kind of media project, I I should say when Rick and I do any kind of media project, so there's a a tremendous amount of planning that goes on before shooting day or shooting days. So

[23:43] everything is scheduled out. All the equipment lists are put together. Sources from from from where we're going to get the equipment are identified. Um, location rentals are secured. Equipment rentals are secured. Um, craft services and catering are all arranged in advance. There's as as little left to chance as possible. And then on on the day of shooting, so we do not quote

[24:19] unquote roll cameras. Of course, that's a term that comes from the days when film was used. Roll video, I guess you would say. um until we especially if there's going to be any kind of complex movement, especially complex camera movement, we will rehearse all of that first to give the cast and crew the opportunity to to get used to what needs to happen so that then when we do roll video, we can be as efficient as

[24:54] possible in getting what we need okay and and we don't you know do multiple you know multiple multiple multiple takes which in the end co creates a creates a situation where when it comes time to edit a show or a movie or whatever we're doing uh now there's so much more footage to go uh that has to be gone through uh it takes a much much more time in order to um in order to edit it down etc. So

[25:32] uh again this is just as it's derriigger in the military it is um for for people who are who are looking to do truly professionallook media projects it is also derigger to do the meticulous planning to do the rehearsing the training all in advance so that um on show day and even during show day the best possible product uh and and is the end result. Okay, so prepare relentlessly before the fight. Uh number three, lead from the front especially in

[26:10] a crisis. So uh when the Lawrence was uh dismasted and and you know it was inevitable it was going to sink. Uh Oliver Oliver Hazard Perry did not choose to withdraw. Rather under fire he personally transferred to the Niagara so he could keep fighting. Okay. Now here's the thing about leading from the front especially during a crisis.

[26:46] If a leader is always leading from the front, then when it becomes crucial for that kind of outstanding leadership or not outstanding uh high-profile leadership, it may not be particularly distinguishable from everyday leadership. And so a good leader knows when to empower his team, the other members of his team to lead and when he needs to

[27:25] quote unquote take the helm, when he needs to be the one leading from the front. And when on those times when a crisis hits or when it is particularly a particularly crucial activity needs to take place when that leader steps to the front. The team can feel that they can feel something different is happening now. Something bigger more important is at stake. And that's why

[28:03] you know this person is now at the front and is in essence you know taking over from us. Okay. So to create that impact um and and this this this this plays into um uh my my fourth lesson. So we need to empower successors and secondary leaders, right? So um Perry's second in command uh Jesse Elliott and other junior officers played vital roles um in

[28:41] maintaining control of the fleet and securing victory. So the fact that Oliver Hazard Perry wanted young, aggressive, smart officers throughout his squadron. Okay, shows you a couple of things. One, he was preparing for the unfortunate situation where he might be killed in battle and someone else had to take over. That's number one. Number two, that he was confident in his leadership,

[29:18] confident enough to hear strong opinions from his subordinates to make the overall plan better. And so when you have these strong ass assertive leaders throughout your team, when you step to the front, you are making an even bolder statement. Okay? Otherwise, let them do their thing. Let them run their divisions. Let them run their

[29:53] departments. Give them as much space and and leeway as you possibly can so that they can learn and grow when the stakes are lower, right? So that when the stakes are high, okay, they will still look to be great leaders, but great leaders in concert with where you're leading them when you step to the front. Okay, let's take let's take a a quick message break.

[30:29] America is a maritime nation. Our freedom and security depend on strong sea services. The Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League stands with our Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine through community support, education, and advocacy. For over 120 years, Americans of all walks of life have heeded our call. No prior military services required to join our mission. The Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League of the United States. Help us support those who serve at sea. Visit

[31:05] navyleague.org. And we're back at Business Lessons from the Military. I'm your host, Kevin Beml. I'm talking about the Battle of Lake Erie fought during the War of 1812 on September 10th, 1813. The American commander was Oliver Hazard Perry. And I'm talking about the business lessons that we can learn from Perry's defeat of the British squadron on Lake Erie. And uh I I've mentioned four so far. Build with what you have,

[31:40] not what what you wish you had. Prepare rigorously and relentlessly before a fight. And then lead from the front, especially in a crisis, but empower your successors and secondary leaders so that you have strong leadership throughout your team. Okay? And I would add adding on to that for for just a moment. If if you h if you have if you're a strong leader and you have a strong second in command, but your leadership ends there, okay, you have a very weak

[32:17] organization. So, I remember back when I had my real estate company before I joined the Navy and I used to do collateral reviews for a large lender. They did a a type of lending called assetbased lending and they sent me uh to do a review of a company based in Seattle, Washington. And uh I um I was there to look at several properties, but also meet with the CEO and other people who worked for the company. And although this wasn't

[32:52] strictly part of my uh my responsibility to my client, uh when I got back from that trip to Seattle, I I went and and and met with uh my my client, my it was really the the senior appraisal officer, a fellow by the name of David Evans, who's um he unfortunately Dave died a number of years ago now, but Dave was extremely ly well known and well-liked within the lending industry. So I went and sat down with Dave and we talked about, you know, the collateral that I

[33:28] had reviewed uh because it was a it was a very unusual situation. And then I said to him, I said, Dave, I want to just pass this along to you. Uh I said, I know this isn't part of my remit, but I thought you should be aware. My impression is if something were to happen to the CEO, and he is an older man. Um, he doesn't appear to me to be in particularly robust health, I don't see I never I didn't meet anyone that I thought could take his place, anyone currently in the company who could take his place. And I I just I think that's

[34:04] an issue. I would encourage you know I would encourage you and your team to look into that issue because what will happen to this company if the charismatic founder dies and now you know it's got to keep on going and and who's going to do that and what's going to happen if in the you know if in the meantime you've made a loan and now you know you're looking to get paid back and you know the ship starts to founder uh and and I think this is one of the reasons why by the way uh people so

[34:41] admired uh Dave Evans and and liked working with him is even though again I this wasn't anything I was involved with he he listened to what I had to say and he said hey I you know I really appreciate you bringing this to my attention I'm going to talk to the account manager about this and and I think I think you're right we need to look into this and and and satisfy ourselves that there's a management team that can do this. And just just to digress a little bit further, they that is one of the things that they looked at and that combined with what they felt

[35:17] was in insufficient collateral uh caused them to um not make the loan to this particular company. I found out a few months later that one of this one of my clients competitors uh I'd been trying to get their business uh for for quite some time. They had ended up making that loan. And when I asked them how large a loan they made, they had actually done what's called an over advance on collateral. So if the collateral was $und00 million, they had lent $110

[35:54] million, which meant they were betting on the company being able to uh not only expand its operation, but expand its pro profitability. In the event the company collapsed and the loss to this lender that made the loan was so great that along with some other losses the lender essentially went out of business. So, you know, when we when we look at uh um uh secondary leaders and we look at

[36:31] succession in a business, I think it is it's an overlooked issue often times and one that we who run businesses just cannot afford to overlook. Not only because it makes us uh less creditworthy, but it means look an an um the leader of a business doesn't have to, you know, die for it to be a problem. The person could get injured or sick and and be unable to run the business. Um and and if the business

[37:06] can't run in their absence absence, what's going to happen? Okay. So now they've recovered but the business now has uh atrophied and and and and is you know has to be rebuilt. Okay. So these are these are all um aspects of why we as as as business owners or even as someone who works for a business and is and and and should be advising the senior leadership of the business. This is why leadership

[37:41] development needs to be a broad and deepbased plan within the company. Okay. Uh so that was that was number four. Number five, adapt fast when plans collapse. So, uh, Perry's flagship, uh, the Lawrence was destroyed and so he jumped into a small boat and and and rode across to the Niagara, made it his flagship and continue with the battle. Now, that is part of the Navy ethos, right? Uh, but not all commanders do

[38:18] that. um it would be you know good of well I shouldn't say good of it but but the fact of the matter is um while it is prudent to withdraw sometimes um oftentimes commanders don't need to withdraw um and and again going into some uh civil war uh examples um there were numerous times when the army of the PTOAC should have followed up victory victories over Lee. I talked about this just I think two weeks ago at the battle of Antatum. Um

[38:55] the uh the commander there should have followed up and didn't and so the war you know continued longer rather than following up on this decisive victory. So um we one needs to adapt fast when plans collapse or for that matter when plans are more successful than anticipated. Right? So um by quickly reorganizing his command and and and counterattacking uh Perry was able to carry the day and

[39:32] achieve victory for the United States Navy and the United States of America. So the fact of the matter is in business our a strat any strategy we have is only as good as our ability to pivot when that strategy starts to founder. Okay. So flexibility under pressure often determines our success. Okay. So feelalty to the original plan oftentimes turns out to be the wrong the

[40:07] the the wrong course. So I'll give you an an example from from my own career when I had my real estate company um that I started in the mid1 1980s. So by the early 2000s there had been significant changes in the marketplace. uh the kind of clients with with which I dealt uh increasingly did not want to work with a small company. They wanted to work only with large companies. Um I I I mean I used to joke with Dave about

[40:42] this after um his his organization not not against Dave's wishes basically um started using a a sort of a mega company that did what I did. Um that they wanted to make sure they had someone with, you know, huge resources to sue in the event something went wrong. Um and and uh David used to laugh and and essentially agree with me, right? So the corporatizing of the business in which I was practicing uh you know was a re was in fact uh

[41:18] almost an existential challenge for my company and the fact of the matter was I did not pivot well and and lost a lot of business and you know it it wasn't you know at I at one point I finally realized hey I' I've got to do something different. Um but but by then I was sort of exhausted by the whole situation and and that was when I made the decision to join the United States Navy. So while it can be difficult to anticipate

[41:56] problems in executing our strategy, we have to do that as well as possible. When the actual uh barriers come up that necessitate pivoting, we have to read them and we have to do it quickly in order to stay vital. Okay. Next, uh, clarity in communication is power. So, Perry's very simple dispatch to, uh, General William Henry Harrison after winning the victory, we have met

[42:32] the enemy and they are ours was clear, it was confident and it was morale boosting. We, you know, these days communication is so easy. We can be so verbose, but oftent times a thousand words are far less clear than 10 words. And so I know when when I write emails, one of the one of my I I've just built this into a habit. I do not press click

[43:10] to send until I have reread and edited that email a for among other things clarity and brevity. So it's I would say eight times out of 10 I end up pulling out more words than I add to an email because by pulling out words I am making a I'm sending a clearer message. Okay. Now there is such

[43:45] a thing as as too great brevity. Okay. And and and that can be an equal problem. Okay. So, if you ever get an email from me, you'll always see a salutation. Hi, you know, whatever your name is, or if I'm being more formal, dear, whatever your name is, the body of my email, and then I sign off always, you know, courage at all times, you know, Kevin or Kevin Bemel. And then, of course, I have the um sort of marketing stuff appended to my signature. So, it's it's very rare

[44:20] that I uh send an email that doesn't include the recipient's name in it and and my name signing off on it. So uh and and that's because especially if we're copying people on emails uh to whom is the email actually being sent to the main recipient and and it's being sent to these other people just for so that they're in the loop or is it being sent to all of them? Right? So we want to be clear but we want to be

[44:55] as brief as possible in our communications. Okay. Next. Own the mission, not the means. Right. The Oliver Hazard Perry's mission was to defeat the British squadron and take control of Lake Erie. Okay. As part of the larger mission of the United States gaining control of the Northwest Territory. Okay. So when it became evident that the Lawrence was not going

[45:30] to be the vessel on which he did that, he abandoned the vessel and he moved to the Niagara and reorganized his little fleet and continued fighting. Okay? And that's an example that we need to follow. And there's something known as the sunk cost fallacy. Okay. So, we may be pursuing a particular means for achieving a business goal. Uh maybe it's a commitment to a particular product to

[46:06] capture a particular clientele. Uh maybe it's a particular way of I don't know uh um advertising, marketing our business, lots of things. And if we're not getting the results we are seeking, we need to change the means while owning the mission. Okay. So um going back to um my example of the way to wow shows when the

[46:42] means when I couldn't pursue the means of a more elaborate production okay I had to I had to take a step back and say what is the mission of what what is the mission of these shows and the mission of these shows is to help people uh live better lives using the three pillars of attainment okay that's the central mission of this show. Okay, this the the mission of this show is to help to give you ideas that you can use to better run your business or professional practice or even a nonprofit. The the mission of

[47:20] my show on Mondays, Trust and Estates Weekly, is to give you the information you need to better serve clients who are dealing with estate planning and trust and estate administration. My the mission of my show on uh Wednesday, people making money is to help you better job hunt, start and run a business and build wealth, right? And and of course the mission at Jigger's Place uh every other Thursday is the mission is to help you relax and maybe learn some new ideas about life in general, right? So each show has its

[47:56] mission. That's what's crucial. how I meet that mission will change from from time to time. Okay? And in fact, I've been thinking about some changes for the coming season in 2026. So, you maybe, you know, kind of stay tuned for that. Um, but I I'm always looking for better means to meet the core mission. Okay. All right. And then finally, number eight, and this is the last lesson I have, is turn victory into long-term

[48:31] strategic gain. Okay, so uh Oliver Hazard Perry's victory on Lake Erie, it didn't end the war, but what it did is it enabled even inspired further victories uh on on the part of General William Henry Harrison among others. and it reshaped the balance of power in North America. That's not an overstatement. Okay. So, the British lost control of the Northwest Territory. uh the United States of America ex

[49:07] expanded geographically as a result gaining additional resources, additional well additional land, additional resources and coming closer to fulfilling its manifest destiny which was a country that spanned from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Okay. And so, um, while I think it would be unreasonable to say that Perry's victory created that the, you know, those circumstances, it had a significant hand

[49:42] along with other victors and other commanders in creating those situations. among them uh General William Henry Harrison who uh who that was one you know how he was viewed as a national hero was in part what allowed him to be elected president of the United States. Okay. So we in business we need to exploit momentum and I I have talked about this on other episodes of business lessons from the military but it's it's worth uh talking about again and that is

[50:19] when we launch a new initiative for example we we need to plan to pivot if it isn't going well but we also need to exploit its success if it really starts doing well. Okay, we don't want to be caught flatfooted with a great success and then not being not be able to exploit that success. So, you see this sometimes with uh various uh toys and I'm trying to think of a specific example. Uh there was a a doll that came

[50:56] out. And I'm going up on which particular one it was. Uh but and I think it was made by Mattel. So Mattel releases this doll. It turns out to be outrageously popular and the next thing Mattel knows it's sold out and it doesn't have the ability to ramp up its production. And so it lost out uh on a a a great opportunity. Now eventually it did get more production going uh but by then some of the momentum had been lost right

[51:32] and and kids were on to whatever the next you know popular toy was. So, we need to be looking at our businesses, at our professional practices, and you know, if we if we get the opportunity to quickly expand on a successful initiative, how are we going to do it? What resources do we need? What can we pull in in order to exploit that success? And you may, you know, you may say, well, I mean, but there's a then

[52:07] I'm I'm I'm potentially wasting a lot of time doing that planning. Well, yes, you are. Okay. Uh but, you know, do it as efficiently as possible. Uh and and make it as flexible as possible so you're not having to devote a lot of resources to it. But in the event that you are given this opportunity, you'll at least have a skeleton plan of how to respond and you will be able to take best advantage of the opportunity that's

[52:42] that's that's being presented to you. So those those are my thoughts on business lessons we can learn from uh Oliver Hazard's Perry Oliver Hazard Perry's victory on Lake Erie uh 212 years ago and I I thank you for joining me today. As I said in the beginning, it's nice to be back broadcasting live and I'll be doing so through through the end of the year now. So I hope you'll continue to join me. I I my live I see my live viewers are there. Always a treat. And I so I I do I thank you.

[53:18] Thank you sincerely for joining me today and and watching the show. Uh tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time is my show People Making Money. And then on Thursday of this week at 5:00 pm Pacific time, we'll gather at Jiggers's place for a cocktail and a schmoo. So once again, thank you so much for joining me and wishing you a wonderful rest of the day. Signing off as I always do. Marie darling, you are my bell. Courage at all

[53:53] times, my friends.