I drove past one of those bright yellow signs with black lettering and it read “Hustle beats Talent when Talent does not Hustle.” It really caught my attention and I looked to see what kind of business it was. A Dentist! Now, I am not sure I’d want to go and see a Dental Surgeon that was relying on their Hustle over their Talent, but I still like the phrase.

We can have all the talent in the world but it doesn’t count for anything unless we roll up our sleeves, get to work, and hustle!

This probably struck me hard because I was on my way to a County planning meeting to try to persuade them to make a zoning change so that I could start a new business. I had not thought of myself as hustling, but I was! Putting myself out there and trying to make my vision become a reality.

At Harvest Trends, we have to hustle to get the word out. We might have the best solution for Player Development and we might have passion, but unless we hustle through our marketing efforts then no-one will ever know.

And Player Development professionals have to get out there and hustle every day. A Host can have all the talent in the world; a wonderful way with people, a natural charm, a grasp of every detail of how to analyze and grow a player, and an encyclopedic knowledge of everything gaming.

… but Hustle beats Talent when Talent does not Hustle.

I usually talk about the Strategic Host and the need to take a strategic approach to Player Development. The need to have a PLAN of how the Strategic Host is going to achieve their goals by dividing up their time and acting consistently on the right priorities.

Yes, we have to use our Strategic Talent to analyze our goals, divide up our players into different ‘types’ or ‘segments’, and decide how we are to go about growing their trips and play.

But it is the Hustle that makes us execute our plan!

It is the Hustle that forces us to make those out-bound calls to missing players, to make sure we send 30 letters each and every week, and to start each shift with a list of 3 Key Todos for that day. It is the Hustle that leads us to network with the Pit Boss, the F&B Manager, and the Front Desk so that we can pull strings for our guests. It is the Hustle that gives us the courage to ask our Manager, “Where can I improve?”

Let’s take our Talents and add some Hustle this week!