Planes Plants and Politics: A Mental Framework To Help Overcome Challenges in Any Industry

By Hunter S. Gaylor and Joseph Del Prete

An in-depth illustrated tale of how young budding entrepreneurs navigate the global business world with deals that span industries and continents. The no-thoughts sparred, transparent tale, reveals the businessmen's personal philosophy to navigate life's thorniest challenges. The reader will walk away awash in wisdom and gain insight into a world few have entered and even fewer have written about.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tablo Publishing
• Release date: Oct 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9781922328229

Book preview

Preface

With the litany of business books on the shelves these days, you might ask yourself, Why pick up this one?. As the authors, we take that question seriously as we are both avid readers, and often take a pragmatic approach to life and business. Throughout the years, both Hunter and I have come across many individuals wanting to get into business, struggling with their existing business, lacking drive or motivation, and a whole host    of other problems that are easily evident by a third-party observer. It’s often said that how you conduct business is a reflection of yourself, and if your business isn’t where you want it to be, the one factor that you can control is you.

There are 10 rules in this book that are designed to guide and provide insight for an individual throughout their life and business challenges. Rather than focusing on narrow technical solutions for particular industries, our rules are more universally applicable and industry agnostic. In times of uncertainty, we hope this book serves as a bedside guide towards a positive resolution to the challenges you may face. It’s often been said that one should consider carefully where they take advice from. As the authors of this book we have both the outward trappings of success and the inner desire to continue to push forward to realize our vision.

From private jet travel, exotic cars and walking the red carpet at the Emmys, to dining with billionaires, to meeting with Prime Ministers and Middle Eastern royalty, from Wall Street to the farm several miles from Main Street, to the hills and churches of remote Armenia to the Hollywood Hills and mega mansions, from A-list celebrities to the homeless men and women seeking shelter, from mom and pop shops throughout Boston to international business on 5 continents, from local political campaigns to the national level at D.C., from single family rentals to large-scale urban real estate development, we have had our share of the American Dream.

I first met Hunter during our college days via a Hackathon that he partnered with a company to host. Since then we’ve gone on to have several technology ventures together as well as business ventures in other industries. Everyone has their ups and downs in life. That being said, over the years a person can choose to become wiser with each new problem they face in their life. This book is our distillation of core business concepts, told through Hunter’s voice in a narrative format, that we hope will enable the reader to have the cross-industry business success that we have enjoyed over the years.

We thank you for taking the time to read our book, and without further ado, let’s dive right in!

—Joseph Del Prete

PLANES

It took our country the brief period between two Olympics to reform global democracy, break records in production, fix an economy, and spread hope and peace. On the other hand, it  took  Atlanta’s Hartsfield–Jackson Airport 25 years to add a fifth runway.

Rule 1: Be in the pilot’s seat, and just launch

From December 7, 1941, until the end of 1945, our country was an active participant in World War II.

Three years and eight  months—about  the  length  of one’s high school career, a little less than a presidential term, and just three annual Christmas parties. In that short amount of time, the United States had launched the B17, B42,

BTD, P-51 Mustang, and about 54 other bomber aircrafts to protect our people, our neighbors, and our values. In 1939, our country had produced fewer than 3,000 planes for the military and by the end of World War II, we had produced more than 300,000 aircraft. During that span of time, our country developed the Manhattan Project, created a mil- lion-man army, ended the Depression, and most important- ly,beat Nazi Germany, Imperialist Japan, and Fascist Italy. It took our country the breakperiod between two Olympics to reform global democracy, break records in production, fix an economy, and spread hope and peace. On the other hand, it took the Atlanta’s Hartsfield–Jackson Airport 25 years to add a fifth runway.

The importance of logistics ties back into having an actual plan. At many points throughout our lives and especially in the political and business spheres, the survival of the fittest mindset has created an environment based on independence and pushing others down to

have your agenda rise to the top. Recognizing that you’re in this situation, the best step for your company and vision is to filter out the unnecessary obstacles to ensure focus, and just launch. Of course, there are risks; but having trust in yourself, your flight crew, and your plane, makes liftoff a whole lot smoother. One of the biggest fears that prevents dreamers from becoming achievers is the idea of failure and crashing. This applies to business deals and proposals as well as crafting a vision or campaign. Fearlessness and being able to just launch by believing in yourself pushes you ahead of those who are still sitting and wondering what if?

Having trust in yourself, your flight crew, and your plane, makes liftoff a whole lot smoother.

The success and efficiency of flight crews weighs heavily on the structure of the team. Flight hierarchy ties to how a company should be run and trusted. Flight crews pass in and out of aisles as they connect with customers, while you, the pilot, are responsible for assuring the safety of everyone on board. Then, after takeoff, consistently focusing on the sky ahead. Your trip would not be successful if, as a pilot, you don’t trust your flight crew and as a consequence micro-man- age them and get distracted from your responsibility.

Throughout my life my ability to trust others has been heavily tested—especially in college. While many people, myself included, remind you that being independent is important, it is absolutely vital to also trust that you’ve picked a good team to surround you. Once you’ve picked your flight crew, your company is now built on a glass stage of trust. As former President of TerraSource, an agricultural company, one of the most profound things I’ve learned is to trust myself and my team to do what they need to do, without any constant reminders or opinions from me. Because of this trust, our companies meet weekly either in person and/or virtually to touch base on everyone’s projects and activities. Rather than critiquing one’s ability to do a project, all we ask for are deadlines to set expectations of when our companies can see results. This process has  shown  great  efficiency and continues to strengthen the relationship of management with everyone else in the company.

You can’t memorize a textbook on how to run a good business and become  that;  you need to do things you normally wouldn’t do and just launch.

Another character shaping note I’ve learned as a pilot is the constant commentary and criticisms you hear about what you’re doing. I went from being a small-town boy to an international businessman in half a decade, and sure enough, there were people always warning me about the risks along the way. If you want to see your dream as a reality, if you want your signature to be an autograph, you’re going to come across people who live too safe a life to go the extra mile. Your company will not grow if you don’t trust yourself and in your ability that you can be on the next cover of Forbes. The reality is that you can never be prepared enough for life. There will always be one more class you can take, one more book you can read, one more seminar you can go to, one more midterm to test your memory on what’s important or essential to know about your craft or discipline or endeavor. That’s why not all business-related professors aren’t billionaires. You can’t memorize a textbook on how to run a good business and then create