In my review of this book, I cited the popularity of Barry Hearn’s appearances on the Men In Blazers podcast. Hearn is mainly known in England for being a sports promoter. His ownership of Leyton Orient, a London-based club that played in England’s third-tier of professional football, and his willingness to discuss his experiences led to a series of guest appearances on the show. His appearances were so popular that Hearn was eventually the guest of honor for his own ‘pod special’, a ridiculous event where he shared his ten rules for life with the Men In Blazers audience.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, I didn’t feel that all of his rules were very useful for me. Rule #8, for example, says - your life does not change by sitting on the sofa. That's an excellent insight, but not one I learned from Barry Hearn. And then there's Rule #1 - it is better to be born lucky than good looking. I might entertain the notion, but my brain works too logically to ignore that being born good looking is in itself an example of good luck.
I do want to highlight those rules that I did like, however, so... without further ado…
Barry Hearn, Rule #2 – tell the truth, because eventually it becomes too difficult to keep track of all your lies.
I like this rule because it disposes of all the higher moral or ethical standards we resort to when trying to explain the importance of honesty. Instead, Hearn reframes it in the most basic, selfish terms that any idiot can understand – lying is stupid because YOU are going to get caught.
The explanation fits Hearn’s personality perfectly. Hearn presents himself as the sort of businessman who has no time for complex philosophies, principles, or analysis. He strikes me as the sort who says – if it’s making money, let’s do MORE of it – and any additional analysis only introduces unwanted complexity. To put it another way, Barry Hearn is about results first and everything else second and nothing exemplifies this position better than being against lying merely because he believes lying isn’t going to work.
Barry Hearn, Rule #3 – work ethic can overcome anything, because we all have the same amount of time during a day but not everyone is willing to make the same sacrifices.
One aspect of Hearn’s appeal was his contrast to all the over-slicked business types that seem to have infiltrated the ownership ranks among the sport’s clubs. With rule #3, Hearn solidifies this difference by emphasizing that success is attainable for those who want to put in an honest day’s work, over and over again. Say what you must about the tenuous link between hard work and massive success, of course, but at least Hearn endorses a better path to club ownership than overseeing a leveraged buyout.
Barry Hearn, Rule #9 – avoid being a secret, because if you wait for someone else to identify your greatness it might never happen.
Sheryl Sandberg referred to this as ‘Tiara Syndrome’ in her hugely influential Lean In and I suppose this is Hearn’s way of making the same point. I think a lot of people feel they have more to offer to their communities, organizations, or even themselves than they are willing to admit, and this reluctance probably leaves a lot of great work unrecognized and a lot of potential unrealized.
Barry Hearn, Rule #6 – unusual things happen everyday but it’s how you deal with them that makes you unusual.
If this rule looks familiar, it is because I mentioned it back in the November newsletter. This thought hit me so hard when I first heard it that I’ve thought about and alluded to it over and over in the weeks after I read The Encyclopedia Blazertannica. We are so easily tempted by familiar patterns that we fail to notice all the ways we decline the new opportunities that come across our path every single day. More importantly, we fail to consider how our lives might change if we reconsidered the automatic responses we give to the situations we regularly encounter in our lives.
