Blog #361: The Two Sides of Jeff Snyder
- Jeffrey Snyder
- Sep 4, 2023
- 4 min read
“I’m not Walt Disney. I do a lot of things Walt Disney wouldn’t do. Walt Disney doesn’t smoke, I smoke. Walt Disney doesn’t drink, I drink.”
-Walt Disney
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I put in this quote for a very important reason because even though people like Walt Disney were universally loved by many, he still had to be a tough businessman and there were times where Walt wasn’t afraid to let any employees who didn’t work in his way see his darker and tougher side.
Throughout the summer, I feel as if I started to become like Walt Disney in terms of being a businessman. I also feel like I am becoming aware of the image I am creating for public consumption. Most people look to Jeff Snyder as someone who is a role model, someone who has the look of someone who can do no wrong in bettering lives for those affected by autism.
Then there is another side to me, the side that can be difficult at times when things aren’t going the way I wanted them to go. When I founded “Going the Distance,” two years ago, I had to remember that when I created a business, I knew that I had to run it like one. Unfortunately, that included showing my ugly side in front of others. Running a business isn’t all fun and games and sometimes you have to be tough on others in order for your business to be successful.
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Like many upcoming and veteran entrepeneurs, I hold myself to a very high standard when it comes to obtaining public speaking engagements, deciding what partnerships and relationships I build on and whether they are the right fit, etc. I also have a tendency to run “Going the Distance,” in ways that don’t agree well with others. If people disagree with me on something, I tend to try and keep my feelings internalized and that’s not a good thing.
Sometimes, it could be something that I don’t want to hear but I have to hear for the good of “Going the Distance”‘s overall long term growth and development. I want to say something, but I can’t say it without getting the other party upset or hurt. Maybe it could be that people see the side of me that is on the pictures and videos that I do in my work as a public speaker/advocate and can’t imagine me any other way.
The last thing I want is for people to see me as a monster running a business, but sometimes I need to show my tougher side because I have a goal that needs to be fulfilled or if I am concentrating on something that I cannot be bothered for anything else (such as what happens at my day job on a frequent basis). I do have a circle of friends, but even they understand that when it comes to running “Going the Distance,” it’s nothing personal, but it is business and I am trying to earn income for my business.
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Maybe it could be that being tough does come with it’s costs and consequences. I’ve experienced this when I was in school and it was one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever felt. But the teachers I had in school and the bosses I had at my day job needed to be tough because someone wasn’t playing up to their standards and their rules. It could be that I was doing something wrong in their eyes, but I try my hardest.
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Maybe it can also be that I am not a patient man when it comes to others. I will confess that I don’t have the patience that people expect of me but I know that the clock is ticking for certain missions and projects I have in front of me. Recently, it got to the point where my social interactions outside of the business had been brought to a stop.
It could also be that there are some projects that I am working on right now that might not be worth working on. In the end, it could be that there is a project that is worth working on, but that I never gave it chance.
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The fact is that being an entrepeneur takes plenty of several core values and there is another quote from Walt Disney to his staff in February 1941 that sums it up best:
“In the 20 years I’ve spent in this business I’ve weathered many storms. It’s been far from easy sailing. It required a great deal of work, struggle, determination, confidence, faith, and above all unselfishness.”
-Walt Disney
And that’s exactly what has happened to me in 2 short years running this grassroots platform. There has been plenty of storms that I have had to weather and it certainly has been far from easy sailing. You can bet that I will be experiencing more in the years to come at “Going the Distance.”
So just remember that if I get tough on anyone, it’s not personal, it’s business.
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Catch you all later!!
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