Here's What You're Saying Lately...and it's All Valid |
November 2016 |
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Lately I've heard some things from ales executives and managers that deserve our attention as I'm sure many of us are thinking about these same issues. Here are five comments I've written down in the last two weeks that we should dissect and discuss in this "group therapy". These comments are real and valid concerns, and the speakers of these words need our help.
1. "It's that time of year to set goals for '17 but I'm never really good at that stuff. Besides, things always work out fine for me." Do you want to "be fine", or do you want to be a star? If you want to be excellent, you need to plan. And planning requires setting goals and establishing patterns of positive behaviors that are necessary to reach those goals. The biggest misnomer around goal-setting is the notion that you can never change a goal; you don't have to be locked in to something that sounded good awhile back, but isn't realistic today. Be flexible, but don't deny that accountability drives performance. And performance does not happen without goals setting. 2. "Holy crap, the Cubbies actually won it all, does that mean Trump is next?"
I truly don't know how to comment on this other than, GO CUBS. 3. "More than half of my reps are getting coal in their stocking for commissions this year, and I don't know how to tell them the bad news."
The truth always helps, eh? To get to the stage where you can deliver the truth, you'll need to get help from your manager...talk about what the reasons are...commit to a baseline script...then deliver the honest truth. Or, if that entire protocol is still creating anxiety, call me. These are the communications issues in which I excel - I can help you grow from the experience...and help you learn now to treat your sales team with respect through direct, honest discourse. 4. "I'm pretty sure a doctor would diagnose me as having ADD...I just can't seem to get anything done any more."
Yeah, this is a problem with a lot of folks. And it ain't gettin' any easier. There are more pop-ups and interstitials and interruptions than ever before and our brains are telling us loudly that they can't handle it all. The advice I always give here is advice few want to enact: turn off your devices from time to time and focus on one task at a time. Establish borders and rules for how you work. There is one particular time management exercise I teach that can work wonders for this problem and it has saved me too. Again, call me and let's talk, I can help. Doing nothing is not an option. 5. "I know I'm supposed to always prepare for meetings and stuff, but it's so time consuming and I do pretty good without preparing."
It was UCLA's John Wooden, inarguably the best college basketball coach of all-time who once said, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail." And while I agree with that 90% of the time, I think there are corollaries that have to be considered around aphorisms like his. Yes, preparation is key to success in business, but so too is behaving and acting like a human being. We must be careful not to OVER-think. While preparation is key, focusing on the areas that truly need attention and not over-thinking the other stuff allows us to be more of a human being at work. As we know, those with whom we do business want to work with humans, not robots. |
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