Regular visitors will have noticed that the theme of my recent posts has been “success”  This is very deliberate, because I firmly believe that we should avoid dwelling on failure – or disappointing results as I prefer to call it – and become totally focused on achieving whatever success means to us.

It is many years since I first read Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” and almost as many years since I adopted all of the seven principles.

Today I am offering you the opportunity to download my free Ebook, which is inspired by Covey’s work.

You are encouraged to consider, as you read through this summary of his ideas, how any of it might relate to your own particular situation as an individual as well as a manager.

Covey’s view focuses on interdependence on what he calls “mature interaction.” When we are truly interdependent, then we have achieved and are practising all seven habits. The habits are in fact steps leading us from dependent through independence, to interdependence, and making use of our innate human characteristics – moving us in effect from what Covey terms “private victories to public victories”

In any situation, our natural human response is to look for similarities to situations we have previously encountered. In doing this, we fail to recognise the situation we are actually in and we fail to recognise opportunities and challenges presented to us. In effect “the way we see the problem is the problem…” which accounts for why we find ourselves repeating patterns of frustration and feeling unable to respond appropriately to situations facing us.

You will have read many times Einstein’s observation “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”  Covey develops this theme into what he calls an inside-out approach. This means to start first with self; even more fundamentally, to start with the most inside part of self – with your principles, your values, your motives and your character.

We each have, and can develop further, various assets. Covey’s view encourages wider recognition of these assets and the maintenance of them. Once we take for granted say effective working relationships, then we cease to actively maintain them. The result could well be a reduction in the effectiveness of the relationship and therefore of a very important asset. The key is balance between use of any asset and maintenance of it.

Please simply click on the banner below to download your free copy …… I hope you enjoy it.

This is a question that I am asked so often, and my response is always the same …. I describe the “Running Away” personality and the “Running Towards” personality

The “running away” person is awoken by his alarm clock and he immediately hits the “snooze” button. Ten minutes later, the buzzer goes off again. “Just ten more minutes” he says to himself, “I won’t go for a run today” and he again activates his friend, Mr. Snooze. This happens three more times and each time he determines that he will skip a vital activity in order to enjoy a few more minutes slumber – he has already decided to skip breakfast and he will shave in the car on the way to the office. Finally, a full hour after his first alarm call, he leaps out of bed, the image of his boss standing outside his office door, purple with rage at his continual poor time keeping is just too horrible to contemplate and it acts as his spur.

So what actually happened here? Well, if we apply Pareto’s Principle (the 80/20 rule) we identify that approximately 80% of the world’s population fall into the “running away” category. That is to say that they do things not because they planned to do them or that they want to do them but rather that they fear the consequences of not doing them. They drift through life, as I have said often enough before, like “rudderless boats” completely at the mercy of the currents. They never go beyond the first few stages of Maslow’s “Hierarchy Of Needs” and certainly “self-fulfillment” is completely out of reach for them because they either lack the courage, or the commitment required, or quite simply they lack the energy. After all, it is nice and cozy in the comfort zone isn’t it?

As someone famously once said: “Some people make things happen whilst others just stand and watch what happens” My take on that is: “A few people make things happen, others just watch what happens, but the vast majority wonder what the heck happened!” (But “heck” is not the word I usually use!”) The “running away” mindset falls into the last category.

Let’s look at the other side of the coin, let’s see how a “running towards” personality handles their relationship with their alarm clock.

To begin with, our “running towards” person has invested some of their time the previous evening preparing for the next day: The suit has been pressed, shoes cleaned, notes prepared for those important meetings, in fact all of the next day’s objectives have been thoroughly rehearsed mentally and planned for.

When the alarm clock goes off, our “running towards” typically awakes refreshed and completes their final preparations for the day. They have plenty of time for exercising, for bathing, and to eat a proper breakfast with their family – they are in control. They arrive at the office before most of their colleagues,(80% of whom arrive at 8.55 am – just in time, because they fear the consequences of being late!) so that they can respond to e-mails and attend to essential administrative tasks which would otherwise take up valuable “business time”. Life for these people appears effortless, relatively stress free, because they have made it that way, they are busy working at self-fulfillment as they have no need to worry about shelter, security and the like.

These people are ”Winners”

News: I do hope you are enjoying the superb daily sales tips over at Top Sales World - they are succinct, bite-sized chunks of wisdom from some of the leading sales experts on the planet.

You should also enjoy the Top Sales Hardtalk interviews, which I conduct every Monday, Wednesday and Friday: Today, Dr Tony Alessandra identifies a common blind-spot which most sales professionals have – HERE

In my last post, I made a case for “confidence” being one of the defining factors of all successful people we know, and I wrote …

“It is their inner belief that they can achieve anything they want to achieve, and enjoy as much success as they wish – however they personally define success.”

The post prompted a comment from Todd Spare who asked …

“This was another (always) interesting post. Thanks. I am wondering how best to test for the confidence level you discuss when interviewing prospective sales personnel. (If it has not been clearly demonstrated in past performance records). I believe “over” confidence displays itself in cockiness and conceit and that amount of confidence is harmful (to me, my company and the salesperson himself) in the long run. Any thoughts on how to test for the “right” confidence level ???”

My response …

“Hi Todd,
There is a huge difference between confidence and arrogance (cockiness). Confident people understand the need to continually learn and expand their commercial bandwidth. They understand what they know, but equally recognize what they don’t know. Conversely, arrogant people think they know it all, and as a consequence, don’t know what they don’t know!”

And that really is the point: Crossing that line from confidence to arrogance is so, so easy.

One can very easily formulate a list of political leaders; military leaders; artists; sporting icons; and even so called sales “gurus” – whatever interpretation you apply to that word – who were the architects of their own demise, because quite simply, they allowed their egos to rule their heads. They forgot their roots. They forgot the people who helped them on the way up – the same people who would inevitably suffer a similar loss of memory as our heroes travelled in the opposite direction downwards.

Humility is, in my view, one of the most admirable and rare traits of the truly successful: Take as an example the first interview in a new series we are launching for the Top Sales World magazine in September. Linda Richardson interviewed Gerhard Gschwandtner. Here we have two people at the very top of their game: The one who has created arguably the most successful global sales training company, written a host of best-selling books, serves on all the important sales-related committees, and is quite rightly acknowledged as the “significant” female sales thought leader of our generation. The other has created the empire that is Selling Power, and who continually prompts us to revise our thinking.

Their common characteristic? It’s that word again – HUMILITY. For example, whenever I need to communicate with them, I always receive a very prompt response. It is never “I am free at 11:45am Eastern next Thursday” but rather “Jonathan, I am free on xxxxxxx, which is best for you?”

I do not receive special treatment. I know that they are equally generous and thoughtful with everyone, because quite simply, they are not arrogant – they are quite simply confident!

“Getting it” means different things for different people: Mrs Konrath first alerted me to the expression five years ago, and since then I have had the opportunity to better understand what she meant by it.

To me, it means “Win-win” and “Give and take” but usually “Give first (and generously) and ask questions later”

In fact, I intend to write an article on the topic, and reveal all the incredible people in my own network who really “get it” and those who think they do!!

The underlying message of this post is this: It really doesn’t matter how good you think you are, there will always be people who are better, and your ambition should be to emulate them.

Even if you think you know everything there is to know about your chosen topic, respect others who know everything there is to know about their chosen topic – being myopic is a very unattractive trait.

Everyone you meet in this world will know something you don’t know – do not be misled by their status, because status has no relevance when it comes to wisdom. Some of the most interesting and mind-expanding conversations I have ever had, have been with people in very humble situations – they probably couldn’t spell “arrogance” let alone describe it!

News: So, you are a person responsible for managing, leading, mentoring, training, developing and creating successful sales teams? But who inspires, develops, mentors you?

A quick Google search for “Sales Management Sites” should quickly convince you of the paucity of such resource locations. Fret not, help will shortly be at hand – think www.topsalesmanagement.com launching mid-September: Then think of all the very best sales management experts in the world, all gathered in one place to bring you the very best  .. well, resources! More soon.

One of the defining and most significant qualities of the most successful people we know is confidence. It is their inner belief that they can achieve anything they want to achieve, and enjoy as much success as they wish – however they personally define success.

Success is different for all of us; some people use obvious material signs to show the rest of us that they have made it … large houses, fast cars, ostentatious life styles, with a deliberate “Look at me, I am better than you” statement. Certainly, post-Thatcher, the British tend to judge each other based on the house they live in, the quality of their car, and most recently, how exclusive their children’s school is. It doesn’t seem to matter that the house may be heavily mortgaged; the car belongs to the company etc…

All of this illustrates that when we judge success, or perceive success, we really do have to be somewhat circumspect, and dig below the surface. For the record, my own measurement for assessing someone’s true financial strength is “net worth” – in other words, how much could they write a check for today, if they had to?

My personal definition of success – well actually, it isn’t mine, I borrowed if from Earl Nightingale – is “the achievement of a worthwhile goal” or in my case “a series of worthwhile goals” It really has become a bit of a cliché to say “Success is a journey and not a destination” but actually, that very accurately describes my philosophy.

But let’s get back to my assertion that successful people – genuinely successful people – have considerable inner confidence and self-belief. If you think about it, it is quite obvious. Success is not an easy thing to obtain – if it was, everyone would be successful, and the word unsuccessful would not appear in our dictionaries.

Did young Tom Edison ever lose his self-belief? Did the visionary Walt Disney ever question his theme park plans, even though more than one hundred banks rejected his requests for finance? Did any of the most successful authors you have ever read, give up after their manuscripts were rejected time after time? No, none of them did, because they had such strong self-belief.

Closely aligned with self-belief, is courage, commitment, durability, resilience, patience, and vision.

That last one is very important, because it is our ability to vizualise what success will feel like that drives us on, and often keeps us going in times of adversity.

Can anyone be successful? Yes, of course they can…… if they want it badly enough. If one person can be successful, then we all can, but “most people” never work out what it is they really want. They talk in vague terms about more security, more disposable income, more holidays, but never quite make it. “Most people” spend their twilight years looking back in total frustration – “I wish I had  …” “If only I had …” but by then, it is usually too late.
In professional selling, cultivated sales skills, the use of a clearly defined sales process, in-depth knowledge ill only take us so far. Without that strong inner-belief and confidence, we will only ever get so far.

Where does that confidence come from? I’ll illustrate the answer to that question in a follow-up post.

For now, my advice, based on my own personal experiences is always question … but never doubt your ability to succeed. When doubt enters our minds, confidence slips out via the back door – they can never co-exist.

More soon ….

News: Most sales professionals, in most industries struggle to effectively manage their pipelines and as a consequence, forecasting can be very hit and miss: Today, I am interviewing Colleen Francis, who shares her views on this persistent management challenge … simply click on the banner below.

Yesterday, one of my favorite “sales resources” locations, EyesOnSales reproduced a piece that I wrote a while ago “So, what is Sales 2.0? …Anyone?” and as I re-read it, I chuckled: Nothing unusual in that, I chuckle often, in fact I have a reputation for chuckling ….my sense of humor does not embarrass me at all. I am not inclined to imagine that just because I have been blessed with such an acute sense of humor, that anyone should be disinclined to take me seriously.

Mostly my humor is self-depreciating, but it is also my way of illustrating my complete lack of patience with the “social constipation” that has become ever more prevalent within the sales space – as we witness a seemingly unending quest to create something out of nothing, even though “nothing” was doing just fine, thank you very much.  

Take “Sales 2.0″ for example: Imagine, just for a moment, if “Mr Sales 2.0″ Nigel Edelshain, had not had his epiphany when “one bright and sunny summer’s day, he dreamed it all up” – where would we be? 

His very simple “conclusions” really did change the selling landscape for ever – “after all, logically, the canvas that we had become so used to – so comfortable with – was already more than 2000 years old?”

It is indeed an irrefutable fact that “Now we have an entire industry based around a “phenomenon” which nobody really understands.”

And what  of  the Sales 2.0 solutions; Sales 2.0 websites; Sales 2.0 conferences; Sales 2.0 compliance etc.?

The reality is that we would still have the superb new solutions to help us sell more efficiently – companies such as OneSource and Xobni and NetProspex and Inside View and Marketo and Vanilla Soft and Jigsaw and, and …. would still have been with us. They would have just represented natural progression, a progression that has been sustained over 2000 years without the need to explain it away with a title.

The Sales 2.0 websites would probably exist, but again without the fashionable title – I do worry how these locations and companies are going to survive after we move on to Sales 3.0 – or whatever some bright “Edelshain type” spark decides to name it. Will they magically reinvent themselves with a new URL overnight?

And what of “Le famille Gschwandtner” who have given us the hugely successful Sales 2.0 conferences? (So much more pleasurable than the west’s answer to a Mecca pilgrimage, and marketed as a Dreamforce event!)

Well, knowing GG and off-spring, after almost thirty years of Selling Power, they would have found an alternative.

As you contemplate all the “what-ifs” let me give you another: What if you had to go out tomorrow and sell “Sales 2.0″ to a prospective client?

Could you?

I would really struggle …. and would they really care?

Social media is a revolution. It’s transforming the sales process. It’s transforming marketing. And it’s transforming the way enterprises collaborate.

Are you poised to be a leader in this new landscape?

World renowned trainer Eric Schwartzman is partnering with Social Media Today, the Web’s leading and largest community of social media professionals, to bring you the ultimate career-boosting learning experience—Hands-On. They are coming to your city. And apparently, they are not leaving until you have the knowledge and confidence you need to use social media for business.

Register 30 days in advance and save 18%! Only a few days left for some sessions!

What You’ll Learn ….

•Build a Social Media Monitoring Dashboard to Spot Engagement Opportunities
•Set up and Manage a Facebook Page
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•Get More Facebook Friends, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections
•Search Engine Optimize Text, Images, Audio and Video Content for the Web
•Advanced Content Marketing, Community Management and Social Automation
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» See complete session agenda

Program Vitals

Who is it for?
Professionals in marketing, sales, public relations, communications and media.

When and where?
Around the world this September, with more dates to follow.

How long are training sessions?
Each session is two days of intensive, Hands-On instruction.

What does it cost?
Special inaugural program pricing at $825 per attendee. Early bird pricing of $675 available for bookings made 30 days in advance.

» More answers

Eric Schwartzman is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable social media trainers practicing today. His past clients include Johnson & Johnson, Toyota, the U.S. Marine Corps, and a host of other corporate, government and non-profit entities. Formerly the Director of Promotions for Interpublic Group [NYSE:IPG] PR firm Rogers & Cowan, he makes it his business to stay up-to-date on all the latest trends and technology of social media with an eye towards identifying the tools and techniques that are business-ready and can give you the edge you need to succeed.

Eric is also the co-author of the industry-leading book on social marketing for B2B - » Learn more about Eric

Remember: - Register 30 days in advance and save 18%! Only a few days left for some sessions!

Full Disclosure: The original plan was for me to promote this event in exchange for a place on the London or Paris course, but we cannot make the dates, so I am not receiving any reward for sharing these details with you, other than knowing you are probably going to get so much out of it!