King on The Crazy Ones

 

“Almost always the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better.”

– Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968)

American civil rights leader

Nobel Peace Prize winner

What if…

John and Abigail Adams had been more concerned with themselves and work/life balance than creating a democracy?

What if… Abraham Lincoln had quit trying after having a business go under and losing his first local legislative race?

What if… Martin Luther King didn’t have a dream and played it safe (and didn’t travel over 6 million miles giving more than 2500 speeches). What if he thought he was too young to have an impact?

What if… Gandhi, Teresa, Roosevelt, Ford, Disney, Walton, Gates, Winfrey, Jobs, Stewart, and Ash hadn’t stepped up and worked hard. (What if the thousands of people who supported them hadn’t?) What if your police, military, firefighters didn’t?

What if… No one pushed it, risked it, and pushed it again?

Be obligated to your world.

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Huxley on Climbing the Ladder

 

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man’s foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.”

– Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)

English biologist and educator

Are you holding yourself accountable as a leader (with a title or not)?

As leaders, we enjoy the responsibility of helping people develop in a way that encourages them to hold themselves accountable for their attitudes, their work, and their results.

We need to be as disciplined, resourceful, and resilient in our efforts as we ask our people to be in theirs.

Relentless leadership is embracing the fact that the need for solid & ongoing reinforcement never ends and uncomfortable conversations are a necessity. This is how we create something special.

Managers: How much development attention are you giving to your team? (20% of your week would be a full day of nothing but development time… 40% would be two full days, beginning to end)

Professionals: Don’t have a coaching manager? Consider finding a development partner.

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DeGeneres on Trust and Confidence

 

“Never follow someone else’s path… unless you’re in the woods and you’re lost and you see a path then by all means you should follow that.”

–Ellen DeGeneres (1958 – )
American comedian and actor

Do your people (customers, prospects, team, colleagues) know they’re important to you? Always? Sometimes? Rarely?

Remember… It’s your occasional words and continual actions that’ll help them know best.

To be sure it’s a closer to always thing, consider implementing a personal appreciation audit each month or quarter for your most important people – remembering that actions speak louder than words (but words are important too).

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Booker on The Next Level

“What more could you ask for
in life than to be given an
impossible challenge?”

–Cory Booker (1969 – )
American mayor of Newark, NJ

Sales encouragement…

complainless: (adj.) 1. to be free of complaints 2. a pleasure to be around

Your words move others. Your words move you.

Let yours send everyone in the right direction.

Here’s how to be “ComplainLess”…

  1. Be aware. Recognize your typical paths to complaining – what (who) sparks your tendency to gripe. Minimize your exposure to them (eliminating those ‘sparks’ altogether may not always be realistic or the best thing). Know that your grumbling is a complete waste of energy.
  2. Be thankful. Regularly reflect on all the good in your life (people, opportunities, things). Understand and enjoy how lucky you really are. Be entitled to nothing.
  3. Pause before you begin. Clip a complaint as you feel it coming. Put a smile or thoughtful statement in its path. Blame no one. Blame nothing.
  4. Be accountable. Focus on solving problems rather than having them (especially with prospects and customers). Set the example for others and recommit when you slip. Care for yourself and create a positive habit.

Simple. More enjoyable for everyone. SalesTough.

Spread the message with the ComplainLess pocket cards or forward this email to someone with a “Let’s commit to being ComplainLess together.”
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King on Confidence and Purpose

“Almost always the creative, dedicated minority has made
the world better.”

–Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968)
American civil rights leader
Nobel Peace Prize winner

Sales inspiration…

Martin Luther King lived for just over 39 years.

He traveled over six million miles, spoke on over 2500 occasions, became an icon for civil rights, was Time magazine’s Man of the Year at age 35, and won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.

When you have some time (outside the money hours or on a well-earned break), enjoy his “I Have a Dream” speech (he was 34 when he delivered it at the Lincoln Memorial… unreal), read his Nobel Prize acceptance, or listen to this quick audio clip (love this) from his Drum Major Instinct sermon for a little inspiration (full text of the speech).

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