In today’s tip I talk about the importance of taking ownership of your own personal development.
You’ll hear my thoughts on how information, people and actions help you grow.
Watch this space for a shareable video of the tip coming in the next couple of weeks.
What has contributed most to your own development to date? This could be a specific person, resource or something that you’ve done. The two most highly rated comments in the discussion below will receive a copy of Sales Success Stories – 60 Stories from 20 Top 1% Sales Professionals. Winners will be announced on February 21st.
Transcript
Today I have the first ever tip for you, and I’ve already screwed it up because this is technically tip #1, but we’re going to call it tip #2 just so the numbering works out, but that’s just fine because today’s tip is about learning, and the best way to truly learn is to do things, and when you do things you’re going to screw up every now and then. That’s part of the learning process.
So here’s your tip:
You have to own your own development. Sales is a really unique environment in that, when you improve, the impact on your income is often exponential. In the short term if you were to sell say 10% more this year, it would be that you’re going to make at least 10% more money and in most cases you’re probably going to earn significantly more because of accelerators, spiffs, and the President’s Club trip you might then be eligible for. In the longer term, your ability to grow in your career is tremendous whether you’re looking to move into a higher earning role or into leadership. The lifetime value of the investments of time and money that you make in yourself is probably beyond the return of any other investment you can make.
The thing is, it’s pretty unlikely that somebody else is going to just give you all of the development opportunities that you need. It’s up to you to figure out what you need and then go out and get it. My hope is that this show really serves as a platform of discovery to help you find the people, and resources that are best aligned with your goals, aspirations and your style. I think it’s super important to connect with approaches that align well with you and the way that you think and operate.
This show probably isn’t enough though. Hopefully, you’ll make this a daily or weekly practice, but I hope you’ll go deeper as well. Commit to reading some number of books this year. Attend a sales conference. Go out and meet people who are on the same journey as you, and most importantly act. When I think of development I think of information, people and action. The information part is obvious. There’s certainly no shortage of information you can consume.
What I think a lot of us overlook is the people. Who are you going to surround yourself with? Who is going to help you get to the next level? This could be your boss, it could be some select peers on your team, hopefully, you’re also seeking out mentors and coaches who are already where you want to be. Jim Rohn once said that “you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Apparently, he also said: “Income seldom exceeds personal development.” Hat tip to Andy Paul for making me aware of that one. So think carefully about who you’re surrounding yourself with. Ideas and attitudes are contagious, so it’s important to surround yourself with the right people. Be intentional about that. Which brings us to action. All the information and conversations in the world aren’t going to do anything for you if you don’t act. Be intentional. Be decisive. Decide what you’re going to do, and what you’re NOT going to do.
Early in my career I totally overthought things. I wanted to study and build a strategy that was perfect before I started to execute. Experience has taught me that I was basically wrong. I learn way more from just doing things. It may not be perfect when I start, but I’ll learn more and faster from the real world results that come from actually doing something. This podcast is a perfect example. As you heard at the beginning. It’s not perfect, but I know I’m going to learn a lot more from actually releasing new episodes every day than I am from thinking about the perfect way to do it.
That’s how I went from an idea on December 22nd to a live podcast less than a month later. So don’t wait for someone else to deliver the training and experiences that you need to take your career to the next level. Take complete ownership of your own development.
Now here’s my question for you today, and I’m going to try to ask a question every day to allow you to go deeper and learn from each other. You can always find the discussion around the daily question by going to Daily Sales Tips’ episode or tip number. So today that’s Daily Sales Tip 2 or just click on the link in your podcast player.
Right, the question…. What has contributed most to your own development to date? This could be a specific person, a specific resource or something that you’ve done. I’m looking forward to a lively discussion on this topic and I will send a copy of my book: Sales Success Stories – 60 Stories from 20 Top 1% Sales Professionals to the two people who have the most highly rated comments in that discussion one month from the day this episode was released.
Please share your thoughts, and go read what your peers in sales have to say.
Thanks for listening, now go do something to make yourself better and I’ll have another tip for you tomorrow.