Enemies of Success

I started with three simple keys to succeeding:

1. Be authentic.
2. Form meaningful relationships.
3. Do what you say you are going to do.

Then I encouraged you to get uncomfortable because that’s the only way to push yourself beyond what you think you can do. The higher your goals are set, the more uncomfortable you need to be.

Finally, I asked you to fail more often but manage any disappointments. Thomas J. Watson put it this way: “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You’re thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure, or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. … That’s where you’ll find success.

Let’s agree then that failure is not an enemy of success. But if it’s not, what is?  Well, I’ll tell you in a moment, but first let me explain how I figured it out.

As a coach, I’m hired to help people succeed. I make every effort not to coach people who are direct competitors. But several years ago, I found myself coaching two salespeople who were in the property and casualty business. And these two salespeople were going after the same niche in the same geographical area. They represented basically the same carriers in the market, and they both had about the same amount of experience. Taking care not to compromise either person, I decided that the situation might present a classic research opportunity that probably would yield information we all could use.

These guys seemed to be as identical as two different salespeople could be. Boy, was I wrong!

Salesperson One came into my office and told me right off why he was not doing well. He talked about how tough the market conditions were and how nobody wanted to talk to him, much less change agencies. The buyers, he told me, were happy with their current providers, and, besides, he couldn’t get competitive prices to beat his competition anyway. In short, he had all kinds of reasons for why he wasn’t doing well. The prospect of accountability—being held responsible for his results (and his lack of results)—was not something he was looking forward to.

Then Salesperson Two came in for his coaching session. He was on his game and achieving all kinds of success. People were meeting with him to hear what he had to say, and they were receptive to his suggestions. He was unseating the incumbent agents on a regular basis. For this guy, business was great, his confidence was high and he was excited to be working in the niche he had selected. What’s more, he was looking forward to the accountability aspect of our coaching sessions knowing that it would only push him to be better.

What initially looked like two almost identical salespeople working in the same environment turned out to be similar guys in comparable situations achieving dramatically different outcomes. How could that be? What was the difference?

The difference was that one of these salespeople was surrendering to several enemies of success. Namely these:

1.      Procrastination. If something needs to be done, you just gottta do it. Putting something off usually doesn’t make it go away or get any easier. If anything, procrastinating allows problems to pile up. Remember:  Tomorrow is not a day of the week.

2.      Distractions. Distractions come in many, many forms. The “swarm” (or everyday little things) at work. Listening to crowd noise and naysayers. Email, voice mail and electronic notifications. Simply having too many irons in the fire. All of these things can cause you to lose your focus, and that leads you off track to reaching your goals.

3.      Fear of failure. Again, failure is nothing to fear! Some people let the fear of failure paralyze them into indecision and inaction. If you’re not failing some of the time, you’re not reaching high enough.

4.      Inaction. Talk is cheap, and in all cases your actions will speak louder than any words. Disciplined action and consistent, good work habits will get your job done.

5.      Not owning your outcome. The underachieving salesperson found all kinds of reasons to justify his lack of results. You gotta own your outcome—good or bad. You are the one in charge. Assume responsibility rather than placing blame.

Bottom line, the successful salesperson faced these very same enemies of success, but he chose to take them on rather than give in and let them win.

 Corsini’s Point:

Success does not just happen. It doesn’t arise from external factors in our lives; it comes from within. You make success happen. The two salespeople I mentioned were remarkably similar, with the same geography, products, industry niche, company resources, etc., but their results couldn’t have been more different. Have the courage to face up to the enemies of success; recognize them and stare them down! Don’t let them get in your way.  That’s how you do what you do better.

QUOTE

“A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.”

— Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray