Whoa….. Monday again!  Sunday, I just finished all the stuff that went into planning this years fishing trip with my old pals.  Getting there, the banter, fixing one of the boats and the dock. Oh yes, the fishing, the meals, the packing and cleaning up and the long drive home Sunday from the Northern Ontario island, on the beautiful French River.  And it will be over in a flash!

Seems like life and business is like that.  Always creating a list of wants, then planning it, organizing it, executing the plan (even though we know few go exactly as planned), and learning from it, creating new systems for the future and then it starts all over again.  You can see why, in the humdrum and busy routine of all these things and our role in them, we can just try to get through a day instead of trying to get the most from a day! We can easily lose focus, enthusiasm and motivation, can’t we?  My goodness, one more business plan… the next business strategy… the next goal with deadlines!  Yet that is what business is. The “next” whatever.

Now we all know we can decide to do less, focus less, be aimless, have less and accomplish little. Some people probably decided that long ago and are expecting that someone will take care of them. They have constant apprehensions instead of a life of anticipation. Just last week, an executive told me that after his one-on-ones with people, he concluded that at least 75% were just putting in time, working for a pay check and can’t wait to leave the office. He was aghast at the situation and wondered what happened to his positive culture and the results that should be showing up.

Maybe everyone, including him and his management team, were not trying to create the inspiration to earn more, achieve more, give more, strive more, produce more, and accomplish more. They want it but have lost touch with how to get it.  Yet those who get the most from each day are those who realize that motivation must be created. Inspiration must be generated. Our comfort zone must be stretched. Our attitude must be enriched and managed. Our awareness of what is going on must be keen and alert. All of this – every day!

This is not personal development poppycock. This is what achievers do. They become what the marketplace pays for. They work on themselves everyday.  

We have a 12-foot moose carved out of a big tree at the end of our little island which houses our northern cottage.  Every year, for ten years, the boys on the fishing trip look first to see if it’s still standing when we approach by boat. The ice, winds and terrible winter storms have tried to kill it. We’ve had to fix it many times.  We thought for sure it was a goner after last winter’s weather. Yet there it stands.  Like a great big tree facing outward and upward, reaching for the sky saying, “Here I am, give me your best shot “.  

We all laughed – all of our efforts to keep it surviving and achieving its purpose on the point still lives!  Makes you think… if we could only be like those northern trees – tough and resilient.  We just have to look at that old moose and say, “Just for today I can make it!”

How?

I will start every day with some sort of inspiration. Maybe a one-to-one pep talk with myself around my blessings. Maybe I will seek out someone who I can show support to or inspire today. I will build and not tear down. I will do the most uncomfortable thing first. I will remind myself of my role in helping the business grow. I will quickly review our plan and get at it.

Results create the rewards! The rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them, as a result of who they’ve become – one day at a time.

•    What is your day going to be like?
•    Just for today, who are you becoming?

Have a great week!

Kevin D. Crone
Chairman, Dale Carnegie Business Group
kdcrone@dalecarnegie.ca or 905-826-7300 / 1-800-361-2032

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For Sales Managers….

What makes the difference in igniting a sales team to exceptional growth?

The new sales manager…

• Is a serious coach on those new habits for his people; It’s not enough to hire the best and then leave them alone.  They’ll produce for now but won’t as the different purchasers demand and control the sales process even more.
• Spends time rethinking the impact of their offering, the changing and more demanding style and is competent at engaging their people in the same conversation of what’s required, and what changes are needed and expected.
• Uses marketing-type thinking in developing and teaching the insights required for customers of similar needs and to continually customize them for particular clients in advance of calls. He / she realizes that the more conscious incompetent salespeople won’t change without coaching and training efforts regardless of the past successes of the team.

Read more.

On August 15th … Join me for some practical models and rehearsals on the new sales manager practices that cause that new style to show up most days for you and your team. It’s only 4 hours (8:30 am – 12:30 pm).  Believe me, you’ll wish it was more time.

Every year for over thirty years, we run an internal Summer Stretch Camp for our associates, and sometimes for our customers, to reinforce habits and develop new ones. I invite you to join a small group of sales managers that are eager to grow.

Are you ready to be stretched again?

Performance Coaching for Sales Managers
When: Friday, August 15th
Time: 8:30 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Dale Carnegie Center of Excellence
Investment:  $395.00 +HST
(20% discount for three or more)

To learn more or to register, please contact Cherry: calcasabas@dalecarnegie.ca / 905-826-7300 / 1-800-361-2032 ext. 254

Visit us at www.dalecarnegie.ca
For more Monday Morning Mentor blogs, events and resources!