There is no such thing as a born...

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The born salesperson

500+ Seth Godin by Seth Godin  /  5d  //  keep unread  //  hide

There’s no such thing as a born salesperson.

What there are… are people with empathy and learned charisma who choose to work hard.

If you show up and show up and show up, and care enough to learn to connect, you will have a skill for life.

In the meantime, consider getting yourself hooked on 30 minutes a day of audio that trains you to sell. It takes a while, but it’s learnable.

Zig Ziglar, Anthony Iannarino, Dan Pink, Brian Tracy, Frank Bettger, Jill Konrath … anyone who will help you learn the long-game, the generous long game.

I love this article by Seth Godin, especially because the content of the message is true no matter the subject.

You can insert almost any topic and the statement is still true.

There is no such thing as a born…

• Leader
• Teacher
• Parent
• Finance Manager
• Event Planner
• Marketing Manager
• CEO
• Business Owner
• Friend

But, if you show up and show up and show up, and care enough to learn, you will have a skill for life.

The question is "What do you care about getting better at?"

"Where in your life is your good enough not good enough?"

The best leaders are always learning because they know what they have is a skill.  And that skill must continue to be honed and practiced or it gets dull and no longer serves you.  If you do not know where to start, start by identifying the people you admire.  Read and research what they are doing, then, go and show up.  

Put me in Coach

“Put me in coach, I’m ready to play, today

Put me in coach, I’m ready to play, today

Look at me, I can be centerfield”

The song “Centerfield” by John Fogerty is a sure sign spring and baseball spring training is just around the corner.

It got me thinking about what does into the development of a successful baseball player.  Here is a short list of all the people that are involved:

- Manager
- Assistant Manager
- Hitting Coach
- Strength & Conditioning Coach
- Catching & Fielding Coach
- Base Running Coach

Think about all of the people (coaches) it takes to develop a baseball player!

Each one of these people have a specific role and expertise in helping the baseball player become better.  Let’s apply this to you and your life and business.

Who are the people in your life that are responsible for helping you develop and work on you?

It is the same process in business and life as it is in baseball.  You need to surround yourself with people that are focused on helping you get better.

A personal coach is a great place to start.

There are many good one out there.  If you do not find what you need, reach out to me.

I am a personal coach, a person that coaches others on opportunities, challenges, and areas of struggles in both business and life. 

And I too need to practice.  I have dedicated time each week to learn and develop new skills.  I also need other people to practice with!  This is where you come in.  If you have an opportunity, challenge, dream, or your own area that you want to start to practice, reach out to me and we can have a conversation. 

No fee or charge, it’s just practice.

Struggles all Successful Leaders Face

What do Successful Leaders struggle with?

In this series of blog posts, I am going to share the top 5 struggles I have seen my clients face and most importantly; how they specifically overcame each one. I use the qualifier successful, because while each of these leaders are performing at a high level, they still run into issues because of their success.  

Take a look below and see if these struggles resonate with you.

1. You have lost control of your calendar

2. You only focus on the short term 

3. You cannot see that you have a distorted view of reality

 (This is why you need an outside partner to help you re-frame your struggle and see different options)

4. You are not being selfish enough

5. You feel that you do not have the luxury of time to learn new skills

While these challenges may impact everybody, they present a strong barrier for mid to senior leaders because these issues have a larger impact to keeping them from their goals and hamper the success of their companies.

Let me know what you think.  Do these hit home with you?  Did I leave something out?

Stay tune for the next post where I will share strategies and processes for eliminating these struggles.

CFTBR: Leadership lesson of the day

Today I was blessed to reconnect with a good friend.  A friend and friendship that is too valuable for me to have let so much time pass between our talking.  We all can become so busy that we think everybody else is just as busy and does not have the time for us, but deep down we really need to be speaking with our friends and our friends need to hear from us.  I encourage you to look through your contact list for a close friend, the one that you know is always there for you, but the one you have not spoken with in way too long.  Call and let them know you are thinking of them.

Activities for the Leader:  Replace friend with co-worker or peer and follow above, then repeat often.