One of my more popular blogs last winter was “Zen and Art of Snow Shoveling” based upon the famous book: Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and after yesterday I thought I might leverage that title one more time.
Yesterday was a lovely fall day in the Smoky Mountains. The sky was bright blue, no clouds, the leaves are changing into brilliant colors, the air was warm and I had a 1pm tee time. Unbeknownst to me another couple had signed up to play with my wife and me. As a not a great golfer I started becoming concerned when I saw the other man begin to boom his shots on the driving range. On the first hole I was somewhat nervous, but made a double bogey on a long par 5. Moving to the second hole I hit a great drive-the next thing that happened was what began to make the afternoon a wonderful experience. Ed began to compliment everyone’s shots and form as he continued to be a long and accurate ball stroker. My second shot hit the green, the first time I had ever done that! On the third hole I began to get on a role. By the end of the day, I had a few pars, a birdie and scored my best round of the year! Even with losing 5 balls I shot a 93! Now while that might not be good for many of our readers-for me it was a positive experience. What does this have to do with Sales Leadership?
As I reflected on our game, conversations and even after the game 19th hole discussion I came away with what made the difference. From the first hole, which I didn’t pick up until the second, Ed was setting the tone for the day-compliments, some laughs but setting a standard on distance and accuracy. He would pick up broken tees, cleaning the tee box and fixing ball marks on every green. Pretty soon, all four of us were encouraging each other, managing the course and enjoying the experience. I found myself concentrating more clearly, working my shots better and even when Ed gave me a tip-I appreciated his concern to make my game better
As a sales leader are you setting the standards of expectations? Doing the little things (like cleaning a tee box) to make sure your team is executing more professionally? Making sales calls with your team and providing strategy and sales tips to your team to make them better? It was the entire approach-by everyone- to the afternoon that made the difference. Is your team helping each other, is everyone in the organization encouraging and pressing for excellence?
In my recent newsletter “Why Sales Managers Succeed!” I covered the topic of Organizational Excellence and the need for sales managers to lead their organizations during challenging times. If you are not receiving the monthly newsletter, you can sign up at www.AcumenManagement.com (new website too!)
Have a great fall, focus on the details, push your team for more, but set the tone with positive strokes and perhaps you will finish 2011 as your best year ever!
