Growth Dynamics Get Down

I’ve written about the gift of time this pandemic has given to all of us, and I’d like to explore that a bit more in this message.

A short message again today about a moment that happens in the life of a child. This time it happens to be my nine-year-old grandson.

Sleep has been a challenge over the last few weeks. I go to bed too early or don’t get enough exercise as I shelter in place. I can’t figure it out, but I know I keep waking up way earlier than I need or want to lately. The best place for me to deal with this insomnia is in our hot tub, gazing into the darkness of early morning of the brightening of a new day.

The message will be short today as we look forward to brighter days and a return to the normal lives we left behind a couple of weeks ago.

I knew if I looked hard enough, I could find a valuable gift in this pandemic reality that has enveloped us all. It wasn’t that obvious in the first couple of days or weeks, but it appeared when I allowed myself to let it take shape in my mind.

If you haven’t spent some time over the last few weeks feeling those emotions, you must be some sort of alien. I admit that in these hours when I’m sitting in my new office (bedroom overstuffed chair) there are moments when fear and anger creep from my subconscious mind to full awareness as I consider what this pandemic is doing to my life, my business, my future and my entire world. I suspect you’ve experienced the same thing, at least I hope you have.

Self-preservation is a strong motivator, particularly when the environment seems to be less safe and accommodating. As Maslow indicates in his Hierarchy of Needs, the Physiological is the most basic. At our core we are creatures that want our personal needs met before thinking about the needs of others. When we find ourselves threatened our instincts are to look out for number one first and foremost from both a logical and emotional perspective.

Your attitude is your compass to the future. Imagine if you were one of Christopher Columbus’ three small ships heading off to find the New World over 500 years ago. That leap of faith is amazing when you consider the common belief that the world was flat, and certain death awaited anyone that challenged that paradigm by sailing in search of an unknown destination. Certainly, some of those sailors had moments of doubt as the days slipped by and there was no land in sight. “When will this folly end and our feet will be on terra firma again?” had to be a common question asked in hushed tones.

Yes, I’d much rather not be typing this post, but I can’t worry about what I cannot not change or control. Working from home is not nearly as engaging as standing in front of room of salespeople or even responding electronically to requests for coaching. And making sales calls on people that don’t know when their sales teams will be back in the marketplace feels a bit peculiar to say the least. Two weeks ago, few people thought this is the world we’d be working in today, but here we are.

Today we are all facing a challenge that two weeks ago seemed as likely as pigs flying. Yet, here we are facing a sales challenge you won’t find talked about in any sales training manuals or motivational seminars. Essentially, the world has shut down for almost everyone, and none of us can truly say, with any certainty, when it will reopen. With that reality staring us in the face I thought I’d take some time this evening and make some suggestions about how to survive the challenges in front of all salespeople. Below you will find a few ideas for each of the three points of our MAP to Success: Mindset, Activity and Process.