TGIM!!!

Do you enjoy the process?

Do you ever think man this sucks, this is hard?

Do you fail and say son of a buck… I suck at this and pound sand and walk away…  or do you think…

I suck at this NOW, but I WILL GET BETTER.  I will do everything I can to get better.  Not the best, for that may not be possible, but THE BEST THAT I AM CAPABLE.

It’s a mindset.  You can choose which path you take on every challenge.

Working out sucks.  You sweat, you swear and you have 1 million other things you would rather be doing.  But you should do it anyways.  That’s universally agreed.  But so many won’t… so many will suck at it at first and say, but I suck at this… and fail…

but a few.. will do it anyways….

Working towards a goal is a process, embrace the process…AND embrace the goal.

And remember growth is not a lineal chart, you go up, sideways, and sometimes even backwards but over TIME your goal is achieved.

The ingredients:  time, persistence, sweat… that not only adds to the total sum it multiplies it.

No one ever promised you life would be an easy path.  It fact the Bible often tells you… the path will NOT be easy.

Matthew 7:13-14   “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

It’s the combination of enjoying life and the process and the grind… AND the focus of the GOALS you have.

Am I talking about work or life in this TGIM?  The answer is BOTH.

THIS IS HARD.  THIS IS FUN.

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.   Since 1985, our business success has come from building others UP.

*********** SPECIAL SALESMAN NOTE *************************

Have you ever worked a 12 or 14 hour day to hit your goals?  Have you recently worked a night, a Sunday morning or started at 5am?   You ever just say, NO WAY IN HELL WILL I LET THIS OPPORTUNITY PASS.  I WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES RIGHT NOW.  Then reach out for help and say TEAM, I need your right now, let’s roll…  AND STILL SMILE WHILE YOU DO IT?

Don’t tell me you aren’t hitting your hopes and dreams if you haven’t done the above if you haven’t learned to delegate, to let others help you…and …and …

if you haven’t PUT IN THE TIME… if you are starting at 7 or later and fading out in the afternoon most days (and your team knows if you are or not… they see, they watch… they get it)…

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MINE…AND SAY YOU DON’T KNOW WHY YOU AREN’T HITTING YOUR GOALS… OR WHY YOU DON’T HAVE TIME TO HIT YOUR GOALS..

I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT.

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TGIM FROM GUEST BLOGGER- BETH PAUTSCH!

Saturday Tim and I went to buy a different car. We were 95% sure what we were going to buy. We ended up buying something different from a different dealer.

What the first salesman did wrong:
He assumed we would buy there since we did last time.
We questioned an engine option and didn’t get much of an answer He didn’t show us new things, just had us sit in his office.
In pricing conversations everything was very vague.
He was apologetic of the pricing and made us feel like this was not a good deal.
We wanted to see what the color looked like and instead of searching their lot for anything that color, he was fine with us going to a different dealer to look and assumed we would come back.

We left without warm fuzzy feelings, but feeling like we were getting screwed over.

We decided to stop somewhere else and this is what that salesman did right:

He introduced himself, offered us a beverage, and let us browse a bit.
He then started with a conversation of asking our wants and needs and what caught our eye.
Before leaving on a test drive he took the time and showed the bells and whistles and how they would be great for us. (Touch and feel) We asked them to get a trade in number on ours while we were on the test drive and he SLOWED THE PROCESS DOWN by saying drive it first to make sure it was right for us, then we would look at numbers.
He fully explained the numbers and made us feel good about our purchase.
The whole team worked together to get us to join “their family”. They talked openly how they not only want this sale but all future sales with us.

Did we get a great deal? Who knows, but we left feeling good about our purchase.

Talk with people.
Make them comfortable.
Ask questions.
Demonstrate products.
Do the work to make it easy for them.
Congratulate them on a great decision.
Let them know you are there for them.
WOW them.
Sales – make it fun for all involved.

Let’s give our customers the warm fuzzies this week!

BP

TGIM!

We Rock!  We Rule!  We are the best, no one else is even close.  I have NO IDEA why anyone wouldn’t buy from Drexel.  All of my customers are SO HAPPY with me.

OH OH.  THIS COULD BE A REALLY BAD THING.

The problem is: Groupthink

What’s Groupthink:  Here’s what Wikipedia says… Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints, by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences.

Huh?

“Groupthink can happen when the group gets carried away with its brilliance and superiority. At Enron, the executives believed that because they were brilliant, all of their ideas were brilliant. Nothing would ever go wrong. An outside consultant kept asking Enron people, “Where do you think you’re vulnerable?” Nobody answered him. Nobody even understood the question. “We got to the point,” said a top executive, “where we thought we were bullet proof.””  Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Dweck, Carol

Groupthink is when nobody has any new ideas, nobody fails because they don’t take a chance, no one has anything to improve, because you know, we are better than anyone else already!

Further:

“There are so many ways the fixed mindset creates groupthink. Leaders are seen as gods who never err. A group invests itself with special talents and powers. Leaders, to bolster their ego, suppress dissent. Or workers, seeking validation from leaders , fall into line behind them. That’s why it’s critical to be in a growth mindset when important decisions are made.”

I’m afraid this hits a little too close to home at times as we grow.

Team don’t be afraid to be critical OF US, OF EVERYTHING WE DO.  Challenge what we do.  Ask yourself, “If I was the competition this is how I would go after us.”   Leaders ask questions of your team… and really wait for an answer,

“What is Drexel failing at?  What are we doing wrong?”  Or when there is a new idea everyone loves, someone needs to ask “Why will this fail?”

Winston Churchill had  a special team put together to inform him of “the worst news of the day”.  That way he could sleep good at night knowing nothing was being hidden from him.

Look for ideas, new ways.  Don’t wait for Joel to come down from the mountains with tablets like Moses with “the newest and bestest  and awesomest ideas.”  Team, I am not, your leader  is not, any smarter or more talented than you.  Perhaps they have trained more, grinded more and learned more along their journey.  Good chance they are in a rut too.  That’s where maybe you come in and CHANGE THE WORLD.

WE ARE AS A TEAM INCREDIBLY STRONG WITH A GROWTH MINDSET.  A CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT MINDSET.

It’s all about getting a little better everyday and staying hungry with our best efforts… so in a 100 days, 1000 days we are a whole lot better.

Getting better starts today.  Happy Monday!

– Joel Fleischman.  Joel is Head Coach of the solution providers for Drexel Building Supply.  (drexelteam).   You can follow him on twitter:  @JoelmFleischman.   Since 1985, our business success has come from building others UP.