Do You Know What Makes You Great?

Credit: Tiffany Fox

It's an easy question to ask but it's very hard to answer. Do you know what makes you great? Do you know what you do differently when you win versus when you foul up? Other than the outcome, can you identify what you do or did different?

My golf game is full of that question. I have enjoyed rounds in the 70's but I have also had rounds well over 100. As far as I know, I do everything exactly the same. Should I blame the ball, course or perhaps the marketplace?

Each of us has special gifts. It's been my experience that those most in touch with their gifts make the most of their careers and lives. They invest energy in learning, as all of us should, but they double down where they're strong. Doing so makes them efficient, successful and unstoppable.

I spent most of my career in sales. I've worked with sales managers, and I've been one. Likewise, I've studied with sales trainers and been one of them too. It's space full of people that don't know what makes them great. It's space full of recipes, spreadsheets, formulas, and lots of misinformation.

Sales management isn't score keeping. It isn't reports at the end of the month. It isn't shifting accounts around and adjusting commissions. Those things are outcomes. They're the golf score.

Sales management = sales coaching. It's situational guidance. It's helping reps with the issue in front of them while leveraging their special gifts. It's helping reps get in touch with what makes them great and showing them how to use their strengths on behalf of their clients, employer and personal goals.

When you help a candidate get in touch with what makes them great, you set them up for an exciting career that requires little of your time. You'll get asked to make calls with them, but that's the fun part. You'll see them grow right in front of you and go home confident that the client and your company are in good hands.

You won't be sitting with reps cutting compensation or pulling accounts. They'll gravitate toward markets that suit them and the finances will be on autopilot. The unpleasant stuff will be rare.

Now I'm not saying sales management or sales managers are bad. I'm simply saying that much of it is really sales meddling. We get hung up in the weeds and lose sight of the value each individual perspective can bring to our organization. We focus on machines, specs, prices and margins. Doing so can prevent us from seeing solutions that make all of those things take care of themselves.

Focusing on gifts and why they matter changes your company culture. The environment goes from one of pressure to one of possibilities. Excitement replaces anxiety. Success takes over and growth is inevitable. Clients really will beat a path to your door, and they'll pay your price to do business with YOU!

Years ago, a visiting customer said, "this is a special place." I responded that we had worked hard to keep up with technology. She cut me off, "it isn't that. Lots of people have Indigos. Even more have presses. I've seen all of those before. It's your spirit. It's your manner. That's what makes this a special place."

She was 100% right. Focusing on what made us great on a company and individual level showed. It's infectious. Our client, one with lots of contacts in our industry, saw the difference. It showed in our work and in our explosive growth.

What makes you great? You owe it to yourself to find out. You owe it to yourself and to your future to leverage those gifts. You owe it to yourself to surround yourself with people that help you be the best you can be. It isn't score keeping. It's coaching. The score will take care of itself.