I attended the incredible Thought Leader's Business School last week in Sydney. As usual, it was an extraordinarily inspiring experience, and I feel humbled to not only be part of it, but also be a mentor.
For some reason this immersion seemed to confront more people than normal, and I think a key reason for this is that people are getting more present to what they are tolerating. Why? Because now that Business School is one year old, students are really getting into the swing of things, and a good number are just smashing through their goals, and flying through the belts (for each extra $10,000 a month that you earn, you move up a belt, starting at $10,000 for white belt, and 'graduating' at black belt, which is $60,000 a month).
When students see others succeeding, they ask themselves why they aren't. For some, the answer is simple; they are not doing the work; that is, they are not unpacking their thought leadership and having the sales conversations that they need.
However, sometimes it is just a question of time. When I had the privilege of being mentored by Glenn Ricketts,he said to me that any period of sales intensity, would most likely only start producing results three to six months later. It's kind of like the good old sales cliche of sowing the seeds, then willing the plants to grow.
One wonderful student who has SO been doing the work was in tears on the last day, just so frustrated that her results weren't stronger (they were actually pretty good!). She had attended a large number of sales meetings, and written some brilliant white papers, but was doing a good job of beating herself up. I put money on the fact that this quarter is going to be better for her, because her thought leadership is brilliant, and I know she is going to be doing even more activity this time around.
Sometimes we need to be playfully patient
There is some real grace around people who can be patient, and be a little playful about it. Don't get all bent out of shape, and make the waiting game even harder. Play a little game around 'wouldn't it be nice if I created X results by Y', but if that doesn't show up, remember that sometimes things just take a little more time.
Another student had generated a pretty small amount of sales in the quarter, in spite of initiating significant activity around sales meetings and approaches. On the last day before business school, she secured 15 times as much business as her total quarter to that point! What I loved about observing her journey, was that she was very relaxed around it and surrendered to the results coming in.
If you find yourself beating yourself up, then take a breath, ask yourself if you have done what you need, and if the answer is yes, then just trust that the results will show up in time. And if you HAVEN'T done the work, just acknowledge that, don't be hard on yourself, and shift your activity going forward. It really is that simple.
