Are your sales teams stuck in their comfort zone?
“Prince Rabadash’s army was behind them, Anvard in front. If they did not reach Anvard before Rabadash and his horde, their journey, their entire lives, would have been wasted. The horses, Bree, and Hwin (both could, of course, , talk) galloped. Certainly both horses were doing, if not all they could, then all they thought they could do; which is not quite the same thing. But a lion appeared out of nowhere and with the spur of terror; Bree now discovered that he hadn’t really gone that fast, not as fast as he could..
This excerpt is, of course, taken from the Chronicles of Narniathat source of a million, simple and often overlooked truths and perfectly illustrates what it takes to get some of us out of our comfort zone.
Perhaps of all the temptations that we find in life, money, power, sex, alcohol, drugs and fame, the most subtle of all is the comfort zone, that invitation to settle for less, to be content when called the stress of excessive achievement. The path that takes you out of your comfort zone is the path less traveled. Most of us, when we get to that place where the two roads divide, prefer the one that leads to safety, warmth and comfort.
In both sports and business, I have witnessed countless companies, friends, colleagues, and teammates who underperformed, despite having vastly superior skills and talents compared to others who rose to the top. The reasons have always been the same, the fear of leaving the comfort zone and entering the unknown, the potential terrain of failure and rejection. But I believe there is another way to motivate and persuade people, and it is based on a simple fact: most people don’t know what they want out of life. Certainly, most who work in a commercial field will say that they yearn for success, but without understanding what success means to them. Of course, describing success is difficult, because it will be different for all of us. The definition I prefer is “The achievement of a worthwhile goal“
I think I can speak authoritatively about the comfort zone, but in my case, I was lucky enough to discover Earl Nightingale, probably the greatest motivational speaker and personal development guru of our time, and yes, I include Anthony Robbins, Brian Tracy Tom Peters et al in that evaluation.
It was in the late 1990s that I felt the first pangs of career dissatisfaction and began to contemplate the harsh reality that in my rapidly approaching forties if I was really going to make my mark on the world and achieve something for myself, then I really needed to get down to business. to work.
Oh, that it was that simple! Breaking out of a comfort zone, which included a six-figure salary, a sizeable bonus, stock options, a fancy company car, a pension, and relative security, would certainly require guts, but it would also require great commitment and determination. tremendous self-confidence. Armed with a newly acquired MBA and nearly twenty years of business experience gained working for some of the world’s biggest players at the highest levels, I thought I knew a thing or two about business, but translating that knowledge and experience into a salable product would be the real challenge.
For the next four years I remained in my secure cocoon much like the man invited to join those masochists who, once a year, usually on Christmas Day, insist on plunging through the ice into London’s Serpentine. He would nervously pull me closer to the water’s edge, shiver, convince me it was too cold, then retreat into the warmth of my towel and robe. I did this several times, but the thought process and the learning process stayed with me on my travels from New York to Johannesburg and from Paris to Kuwait, while I continued to enjoy the comforts of my corporate existence. Those four years were certainly not in vain because I took the opportunity to attend as many conferences, seminars and courses as I could reasonably and read voraciously, searching for the spark of inspiration, some divine intervention that would lead me to my true calling. . Then in 1994 I attended my first Earl Nightingale seminar.
That September day, as I listened to him illustrate the fact that most people are like rudderless boats bobbing up and down on the ocean, being carried wherever the currents take them, and then reminiscing about old age and saying to themselves ‘If only I had done it’ or ‘I wish I had’ and essentially blaming everyone else for their non-compliance and lack of achievement. While, he said, the small percentage who took control of their vessel and sailed into ‘ports of opportunity’ would look back with satisfaction and say ‘I have’ and ‘I did’.
I remember you quoted Albert Einstein,” The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same things in the hope that those things will miraculously achieve a different result.“In other words, “Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting” and in my case that was unacceptable.
He also said that all successful people had at least two things in common: the first was their attitude and the second was that everyone expected to succeed and because they wanted it bad enough, they made it happen, that is, they lived up to expectations.
As I was driving home that night, I felt inspired… I had experienced my epiphany and was determined, I was ready to step out of my comfort zone.
Finally in 1995 I dropped my towel for the last time and dove in; jfa was born and that journey of a thousand kilometers had begun with a first attempt to cross.
In summary:
Success must be something that you not only want to achieve, but something that you must achieve. Generally, successful people expect to be successful, and as a consequence, they usually are. They are driven by a have to attitude not a want to attitude. If you’re going to get out of your comfort zone, deep down you must feel like you have to.
My experience is that you can’t have everything you want, but you can have anything you want. For real wish.
Copyright © 2006 Jonathan Farrington. All rights reserved