YourSalesManagementGuru by Ken Thoreson, Acumen Management Group
Blog archive
Making it to the Top
"Making it to the Top," and other phases like it typically refer to exceeding your sales quota or becoming a top performer in your organization. Sales leaders have used these words to create sales contests, set goals and sales themes for the year and ...so have I. Last Friday, I made it to the top!
First, I will be honest, I took Friday off. At 7 a.m., 11 people drove about 90 minutes to Smoky Mountain National Park to begin a 5.5 mile hike up Mount LeConte to reach its pike at 6600 feet. Secondly, it was a hard and difficult hike. On a hot day, we crossed mountain streams, climbed over rocks, walked along four-foot-wide ledges holding onto to a wire cable for support, and for over 3.5 hours -- we made slow and a steady upward climb. All eleven of us made it to the top! After a lunch and some rest we then hiked down the same path 5.5 miles. After the eleven-mile hike, we wearily took off our boots, sipped our last water and slid into our cars for the ride home -- as a treat, we stopped for two big scoops of cold tasty ice cream.
Yes the analogy is correct! In my keynote programs I describe "dream setting" and the need to have a vision for your life both personally and professionally. I had set my sights on climbing Mount LeConte four years ago -- there are no unrealistic goals, only unrealistic timeframes -- and when I heard the hike was planned, I set aside that day. I made a commitment. I actually purchased two new hiking sticks -- I invested in myself. And I worked hard to make it up and down that mountain, success does not come easy, you have to earn it. Everyone on that hike kept each other's spirit strong as we all were tired. Persistence is an element of success. We worked together until everyone was safe and back to the parking lot with a sense of pride of accomplishment and then we treated ourselves for achieving the objective -- rewards bring a sense of pride.
What are your goals for the rest of the year? Or next year? Successful sales leaders have their personal and professional goals in balance, and have a vision and defined goals for their lives.
Posted by Ken Thoreson on August 06, 2010