Getting Refreshed

Last week in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., I provided a closing keynote for an international association's annual conference. The program was based on a topic that has proven to be very popular: "Gourmet Living: Building a Menu for Life." During the same week, I spoke to a group in New York at its 2013 kick-off meeting -- that topic was: "Changing Environment Means Changing: A Plan for Success." In both cases, with different programs and certainly different audiences, the after-program conversations were identical.

It is normal for members of the audience to come up to me and make a few comments after a keynote. After both keynotes, everyone commented that they had been needing an uplift, new thoughts or simply a reminder of something they knew. These words hit me on the plane from Fort Lauderdale to Destin, Fla., where I have been taking some time off as well. At Destin, I monitored e-mail, attended a few conference calls and did some limited management coaching. I have also walked the beach, played golf, enjoyed friends and I am almost halfway through a fun book I am reading.

I've written about the fact that sales leaders face "sales fatigue" within their sales teams and perhaps within themselves. I offered a few ideas as to how to counter that attitude.

On Thursday I will be driving back to my home -- nine hours of windshield time. Today, though, I am heading to the spa for a massage and few other treats. Why am I telling you this? I am firmly convinced that you must "treat yourself" to maintain a freshness. My wife had to teach me this, but as hard as everyone works I have come to accept that these opportunities to relax, treat yourself and enjoy friends are unique. Serious sales leadership requires high levels of energy, creativity and the ability to relate to your team members and certainly to prospects. If you are dull because of not taking the time to refresh, your organization will sense this and feed off of your lack of energy and robotic behavior -- and your sales will suffer, as well.

During keynotes, I normally hand out a Personal Pizza and a Professional Pizza (not real -- only on paper) in which each of the eight slices for each pizza are described by one or two words. We ask each attendee to score themselves from 1 to 7 (7 being "great") based on how they feel about themselves in relation to the word. They then connect the circled numbers and draw a line connecting the dots. The representation will show if you are in balance personally and/or professionally. We then have instructions as to how to fix their lives if they need balance. If you want a copy of our Pizza Test, send me an e-mail at [email protected]

The message: Find time each day to refresh. In my keynote I speak about creating "extreme self-care" by creating daily rituals that relax (yoga/mediation), are fun, exercise (walking or something more strenuous), and focused on eating better. Focus on getting mentally and physically refreshed, and your sales results will improve as well. Off to the spa.

Posted by Ken Thoreson on February 06, 2013