Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
Blood, sweat, and tears.
Or gumption, rather.
At a high level, you’re up against a competitor/incumbent with klout and momentum but you’re also up against a brand manager who is working a 9-5 and will be out of their role and onto something else within a few years.
Not to say the deck isn’t stacked against you, but there’s more nuances in your favor that anyone will tell you about.
Stay Positive & Keep On Going
The mark of a leader is the speed in which they take action after acknowledging something is awry.
When we identify some element of work as a distraction, how quick do we act on that?
Once we know what a colleague needs to excel, how quickly do we act?
After we talk to a customer about what is dragging them down with the use of the product, how quickly do we act?
Speed sends a signal almost as strong as the action taken.
Stay Positive & Lace Up To Lead
The best speaker at every event – it really doesn’t matter the event – is the one that is willing to go up there and tell the audience what they are doing is wrong.
There’s inherent respect provided, for starters.
But from there a few things can happen.
It forces people in the audiences to double down on their belief.
Or it knocks them off the rail they are on and they are gung ho about what they need to do next.
Or it simply makes them think; and think like they haven’t before. (That in of itself is a rarity.)
Personally, I’m the person that likes to prove I’m right over proving others wrong; but someone telling me I’m wrong is a great impetus.
Stay Positive & How About You?
The sales of Twisted Tea are insane. Double digit growth. Conquering the tea market. Naturally slowing with the influx of competition, but still the dominating brand.
Boston Beer has 600+ sales reps. Maybe not every single one is selling twisted tea.
But here’s one difference between selling, say, their Truly seltzer brand and Twisted Tea: the sales reps actually want to sell Twisted Tea.
It’s an exciting brand. Nostalgic, even. I’d go so far as to bet the majority of sales reps have fond memories of their parents making iced tea for them in the summer. It doesn’t take much for them to get behind the brand.
But, Truly cherry seltzer… there’s no connection a sales rep has to that, except maybe they smashed a dozen when it was first released in 2016. Not even 10 years of build up and connection – and most of the sales reps have churned since it’s launch.
There’s a lot that goes into building a profitable brand, but Twisted Tea so obviously points out what happens when you give something to sales reps that they actually want to sell.
Stay Positive & Find The People Or Change The Product
Some may resonate with the “what matters is what you do when no one is watching.”
Some may resonate with the “someone is always watching.”
Others may resonate with “it doesn’t matter if they are watching or not.”
The story leads to the same action: doing what’s right, impactful, and positive.
Stay Positive & What Resonates For You?
The amount of German you can learn if you devoted yourself for a few months is astounding.
Same with writing a novel.
Or being a remarkable parent.
Or calligraphy.
Or coffee-making.
Or _______ insert your passion there.
Fortunately for you and me: devotion is just a choice.
Stay Positive & What’ll You Choose?
You’ll dive for it. You’ll ask for help. You’ll do a lot to not let the balloon touch the floor.
My favorite part about the game? When the balloon touches the floor, you pick it up and start again. More determination. More joy. More coordination.
Of course, all of our work is a balloon if we want it to be.
Stay Positive & It’s A Game About Attitude, Not A Balloon
