Hi Friends, Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world,...
Hi Friends,
Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share. If this was forwarded to you and you found value, subscribe here for a weekly edition!
What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals
This past week, I have had interesting conversations about high performance in sales. In those conversations, I wish I had recalled the Socrates quote, “To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t, so I had to go with discussing:
- The 40/20 rule
- Energy Mapping
To be a high performer in sales, you need to be self-aware. Not only of who you are and how you come across, but also when you show up at your best. By using the 40/20 rule, you can gain the deep insights that will help you understand these things.
The 40/20 Rule
For those who are unfamiliar, the 40/20 rule says that you have 40 hours to do your job and 20 hours to hone your craft. You can use those 20 hours to become a subject matter expert, to practice, to role play, etc. You can also use that time to do the things that allow you to show up as your best, most authentic self, e.g., go for a walk after a long cold-calling block, exercise prior to presentations, meditate. One other thing you can do in your 20 hours is self-reflection.
Every week, I ask myself a few questions (I do this exercise in both my personal and professional life):
- What did I do well?
- What was the environment? When did this happen (time of day)? Can I see patterns in my performance due to environment and time of day?
- What didn’t I do well?
- What was the environment? When did this happen (time of day)? Can I see patterns in my performance due to environment and/or time of day?
- For the things I didn’t do well, is there someone that I know who does do them well? Is there information available to learn how to do them better?
- What was the environment? When did this happen (time of day)? Can I see patterns in my performance due to environment and/or time of day?
There are other questions I ask, but for the purposes of being a high performer, these are the most important ones. This deep and consistent reflection of my performance allows me to then map my energy to the most important tasks of my job.
Thus, I was able to find the ideal time for me to write, analyze information, coach, train, pitch, etc. I then do my best to schedule those tasks at the ideal times. This is an ongoing process because life is not constant, and environmental factors may shift the ideal times.
Here is an example. One of the joys of my life is driving G (my son) to school (except when he is getting in trouble or being difficult). This past year, he has tested MANY boundaries. There was a particular week when the drive to school was tough EVERY day. It put me in a bad mood. During that week, I was unaware of the effect that the drive in was having on my performance on the calls I got on as soon as he got out of the car.
At the end of the week, I was answering the question of what I did not do well. As I reflected, I realized that I did not accomplish as much as I wanted in my early morning calls. As I dug in further, I came to understand that I was unfocused and in a bad mood. Thus, I am now aware of the effect that a bad ride can have, so I now do one of two things: 1. If possible, I move the meeting a few minutes so I can recenter myself; or 2. If I cannot move the meeting, I stop talking to my son about 2 minutes before I let him out of the car, think about positive memories, and then say to him, “I love you and appreciate you,” as he gets out (interestingly, this has become the way I say goodbye to him at all times now).
This deep analysis has allowed me to control what I can control and mitigate the risk of underperforming on tasks. If you are interested in discussing further, feel free to reach out.
For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.
Have you ever heard of a microwriter? I had not until this week when I came across this write-up in the Hiten Shah newsletter (a favorite of mine). The context was that Hiten was sharing how ideas or inventions that bomb or are ahead of their time can lead to great breakthroughs later. I am not sure if the microwriter influenced the invention of T9 (the technology that allows you to type from a numeric keypad), but I don’t see how it couldn’t have. What are other inventions that you think were ahead of their time but influenced future technology?
Potpourri for 800
Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.
I love movies, and I love movie trailers. Movie trailers are art themselves. In just a minute or two, a great trailer can evoke so many emotions—sometimes more so than the movie itself. Two of the major influences on how you feel after watching a trailer are the voiceover and the music (editing also helps). Check out this treatment on The Shining trailer.
Quote for My Son
Every day, I leave my son a note with a quote. This was my favorite from this past week:
“You can’t control the doubters. You can only control the work.” – Joe Burrow
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Let me know what you think about this week’s edition of Fuentes Fridays. Which section was your favorite? How can I make this better? Shoot me a message on LinkedIn @willfuentes.
Until next week!
Thanks,
