A few weeks ago I completed one of the best books I have read this year called “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin.
Colvin argues (persuasively, I might add) that the difference between the remarkable achievers in the world and everyone else comes down to one thing – practice.
If you want to be the great musician you need to practice several hours a day seven days a week. You want to be the next Tiger Woods (let’s focus on his record in golf, not with the ladies)? It would be helpful for you to have a dad who is an actual drill sergeant start you playing the game when you are 2 years old.
That got me thinking – how does this apply to my work with executives and business owners?
There are a handful of behaviors that will almost always lead to success in business. They include – always exceeding expectations, making more prospecting calls, setting clear expectations for your staff, etc. Unfortunately, most of the clients and prospects I work with always want to focus on something new instead of mastering any of the fundamentals.
For example, I have met tons of salespeople who are in a non-stop quest for a “silver bullet” lead generation strategy that will allow them to eliminate prospecting from their daily schedule. Guess what? It doesn’t exist. If you want to increase your sales you have to prospect – period.
Steven Covey has a great quote – “To know and not to do is really not to know.” In other words, just because you understand the basics for improving your business it doesn’t mean a thing unless you implement these simple tactics.
Before you make an investment in a new marketing, operations or leadership strategy ask yourself the following question – “How am I doing with the basics?” Maybe it’s time for you to practice, practice, practice.
CJ McClanahan is the Founder of reachmore, which provides leadership coaching for small business and executives. Email CJ at cjm@goreachmore.com for the latest on reachmore’s revolutionary executive coaching program, Summit.