Cheerios Of The Mind

We all have untapped reserves of energy that we can access to fuel success. That fuel… those Go-Go Power Cheerios of the Mind… can come from both positive and negative emotion that flows with surprising strength within you, without you. Whether you are faced with a soaring triumph or a crushing setback, there is INCREDIBLE strength right there if you know what it is and how to use it. I know. Deep, ain’t it?

First, let’s look at a surprising top sales characteristic and how THAT can be used to fuel positive activity and success…

I was recently in meetings with several of the newer HALO Branded Solutions acquisitions and the topic we were engaged in was an interesting one. The question was posed, “What is the NUMBER ONE characteristic of a GREAT Account Executive?” One of the answers was a startling, negative one and worth examining. And… WAS IT negative? Or something else…

As we went around the room characteristics like ‘amazing charisma’ and ‘superbly organized’ were tossed around. We talked about that elusive ‘sales gene’ that most of the best seem to possess… something you simply can’t teach, they either have it or they don’t. It is that rare ability to instantly connect with people, to establish yourself as competent, honest and knowledgeable in the first moments of a meeting, then moving on from there to present solutions and sell them. The old ‘ice to Eskimos’ thang.

One President of a newer HALO division had kept quiet during the discussion, waiting for his moment with a knowing smile on his lips. When he had the floor, he shocked the room by announcing, “We’ve given a lot of thought to this very topic and in fact, we interviewed all of our top producers and came to a surprising conclusion. The number one characteristic that ALL of our driven, successful heavy hitters share is… paranoia!”

Um… huh? Paranoia?? Yes, they were from New York, but still… PARANOIA???

He went on to explain, “When we lose big clients, it’s because we get complacent. That’s the beginning of the end in that account. But if you are ALWAYS thinking, ‘I’m going to lose this client! What can I do to PREVENT that from happening? Who is in there, trying to steal them away??? I CAN’T LET THAT HAPPEN!!!!’.”

Yes. That CAN be quite the motivator. Paranoia! A negative emotion that can generate a LOT of angst and fear. But why label this as a ‘negative’ thing? Energy is being created, energy that can be redirected…

For new accounts as well as those you’ve had for years… be different. Don’t be complacent. Be continually surprising. Always have alternatives… alternative ideas, alternative solutions. Respond to clients calls within two hours. Prepare client quotations within twenty-four hours. They won’t wait. They don’t have TIME to wait. Don’t make them wait! These things should be running through your mind constantly!

Even a negative emotion like paranoia requires energy to fuel it. Energy can be used for the productive good no matter WHERE it comes from! You can harness pain and doubt and even paranoia and use the energy these things create to fuel positive activities with positive outcomes. It’s easy to build off of your wins… but you can build off of your failures too. Take the energy and shift it into something productive. That’s pretty exciting knowledge to possess.

Here is something we can do to begin each day with a burst of positive activity and accomplishment then build from there. Successful account executives all have best practices that give them that edge for soaring achievement. Successful managers, too, have these little best practice secrets to create momentum, to get the day in gear and soar from there. To conclude this Be Bold installment, I thought I’d share one of MY Best Practices, since I JUST did it this morning! And I try to do it EVERY morning.

Each evening, or first thing the next business day, I make my list of those important tasks that I must accomplish that day. I keep a Red Sharpie handy so I can check these off as I accomplish each one throughout the day. It feels GREAT to check off list accomplishments with a big red Sharpie check.

Today, I had six important things on my list and I needed to do them all. One of the things on this list is tough… I needed to write a diplomatic email to a particularly volatile person about account protection. I had to do this in a positive way and focus on synergy and teamwork, that we weren’t in a turf war but working together empowering each other’s success.

I knew writing that would be a challenge. It was the TOUGHEST THING on today’s list.

Here is the Best Practice.

ALWAYS do the HARDEST THING on your list FIRST. Get it over with and get it accomplished. You’ll feel like you really did something BIG right out of the gate and that positive feeling of personal triumph will fuel you through the rest of your daily tasks.

If you don’t do that tough thing first, and keep putting it off… you’ll eye that task on your list with dread as the day drags on, creating negative, rather than positive, vibes. Go for the Good Vibrations, team.

Young Skywalker, when first shown the unbridled energy of The Force, exclaimed, “I don’t believe it!” to which Master Yoda replied, “THAT is why you fail…” Believe in yourself. Access your Cheerios of the Mind. Harness the energy that flows within you at ALL times and use that power for good, for accomplishment, to fuel even greater successes. Believe it and THAT is why you will succeed. And when you are feeling paranoid… make THAT work for you too!

Okay, I gotta wrap this one up. It’s freaking me out…

Rick Greene MAS is the Western Regional Vice-President for HALO Branded Solutions and writes regular ‘Be Bold, Be Different, Be Memorable’ columns for various industry publications and websites including this monthly PromoCorner blog.  He is also the author of the fiction books Shroom! and Boofalo! and the forthcoming biography Henry Brandon King Of The Bogeymen.