Pig-Headed Determination and Discipline
I read a fantastic book, The Ultimate Sales Machine, that every salesperson should read. Forget that, every person should read this book.
We are all sales people, whether we are selling ourselves to our boss, or telling someone about the latest Apple product that we absolutely love. We are constantly influencing people whether we like to admit it or not.
Chet Holmes, the author, makes sure that he honestly sets up his sales people’s expectations. He tells his staff that they will be rejected on average 8 times before they get a yes. Let’s say your first sale is beginner’s luck and you get it on the first try. The next client may take 16 calls before they decide that your service is for them. The next one might take 5 calls and the one after that might take 11. Some clients may take 20 calls before they agree. This is a lot of rejection before sales start really rolling in. Chet makes sure that his sales people understand that it’s all a part of the process, so they don’t take it personally.
Specific Expectations
When a company creates specific expectations, employees are more willing to put in the effort to meet these needs. At most of my past jobs, it was all about flying by the seat of my pants.
I didn’t know whether calling a client to gather more information was good or bad. I just did it and hoped it went over well. Too many choices strangle an employee’s motivation.
Self-Discipline
Chet reiterates throughout his book the value of pig-headed determination and discipline. If the employee stops meeting expectations, you can sit down and point out what you first discussed when they were hired and do this again and again, until they grasp the importance of your system. If they can’t grasp it, you know what to do.
I used to hate Excel. I thought it was too rigid. That was until my boss showed me the error of my judgments. He believed in consistency. We creative types hate inflexibility. At first my Excel sheets were a mess. My boss showed me how to set them up the same way every time. Eventually I started formatting the Excel reports exactly the way he wanted. My boss was right. It saved me time and energy because I could go back to any report and know exactly where my information was. I didn’t have to search my tabs for ten minutes every time I looked for information within the report. I resented him at the time, but now I do my own reports like he wanted because he was right.
My boss never gave up on me and he knew that I would come around. He had the pig-headed determination and discipline to make me see his vision.
Determination
Never give up. You are going to be rejected for new jobs that you so desperately know you would be good at. You are going to be denied promotions. You are going to be deprived of new clients. Your success is all about not taking it personally and fighting through the “no’s.” It’s about trying every possible angle to scale the problems until you have enough strength and tools to get yourself to where you want to go.
Look in your recent past and remember a time when you were determined to succeed. How did it make you feel when you attained your goal?
It could be cooking a difficult dish or bringing your grade up from a C to an A. It was this determination that motivated you to make the difficulty a reality.
Workshops
Do you ask your girlfriend, brother, or mom to sit down with you and conduct a sample interview before a big interview? Good. You are trying to build the skills it takes to answer every possible question the right way to get the job. Believe me, there is a right way.
If someone asks you what your biggest weakness is and you answer… “I can’t help but steal office supplies, but I only steal the stuff that everyone already steals anyway.” Then guess what? You aren’t going to get the job. You have to be well prepared for every possible scenario.
That means workshopping every scenario. If you are in sales then workshop with a co-worker. Work together and refine those skills that help close a sale.
If you are in customer service then ask your boss to do a workshopping session with you every week for the next two months. Believe me, after you are done you’ll be leaving the customer with a smile almost every time.
You have to have the pig-headed determination and discipline to make good habits. Reading this article may put some good ideas in your head, but they aren’t going to stay there if you don’t practice them to help sharpen your skills.
What Does This have to do With Working Happy?
Having a career that challenges and stimulates your whole being is when pig-headed determination and discipline will be your most important attributes. To build the skills to create your own business or become a CEO of a Fortune 500 company you need to constantly work on your skills.
Working happy means optimizing your talents so you know what brings you and the people you are trying to reach the most value. A great painter like Picasso understood that he was meant to bring visual beauty to millions of people. It’s why Mother Teresa became a nun; if she could have been tested for empathy I bet that she would have been in the top 1% of all people ever born. She would have been a superstar in any charitable occupation she immersed herself in.
Without the passion to make your goals a success then you are floundering. I’ve never met a person who was happy with his or her career who floated around, never sticking with any one occupation. It’s your pig-headed determination and discipline that will help bring career happiness.
Have you ever been so pig-headed about something that you couldn’t help but succeed? What was it? Have you ever been so pig-headed that it hurt you? Let’s discuss it in the comments.
Articles Related to Sticking through the Pain and Coming Out a Winner:
- You Should be Celebrating Your Average and Tiny Successes
- Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It – Interview with the Authors
- 1 Simple Tip on How to be More Productive
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Picasso image courtesy of wallyg
September 24th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Hi Karl,
You have a cool looking blog here. I don’t have much to add to your excellent blog, but I can sure respond to your last question.
I’ve been trying to become a musician for the last 13 years. I’ve made various attempts, worked insanely hard at times, and so far, haven’t made it. Meaning, that is not my full-time job.
But through it all, I felt like I was holding back, too. I longed for a situation or a permission where I can give it everything I got. Then I realized that I was the one holding back — so I’m about to give it another go, this time with a fully developed business plan on hand.
So I have been pig-headed enough to get hurt — but hopefully soon I’ll break through. I am optimistic.
ari
Ari Koinuma’s last blog post..How to Climb Up the Ladder of Healing and Growth (Digest)
September 24th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Just found your blog today, and I already love it. This post hit me just right today. I’m not a salesman in any typical form (although I hope one day to be selling my book to someone…), but I like how these same characteristics can fit into ordinary life — like raising a toddler!
I’m hoping, in answer to your first question only altered for the hopeful future, that my sheer pig-headedness will help carry me through writing and finding an agent/publisher.
For your second question… well, I guess I get hurt when I’m pig-headed in the BAD sense of the term — stubborn in relationships when I should be more flexible.
Sarah’s last blog post..What Operating System Is Your Brain Running?
September 24th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Hey Ari, I’m glad you like the look of my blog, but sad to say it will soon change. It looks good in Firefox, but it doesn’t look that great in IE. I’m glad that you are pursuing your musical career with more gusto and a plan. If you believe in yourself the rest of the world will learn to believe too.
Hey Sara, we all need to be more flexible in our relationships, but that’s for another blog post. Stubbornness is good when in balance with the rest of the package. It takes a while to find that comfort zone, but when it does it’s sweet. Good luck with your book. What’s it about?
September 24th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Karl: I completely agree that we’re all salespeople and that learning how to get past the “no’s” and not taking rejection personally is vital to success. I read that the most successful people are those who have heard the most “no’s” since they’re out there trying and risking more often than everyone else.
Marelisa’s last blog post..Thoughts to Get Your Creative Juices Flowing
September 24th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
“We are all sales people, whether we are selling ourselves to our boss, or telling someone about the latest Apple product that we absolutely love.” So true. Sometimes I wish it weren’t true, but it is.
The book sounds promising - thank you for the review.
Vered - MomGrind’s last blog post..Hospitalized with Meningitis
September 24th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Hey Marelisa, it’s people like Dr. Seuss who get rejected 40 times before they get their first book published that become a big success. They just want it so bad that they make it happen.
Hey Vered, when we realize what we need to do to reach our goals that’s when we break down the walls.
September 25th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Lol. Talking about determination and perseverance, I’m sure into getting this blogging thing up to a target that I’ve set by the end of this year.
Daniel Richard’s last blog post..Fighting Your Fear Of Downfall From “Bad Habits”
September 28th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I just discovered your site today and I must say it really hit home. Sometimes we need more discipline than we think we do. I really like your definition of working happy, after all, work is what we do for a large majority of our lives!
Nathalie Lussier from Billionaire Woman’s last blog post..Self-Sabotage: How To Turn Resistance Into Momentum