Earlier this year I was commissioned to write an article for Talent Management Magazine regarding, “The State And Art Of Management.” Here is that article.
http://www.talentmgt.com/performance_management/2010/June/1281/index.php
Author Archives: Dan Manginelli
The Winner’s Feeling Part I
Have you ever experienced ‘thewinner’s feeling’? It’s that feeling you get when you’re just going to go for it… you’re going to stick your neck out there and make things happen. If you’re in sales, it’s that feeling you get right before youmake that cold call, right before you knock on a door, right before you’re going to talk to your boss.
It’s that churning in your stomach, the sweat that starts build. I can hear you thinking, ‘WHAT?!That’s not what I call a winning feeling! I call that a sickening feeling!’
Okay, so I’ll give you that. Some peoplemight call that feeling the fear of rejection or just fear in general, but I call it ‘the winner’s feeling’ because I really believe that’s when something great is going to happen.
When you feel like that, that’s when you’re about to win.
Most people avoid the winner’s feeling.Maybe you’re one of them. You convince yourself that things just won’t work. You say things like, “I’m not a good enough salesperson” or “I just sell in a different way than everybody else. I’m more of soft sell” or “I just work my past clients because no one out there is loyal anymore.” Does any of that sound familiar?
There’s always doom and gloom around us, but through any difficult time or market people are still buying, life is still moving. The real test is in learning to block out all the negative input around you and move forward to take advantage of the opportunities that await…even in the slower seasons.
People are always looking for the best deal, and what separates the top sales people from average sales people is that they’ve learned how to build perception. They’re not just selling a dream.They strongly believe that what they offer adds value to thebuyer’s life, and they are passionate enough to make that belief come to life!
The dream still exists out there…in your life and in your work. You just have to move with it. Sometimes you’ve just got to get a good set of earplugs to block out all the negative, distracting and LOUD noises around you. To get out from under that negative cloud.
Just remember, on the other side of the clouds is the sun. You just have to get high enough.
How Do You Plan?
It’s All In Your Head
The following is an excerpt from the book WAKE UP!
When I try to think ‘big picture’ about what makes people successful in business or in life, the first and most obvious part of the ‘big picture’ to me is this: It’s all in your head!
Meaning, it’s what’s in your head that sabotages you. Our minds are powerful tools that can be used to both imprison and free us. To be successful, we have to be mentally strong enough to respond to whatever happens in a positive, pro-active way. Mental toughness is a process. It just doesn’t happen overnight. It’s like any kind of strength training. You start out slowly, with smaller weights. You learn to pick and choose the options that work best for you, where you are.
When something terrible or unexpected happens, you may be prone to thinking, “You know, that’s just my luck. Stuff like this always happens to me.” Or, even when things are rolling along smoothly, you may be one of those worriers—that person who always assumes the worst will happen in any given situation. Self-image is a tough thing for all of us. We all have our own insecurities, our own sense of inadequacy, even failure. And if you really just want to try to hold on to what you have, that negative self-image will always speak louder in your head than anything else. People with half your ability will accomplish more in life only because they believe better things about themselves. Their perception makes for a more successful reality.
The beginning of mental conditioning is training yourself to recognize and acknowledge the strengths you already have. Everyone says, ‘If I could just live up to my potential,’ but to be honest, I don’t buy that. We’re always looking for abilities we wish we had, rather than recognizing the gifts and skills we already have. Why do you suppose that is?
Everybody’s afraid of what others think. When you close your eyes, that person is in your head, saying what you think they think about you (and it’s never good). We’re always afraid that someone’s going to pull the curtain back and find out we don’t know as much as we think we know. That somehow we’re not as accomplished, smart or successful as they are.
Even when all the talent and know-how and drive and determination is already there to succeed, just a whiff of fear will kill it before it even begins. That’s why it’s essential to ‘retrain’ your mind to work FOR you, not against you. Train it to take the time to gain perspective, to respond, not to react. To think: ‘What are my options here?’
Whatever the situation—whether it’s personal relationship trouble or challenges in business—you always have options. Mentally, you lay it all out: What do I really want to do? What is the best way to respond to get what I want? What will be the best scenario short-term? Long term? Each option comes with a given consequence, so you train yourself to think through those as well. Some of the consequences automatically rule out the option. Once you narrow down the options, keeping ‘mind over matter’ means you learn to play to your best strength and go with the option you know you’ll be best at, the response that will work best for you.
If you see yourself as a person who already has the talent and skill and drive and determination to get things done…If underneath all that is a fundamental belief that you deserve to succeed in everything you work hard at…How and where and who you envision yourself to be is how and where and who you are…and will be.
Always…
be willing to try…
be actively learning…
lead by example…
believe you add value to whatever you do…
be open…
be contagious…
Is this you? If not, begin each day retraining yourself to think, speak and act in affirming, intentional and positive ways. To change your perspective is to change your life.
What are the voices in your head saying? And how do you need to change them?
Purchase WAKE UP! at http://www.manginelligroup.com/wakeup/
