Champions' Rise: Being Persistent, in the Pursuit of Greatness

For those who know me well, this year, two of my resolutions were to carve out more time in my week to reflect and to celebrate wins. While cleaning out a drawer in my office today, I stumbled across these little gems. I have a quirk in that I frequently only look to the path in front of me. In consistent pursuit of happiness, in winning, and in achieving for my family and my tribe, I do not look backward. Win, lose, or draw, they are photo ops and a blip on the radar before the next storm.

I appreciate the opportunities that have come to me in this life, but this is a win that is long overdue for celebrating.

A good friend and former member of the 82nd Airborne Division encouraged me to get into financial services. I had done sales before, but had never been in investment, financial services, or banking. I decided to take the plunge, printed a few copies of my resume, and started knocking on doors at branches to drop them off. I was the consummate professional, but I certainly went in like I owned the place. Understandably, I received a number of rejections. One leader saw the hustle and offered me a job on the spot. I was quickly ranked number one in sales in the city and in the top 1% of the entire company. I went to Vegas for the top performers' conference back-to-back-to-back, winning countless District and Regional awards. I eventually went on to lead sales for the office after my former leader moved on.

After many good years, I found myself at a fork in the road and was recruited by my friend to join him, where I was hired as the youngest Executive in the history of Union Planters Bank. The branches I led in the Texas city market were in last place in the Houston and Surrounding Upper Gulf Coast Region. By the time I parted with the organization to launch my first consultancy, the team had taken our branches from last to being in the top 10 performing branches in sales.

Winning is contagious, and a smile can say a hundred words. Pictured here is my team lead, who, along with the rest of my staff, earned the prestigious Jerry McGuire Award for being ranked number one nationally in Merchant Service Sales. Our branch sold more payment processing/merchant card services accounts than the city of Miami in the campaign. We earned this award in the first 90 days. My team went on to lead the market in cross-sale ratio, achieve recognition as a top 10 branch for investment sales, and increase loan productivity by over 800%.

I have had an interesting career, built Revenue Operations (Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience), and sold products and services in over 25 B2B industries. During the process, I have developed many useful strategic approaches and proven execution tactics that are certainly a great deal responsible for my years of success. However, there are four paradigm shifts, or aha moments, that I had very early in my career.

The truths below, which I hold as universal, led to mindset shifts that spurred my early meteoric rise and have influenced the arc of my career throughout life's journey and its ups and downs.

#1 The 3rd Win Strategy in Business Win <> Win <> Win

“There is never a good sale for Neiman Marcus unless it’s a good buy for the customer." Herbert Marcus, co-founder of Neiman Marcus

Recommended read: “Minding the Store” by Stanley Marcus

#2 Do not procrastinate, tackle the necessary tasks today, and prioritize the most challenging or important ones first.

Eat the Frog "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first." — Often attributed to Mark Twain, but origin uncertain.

“Never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today”, Benjamin Franklin

Recommended further reading:

• “Eat That Frog!” by Brian Tracy
• "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin" by Benjamin Franklin

#3 Share the Win

"A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit." – John C. Maxwell

Recommended read: "The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership” by John C. Maxwell

#4 Make it Happen

"Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it – but sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor." – Oliver Wendell Holme

Recommended further reading:

• “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David J. Schwartz
• “The Go-Getter” by Peter B. Kyne
• “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy