Millennials...Slow Down

I read an article yesterday talking about the average tenure of employees at top tech companies and the fact that it was averaging around the 1-year range. 

I feel like so many young professionals such as myself are constantly chasing the next best thing. We stay with a company for a year (I guess that’s a reasonable amount for it to look legit on your resume?) until we get bored.

Coming out of school, I had the exact same mindset thinking that I needed to move quick, get promoted and was constantly chasing after a new and shiny opportunity. I get it, we are a generation that is used to instant gratification and needing things to happen NOW.   

Reflecting back on my short 1-and-a-half-year career, I am so glad that I have begun to understand the importance of being patient and perfecting my craft.

As an SDR, I’ve had the opportunity to make thousands of calls, emails and LinkedIn conversations with some amazing prospects. Continued practice has allowed me to have conversations with prospects today, that are providing a lot more value than they would have even 6 months ago.

I have deeper knowledge of the industries we sell into, more knowledge of our solutions and have had the time to build meaningful relationships with our prospects. This has allowed me to ask better questions, provide better answers and build the trust that is needed in making a sale.

However, the beautiful thing is that 1.5 years in, I’m not even close to being an expert on cold calling/emailing techniques/social selling, or even on the solutions that I sell.

After thousands of calls/emails, I still learn new techniques to incorporate every single day and I continuously strive to add more value in conversations with prospects.

I don’t understand how people think that they can master a skill or expect a promotion after 6-12 months. However long a year may seem, the reality is that it is not enough time to master anything.

I had the privilege of playing competitive tennis at a national level when I was young. I made a rough calculation and estimated that I put around 12,000 hours into training throughout my “career” before the age of 16. And, I wasn’t even CLOSE to playing at a professional level.

To put it in perspective, at work, there are roughly 250 business days in a year. If we devoted 10 hours a day to our professions, we would be logging 2500 hours a year.

Ever heard of the 10,000-Hour Rule?

Malcom Gladwell, author of the book Outliers analyzed some of the most successful people in history and concluded that dedicating 10,000 hours to a specific craft is the “Tipping-Point” of greatness.

It takes at least 10,000 hours of time dedicated to your craft to master it. That means that it would take 4 years of 10 hour days to even begin mastering prospecting.   

My challenge to you

In a world where everybody is constantly looking for the next best career opportunity, I challenge you to dedicate your time to mastering your craft.

I’ve realized that there is so much value in being patient and taking the time to master my craft in my career.

I have better conversations, I’ve improved my prospecting skills, I’m understanding the solution I sell better and I am building relationships with my prospects over time which gives me the luxury of booking meetings with less effort.

I would run circles around the person I was even 6 months ago. My experience has allowed me to add more value to both my prospects & company and I can’t wait to see what new skills I develop in the next 6 months.

Focus on your craft and become a master at it. Promotions will come. If you are currently an SDR, challenge yourself to be the best damn SDR there is.

Greatness takes time.