Give Me an “O” for Offense

Let’s face it: It’s hard to score when you’re playing defense. All-stars play defense for one reason — to get back on offense. They do whatever it takes to block the shot, intercept the

pass and get the outs so they can get back to scoring points.

When you’re playing offense you are in the game. No, you can’t play offense all of the time, but most people spend the majority of their time going back and forth. They take one step forward on offense and two steps backwards on defense, never achieving the results they desire.

Why is this?

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being “things are utterly miserable” and 10 being “things couldn’t be more wonderful”), most of us live and perform at around 5 (“things are tolerable”). But 5 is probably the worst place to be. Things aren’t great, but they’re not awful, either. Maybe we sell just enough to get all the bills paid each month. Maybe we make just enough calls to meet our quota. We have one foot in the game and one on the sidelines. We know we should do more but there isn’t enough pain — enough anxiety — to force us into making a change.

Then something happens that pushes us over the edge. The banker calls to tell us we’re $3,000 overdrawn on our checking account. Our boss tells us we’ve missed quota for the second month in a row. We reach the point where we’re fed up with the situation; enough is enough. We decide we’re not going to live this way anymore — not another day, not another minute. Have you ever had one of these moments in your life?

If you have, and you made the decision to make some positive changes and follow through, that’s great. But in the long run, that is not how we want to live our professional, or personal, lives. That’s living life in reaction, on the defense. Your environment forced you to take action and let go of whatever was keeping you on the bench. When you live in reaction, you’re not in control of your life, of your success — life is in control of you.

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More from Billy Cox

• Three Steps To Change Anything
• What it Takes to Get in the Game–Part 2
• A New Beginning For Your Dreams

It’s Time to Get Out of Your Chair

You don’t need a lot of complicated ideas to raise your performance to the next level. All you need is one idea that you will use, one idea that can put you on the offense against mediocrity right now. Now is what you can do this day, hour, or moment to move your life forward.

Top salespeople spend most of their time playing offense. In sales, that means you are in front of customers or potential customers. The all-star salespeople spend most of their time prospecting, making sales calls, learning more skills, improving existing skills and producing measurable results.

So, get out of your chair and call a potential customer now. If you can do that, your confidence will soar and you will motivate yourself to make a second, third, or 10th call. It will only be a matter of time before you achieve better results and make more sales. If you will consistently force yourself to take some kind of action now, to play offense, the process will eventually become a habit and your success will grow.

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More from Billy Cox

• What it Takes to Get in the Game–Part 2
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Take it

When TV show host Larry King asked Microsoft’s Bill Gates about his incredible wealth and success, Gates said, “Larry, I was at the right place at the right time, and luck had a lot to do with that.”  Then he said, “But, Larry, there were a lot of people at the same place I was.  One difference was I had vision, I saw the potential that was there … The big difference was I took massive action and immediate action.”

Of course, Microsoft is now one of the most successful companies in the world and Gates is one of the wealthiest people in the world.

The key links to success consist of vision, leadership and action. That’s it, period.  You can’t have one without the other.  Leaders have a vision, they share a dream and they take the actions that inspire others to want to share and follow.

Leadership vision goes beyond your written organizational mission and vision statements.  Leadership vision permeates the workplace and it manifests itself in the values, beliefs, goals and actions of every team member.

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More from Billy Cox

• What it Takes to Get in the Game–Part 2
• What it Takes to Get in the Game–Part 1
• What it Takes to Get in the Game–Part 3

Please Comment below and let me know what you think!

More from Billy Cox

• Three Steps To Change Anything
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Are You Waiting to Lead? – Part 2

You can choose to be a leader and make a difference wherever you are.  Some people think “when I get to the top, then I’ll learn to lead.” Some people say, “When I get this position, then I will lead,” “When I get to the top, then I will learn more,” “When I get promoted, then I’ll act like a leader.” The people with these thoughts will never become leaders.  They’ll always be “want-to-be leaders.”

Leadership is learned in the trenches.

Leading where you are prepares you for some of the greater responsibilities you will have as your leadership grows.  But the only way it can grow is if you are leading where you are today.  It will never grow without it.

Some people think if they were on top, others would follow them.  See, people without leadership experience tend to overestimate the importance of a leadership title.  It’s not the title that makes a leader; it’s the ability to act and influence others in a meaningful and purposeful way and to keep them focused and moving forward through the challenges, adversities and setbacks as well as through the victories and good times.

You can grant someone a title, but you can’t grant the ability to lead.  That is decided by the followers.  Influence must be earned.  Good leaders gain an influence beyond their title or position.  Bad leaders will shrink their position to a lesser role.

The truth is people’s beliefs, attitudes and state of mind determine their status as leaders. Whether you manage a team of people or you are a parent who wants to positively influence your children, there are countless opportunities to step up and be a tremendous leader. We have leaders consisting of parents, students, teachers and preachers.  We have leaders in volunteer organizations as well as in billion-dollar companies. Leaders exist in every walk of life.

My point is that leadership vision is a choice you make, not a position or title.  Anyone can take on the role of leader for the opportunities that present themselves daily.  The experience you gain where you are is what prepares you for greater responsibilities as an up-and-coming leader.  But the only way you become a leader is to hone the skills and play the part today.

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More from Billy Cox

• Are You Waiting to Lead? – Part 1
• What it Takes to Get in the Game–Part 2
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Are You Waiting to Lead? – Part 1

I believe too many leaders today have an ineffective or outdated strategy for dealing with people and change. They keep running east, looking for the sunset they will never find, and they keep running until they run everyone off or they simply have no one left to influence.

If we want to lead and influence the next generation, we must communicate the vision in a more creative and compelling way. Let’s connect the dots for everyone: Our customers, employees, management and teammates, regardless of their background or social status.

Leadership vision transcends organizational size.  It’s tempting to say, “It is easy for that organization to lead the industry because it has a bigger staff and budget than I have.”  That excuse doesn’t reflect leadership vision. Besides, smaller organizations often have an advantage in implementing creative ideas. They can make quicker decisions absent massive corporate structural layers and their intimate work setting is also more conducive to sparking the staffs’ creative juices.

Don’t get discouraged because you can’t follow the lead of other organizations. Why try to become something or someone you aren’t? You should strive to develop into the unique creative and visionary leader you are no matter what size of an organization you lead.

You may think, “Yeah Billy, I’m just starting out on my leadership journey.  I have a passion for leadership and I know I have what it takes to get there but I’m on the very bottom of the leadership chain.” Hang with me here because you may hit your target sooner than you think.  Despite your current position you can easily break out of the pack.

I’ll tell you more in my next post. Meanwhile, I’ll watch for your comments.
Please Comment below and let me know what you think!

More from Billy Cox

• Are You Waiting to Lead? – Part 2
• What it Takes to Get in the Game–Part 2
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Do You Have Leadership Vision?

Did you know there is nothing more powerful to change and shape an organization than a compelling vision from an inspirational leader?

Do you have leadership vision?  If so, do you have the proper strategy to expand your vision and lead your team at the highest level?

I can’t answer for you. But I do know we must plan differently and think more creatively than we have in the past if we expect to achieve the success we desire in the future.

Years ago I heard, “If you keep doing what you have always done you are gonna keep getting what you have always got.”  However, this has changed: Today, if you keep doing what you have always done you may not even be in business a few years from now.

Isn’t it astounding how fast change occurs these days?  The issues and challenges we face will only accelerate as time advances.  Our culture demands that we adapt to change to meet life head-on.

So, here are our challenges now:

· How do we lead our team to the next level?

· How do we promote our mission and values while competing in a world that continues to change at a record pace?

· And how do we accomplish our goals and still remain anchored to the basic fundamentals that brought us to the game.

Ready to get started? Share your comments below.Please Comment below and let me know what you think!

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• Sitting Still Is the New Sliding Backwards – Part 2

Sitting Still Is the New Sliding Backwards – Part 2

If you are totally satisfied with where you are, then change will never happen. All change comes from realizing that change needs to be made. This means you need to get disturbed deep down inside about where you are. To change, you gotta get sick and tired of the situation you are in.

You must also think about the alternative to not changing. Ask yourself, “What is the worst thing that could happen in my life if I don’t change?” Will you get left behind, will you lose a competitive advantage or will you be able to maintain your current lifestyle?

Now ask yourself, “What are all of the positive things that could happen in my life if I do make some changes? Will I live longer, will I be able to buy a nicer home, will I be able to take more fun vacations, will I have more freedom to do the things I want later in life?”

The most important thing you can do right now is to get disturbed enough that you decide, “I’m not willing to live at this level anymore.”

Most of the individuals who succeed at the highest level can remember those turning points in their lives when they made a decision that they were going to change. Their heart and soul said “no more.” They made a deep-down-in-the-gut decision that they were not willing to live at this same level any more, not another day, not another minute. They made up their mind that they would never again settle for ordinary, because ordinary just wouldn’t get it.

“Change the way you view the world and your world will change.”

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More from Billy Cox

• Sitting Still Is the New Sliding Backwards – Part 1
• The Real Connection with Prospects – Part 2
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Sitting Still Is the New Sliding Backwards – Part 1

Just as emotions can help the customer buy, you must also create some emotions within yourself that will drive you to change.

Why should you change? It’s no longer true that if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always got.” Now if you stay the course you may not even be in business a year or two from now.

To succeed as a salesperson in today’s ever-changing world, there is no such thing as status quo. We live in a consumer savvy, knowledge-based, microwave society. Today’s consumers can push a button and have information at their fingertips, and business in general is conducted at the speed of thought.

If we want an edge in today’s marketplace, we must embrace change. This means we need to be constantly updating our skills and improving all areas of our performance. The individuals who embrace change with a constant improvement attitude have an advantage over their competition and a real edge in life.

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More from Billy Cox

• Sitting Still Is the New Sliding Backwards – Part 2
• The Real Connection with Prospects – Part 2
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Let Your Confidence Instill Action

Perhaps the biggest reason people don’t take action is a lack of confidence. Confidence is the feeling that you have what it takes to accomplish whatever task you set out to perform.

We’re all born with some degree of confidence, but as the years go by, our confidence gets squashed. We hear discouraging words like “no,”  “you’re too young,” “you’re too old,” “you’re too slow,” “you’re not smart enough.” And if we hear these negative words often enough, we can easily start using them when we talk to ourselves, hurting our confidence even more.

We also lose confidence as we face life’s struggles and challenges —  personal or business failures, bankruptcies, getting fired or laid off, failing to achieve important goals. Whether they are within our control not, they can all negatively affect our confidence. The bottom line is that most adults struggle with a lack of confidence every day.

So how can you regain this lost self-confidence once again? You gotta take action! Here is a simple formula I use when teaching people how to gain more confidence:

Action → results → success → confidence → action

If you will just take action, eventually you will get some results. Lots of positive results will give you some success. Success will create more confidence. Greater confidence will lead to more action, and the cycle will continue. But it all starts with action.

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More from Billy Cox

• The Real Connection with Prospects – Part 2
• Sitting Still Is the New Sliding Backwards – Part 2
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