We Can Never Expect Them To Fail
Can you believe in your people before they do?
“You know Tim, we have to be prepared for the fact that they might not make it.” That simple statement, by a veteran manager the other day, ruined my evening. I knew what he was saying was based on some truth. I knew that only 11% of new Insurance Agents survive their first two years… But his words just didn’t sit right with me. In fact, his words wore me out that night. They kept swirling around over and over again. I lost sleep….. For those of you who know me, this is a very rare occurrence. I have always been someone that, no matter what is going on in my life, is asleep before my head hits the pillow.
Around 3:30 a.m. I finally wrestled it down. I knew why that statement had so unnerved me. The reason I was so disturbed was that for a split-second I had agreed with him. You see, having lead sales teams in the Voluntary Benefits arena for 16+ years I have somehow avoided getting jaded. Despite the overwhelming odds, I truly believe that everyone I ever hire is going to join that 11% who makes it. In fact, I think that maintaining this unshakable belief in the new recruit is the ONLY WAY to effectively lead your team. The day you start planning for people on your team to fail is probably the day you should step out of leadership. (Tweet That) John Maxwell says it like this, “It is impossible to make someone feel like they are a 10 if you secretly see them as a 4.” Every leader wants their people to believe in them. But imagine how powerful your organization could be if all of the leaders believed in their people!
One of the challenges of leadership in the sales arena is knowing that most of the people you lead are not going to finish the journey with you. It can be overwhelmingly, emotionally draining. Often times the leader takes the failure of someone on their team extremely personally. This leads to that leader putting up walls with their next recruit so they don’t burned again. Subconsciously they figure that if they don’t get so close and emotionally invested in that new recruit, it won’t be so devastating when they don’t make it.
If you have lead sales teams for any length of time your head is probably nodding right now…. But did you notice a subtle word I used in the last sentence of that last paragraph? I said WHEN they don’t make it. We are already assuming they are going to fail. This is so wrong…. on so many levels. If we assume they aren’t going to make it, how much effort are we going to put into their training? How willing are we to allow them to interrupt our family time with a quick question? How excited are we to go cold calling with them? This lack of faith leads us to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Unfortunately, we aren’t just hurting our business, we are impacting that new recruit’s family.
So how do we as leaders manage this tension? How do we keep faith that the latest recruit we are working with is going to be a life-long agent with us when we know that the odds of any one particular person surviving their first two years is barely double digits? I think the answer is found in these three tips.
Tim’s 3 Tips To Avoid Getting Jaded
“Never tell me the odds!” – Hans Solo. It is critical that we see each person as an individual. Every year millions of people go to Las Vegas and gamble their hard-earned paychecks believing they can somehow beat the odds. Some do. In fact, enough people win that others are willing to risk their money too. You have to believe that this recruit is going to draw to that Royal Flush!
What makes you so special? – You made it, right? And you didn’t have near the training, products, and opportunity that the new recruit has now. You had to walk uphill to school (both ways), in the snow, wearing your 3rd cousin’s worn-out shoes…… (At least that’s the stories you tell on the trips you win.) If you made it, there is no reason they can’t.
Who trained that guy? – I learned this concept back in my Domino’s Pizza days. We were growing very quickly and I had the privilege of training new managers. The management candidate would work in my store for 3-6 months and then be promoted to their own store. I’ll never forget the joy I got watching them win awards and perform at a high level. Whenever they were recognized, the director of operations would always ask, “Who trained that guy?” When was the last time you “sold out” to helping someone else win an award? I’ll caution you to be careful though, it is highly addictive.
