WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.370 The world changed and our opportunities 2 00:00:02.370 --> 00:00:04.173 to summon the courage to change. 3 00:00:05.010 --> 00:00:08.460 You know, if the world outside is changing faster than you, 4 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:10.169 or your organization or your team is, 5 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:12.660 you're losing ground, and ultimately, 6 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:14.100 are in a vulnerable position 7 00:00:14.100 --> 00:00:15.360 to lose share of market. 8 00:00:15.360 --> 00:00:19.410 So, yeah, I'm fond of the sentiment that 9 00:00:19.410 --> 00:00:21.030 the accelerated pace of change 10 00:00:21.030 --> 00:00:23.580 has never been so fast and overwhelming, 11 00:00:23.580 --> 00:00:25.740 and it's never going to be this slow again. 12 00:00:25.740 --> 00:00:28.170 And so, you know, summoning the courage 13 00:00:28.170 --> 00:00:30.540 to change and holding on to the things 14 00:00:30.540 --> 00:00:32.790 that have worked in the past a little more loosely, 15 00:00:32.790 --> 00:00:35.250 and having the growth mindset where we continue to iterate 16 00:00:35.250 --> 00:00:39.420 and evolve is mission critical to the sales growth 17 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:40.860 of an organization and the growth 18 00:00:40.860 --> 00:00:42.750 of an individual contributor, frankly. 19 00:00:42.750 --> 00:00:46.140 And, you know, I can speak personally to the notion that 20 00:00:46.140 --> 00:00:48.480 what was effective in our go-to market strategy 21 00:00:48.480 --> 00:00:52.650 in 2018 and 2019 isn't going to produce 22 00:00:52.650 --> 00:00:54.270 the desirable result today. 23 00:00:54.270 --> 00:00:57.780 So we live in a state of constant iteration, 24 00:00:57.780 --> 00:01:00.150 and I think a good way for a sales leader 25 00:01:00.150 --> 00:01:01.680 or an individual contributor 26 00:01:01.680 --> 00:01:03.870 to think about it is this way. 27 00:01:03.870 --> 00:01:08.870 So simultaneously, we have a business plan, right, 28 00:01:08.880 --> 00:01:13.200 with KPIs and requirements and targets and goals. 29 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:14.103 It's normal. 30 00:01:15.090 --> 00:01:17.340 Concurrent to that, we should also be running 31 00:01:17.340 --> 00:01:20.940 and tracking a development plan simultaneously. 32 00:01:20.940 --> 00:01:22.350 The learning never stops. 33 00:01:22.350 --> 00:01:25.952 And those two things have to operate in concert. 34 00:01:25.952 --> 00:01:28.860 (upbeat music) 35 00:01:28.860 --> 00:01:30.360 You have to do things that make you 36 00:01:30.360 --> 00:01:32.160 uncomfortable each and every day. 37 00:01:32.160 --> 00:01:32.993 It's a skill. 38 00:01:32.993 --> 00:01:35.370 You develop it by moving into it. 39 00:01:35.370 --> 00:01:37.410 If you're always conducting little experiments, 40 00:01:37.410 --> 00:01:39.270 then you're always pushing yourself 41 00:01:39.270 --> 00:01:40.710 past your comfort zone a little bit. 42 00:01:40.710 --> 00:01:42.510 You're always learning and growing. 43 00:01:42.510 --> 00:01:45.000 So if you had an experimentation project 44 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:48.300 and a development plan, you'd be in a constant state 45 00:01:48.300 --> 00:01:50.730 that was putting pressure on your comfort zone 46 00:01:50.730 --> 00:01:52.350 and you'd be moving forward. 47 00:01:52.350 --> 00:01:53.790 And then it becomes innate in you. 48 00:01:53.790 --> 00:01:56.280 It just becomes something you're comfortable with. 49 00:01:56.280 --> 00:01:59.160 Triathletes are pretty comfortable being uncomfortable. 50 00:01:59.160 --> 00:02:00.150 They know when the race starts, 51 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:02.850 something weird's going to happen, you know, at mile 20. 52 00:02:02.850 --> 00:02:03.837 And things are going to change 53 00:02:03.837 --> 00:02:05.340 and the conditions are going to change 54 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:06.990 and their body's going to change. 55 00:02:06.990 --> 00:02:09.660 And they're used to adapting in that environment. 56 00:02:09.660 --> 00:02:11.490 It's expected. 57 00:02:11.490 --> 00:02:14.460 And the idea today is that leaders and managers need 58 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:18.210 to expect adversity, challenge, 59 00:02:18.210 --> 00:02:21.420 change, circumstances shifting 60 00:02:21.420 --> 00:02:23.025 right before their very eyes. 61 00:02:23.025 --> 00:02:24.960 And the way I look at it is, 62 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:26.700 I try and ask myself a couple 63 00:02:26.700 --> 00:02:28.680 of questions in those moments. 64 00:02:28.680 --> 00:02:30.180 What am I learning? 65 00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:32.640 Because there's information available to me that's new. 66 00:02:32.640 --> 00:02:35.130 So what can I learn? How do I process this? 67 00:02:35.130 --> 00:02:37.230 And then the second thing I consider is, 68 00:02:37.230 --> 00:02:38.700 where's the opportunity? 69 00:02:38.700 --> 00:02:41.400 Because change reveals opportunity all the time. 70 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:42.990 I mean, I've started a few businesses, 71 00:02:42.990 --> 00:02:44.700 but I can tell you the two most successful ones 72 00:02:44.700 --> 00:02:46.500 I started were in the middle 73 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:49.260 of the financial collapse in '08-'09 74 00:02:49.260 --> 00:02:51.300 and in the middle of the pandemic in 2020. 75 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:54.330 And so I really believe in that philosophy 76 00:02:54.330 --> 00:02:56.910 is that change in adversity reveals opportunity. 77 00:02:56.910 --> 00:02:58.890 And I think that's true personally. 78 00:02:58.890 --> 00:03:01.530 Our darkest moments can be our defining ones 79 00:03:01.530 --> 00:03:02.820 if we're a awake to the learning 80 00:03:02.820 --> 00:03:04.440 and willing to move through it. 81 00:03:04.440 --> 00:03:05.853 And that's where we grow. 82 00:03:09.300 --> 00:03:11.130 I got asked this question two weeks ago. 83 00:03:11.130 --> 00:03:14.220 Is artificial intelligence going to replace salespeople? 84 00:03:14.220 --> 00:03:16.140 And my answer was no. 85 00:03:16.140 --> 00:03:20.340 However, salespeople that leverage AI 86 00:03:20.340 --> 00:03:21.930 to an advantage are going 87 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:24.780 to be replacing salespeople that do not. 88 00:03:24.780 --> 00:03:26.733 And that will become the distinction. 89 00:03:27.570 --> 00:03:29.520 And so, you know, as new tools 90 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:31.260 and technology come to the forefront 91 00:03:31.260 --> 00:03:33.420 that can make us more effective and efficient, 92 00:03:33.420 --> 00:03:34.890 the onus is on us to leverage them. 93 00:03:34.890 --> 00:03:37.050 And if you think about time, you know, 94 00:03:37.050 --> 00:03:39.330 time is a mission critical consideration. 95 00:03:39.330 --> 00:03:41.400 I call it time and territory management, right? 96 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:44.310 So the Salesforce statistic, we've got, you know, 97 00:03:44.310 --> 00:03:48.510 professional salespeople only spending about 30% 98 00:03:48.510 --> 00:03:52.410 of their available work time actually selling. 99 00:03:52.410 --> 00:03:54.960 So we're doing a variety of other things related 100 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:56.850 to administration organizations. 101 00:03:56.850 --> 00:03:59.730 Some of that's important and necessary, I get it. 102 00:03:59.730 --> 00:04:02.010 But fundamentally, if you can give people 103 00:04:02.010 --> 00:04:04.830 their time back to focus on the thing 104 00:04:04.830 --> 00:04:07.380 that drives the result more effectively 105 00:04:07.380 --> 00:04:08.640 and more efficiently, 106 00:04:08.640 --> 00:04:11.790 you've created an unlock in your organization. 107 00:04:11.790 --> 00:04:14.640 And artificial intelligence is a, you know, 108 00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:17.670 can be a time saving machine if you use it the right way. 109 00:04:17.670 --> 00:04:20.400 And so it's made me a more effective sales coach 110 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:22.230 and it's made me more insightful. 111 00:04:22.230 --> 00:04:24.360 And I think it's made me a better collaborator 112 00:04:24.360 --> 00:04:26.580 with my customers and partners. 113 00:04:26.580 --> 00:04:28.770 And so, and that's a learning journey 114 00:04:28.770 --> 00:04:31.620 that everyone needs to be on, including myself. 115 00:04:31.620 --> 00:04:32.973 The learning never stops. 116 00:04:36.840 --> 00:04:39.390 I laugh at these sort of five year strategic plans. 117 00:04:39.390 --> 00:04:41.430 How long is that going to be relevant, right? 118 00:04:41.430 --> 00:04:45.900 And so, you know, I mean, if you looked back to- 119 00:04:45.900 --> 00:04:48.109 Take today, for example, and let's rewind 120 00:04:48.109 --> 00:04:50.670 and let's go back and page through a bunch 121 00:04:50.670 --> 00:04:54.270 of strategic plans five years ago 122 00:04:54.270 --> 00:04:56.520 that were prepared to guide you to today. 123 00:04:56.520 --> 00:04:59.460 The word artificial intelligence wasn't in any of them. 124 00:04:59.460 --> 00:05:01.260 And what is everybody talking about today? 125 00:05:01.260 --> 00:05:02.910 And so that's how fast things are changing. 126 00:05:02.910 --> 00:05:05.190 And so this, we have to exercise 127 00:05:05.190 --> 00:05:06.690 that change readiness muscle. 128 00:05:06.690 --> 00:05:10.380 And it's uncomfortable because we're not innately wired for. 129 00:05:10.380 --> 00:05:12.800 As relevant information evolves 130 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.170 the marketplace, the competitive category, 131 00:05:16.170 --> 00:05:17.880 the way customers decide, 132 00:05:17.880 --> 00:05:21.000 and your opportunity to gain advantage, be more prepared, 133 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:24.030 demonstrate value, it's incumbent upon us to evolve too. 134 00:05:24.030 --> 00:05:27.240 And that's consistent with having a growth mindset. 135 00:05:27.240 --> 00:05:31.230 And people with a growth mindset are much more equipped 136 00:05:31.230 --> 00:05:34.110 to create sustainable, profitable sales growth 137 00:05:34.110 --> 00:05:34.943 in a business. 138 00:05:37.590 --> 00:05:39.150 Growth is uncomfortable. 139 00:05:39.150 --> 00:05:41.550 That discomfort means we're at the, you know, 140 00:05:41.550 --> 00:05:43.260 we're in the growth zone. 141 00:05:43.260 --> 00:05:44.790 That's where it happens. 142 00:05:44.790 --> 00:05:48.570 And you've got to exercise that discomfort and test 143 00:05:48.570 --> 00:05:52.050 and iterate and try new things to expand. 144 00:05:52.050 --> 00:05:54.120 And that's where breakthroughs happen. 145 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:56.100 And I think that's the recipe in the playbook 146 00:05:56.100 --> 00:05:56.933 for success today. 147 00:05:56.933 --> 00:06:00.432 (electronic tone swooshing)