When's The Last Time you Were Humbled?

Being great at something for a long time doesn't mean you've got it figured out. It might just mean you've gotten comfortable being almost right.

A colleague read through my outreach and pointed out some things that were missing. Things that should have been obvious to someone who teaches this for a living. They weren't obvious. They were blind spots I'd been carrying around long enough that they stopped feeling like blind spots.

The two of us started a bigger conversation about perfection, whether chasing it is even worth it, and if the juice is worth the squeeze. We both acknowledged that we feel like we fall short in a lot of ways, more often than we'd like to admit, but we’ve also done pretty well for ourselves. How much better would we really have done if we were “perfect” anyway?

That sounds a lot like Pandora’s Box, and is definitely for another newsletter, but here's the question I can't stop thinking about: if you're not regularly humbled by something, are you still learning?

If you’re not learning, are you growing?

If you’re not growing, are you… dying?

I think humility is underrated as a performance indicator. It’s important to be grounded from time to time. Either you find a new platform for yourself, or something (or someone) knocks you down a peg.

The colleague who called out my blind spots wasn't being critical. They were being useful. There's a big difference, and the best people in your life know which one you need.

This Week's Read

Most sales teams. Every sales team I’ve ever worked with has answered "why do you win" with some version of “great relationships, we really care, and we have tons of industry experience.”

Those answers aren't wrong, but they’re also useless.

This week's blog is a bit of a position piece. It’s definitely the most complete thing I've written about what "what good looks like here" actually means, why most organizations are floating when they could be sailing, and why a simple Venn Diagram might be the most useful thing I’ve drawn in years.

I worked on it for most of the week, received strong feedback from colleagues, and will continue to develop it over time.

Read it →

Deeper Thought

Last week's prompt: What kind of life sounds fun?

I asked my kids this at dinner over the weekend. Got some really fun answers. It told me a lot about what they're thinking and how to help them get there.

My own answer: not that different from what I'm doing now, really. Interesting projects. Traveling to cool places to work on them. Getting into the right kind of trouble with great people, over great food, on great golf courses.

I'll take it.

That question wraps up the series I've been running with my family at Sunday dinners. It's been good for the newsletter, but it's run its course. Time for something more organic.

This week's prompt, tied to what I thought about above… When was the last time you were genuinely humbled by something? What did you do about it?

Take a walk. Think about it. Reply and tell me. I'll share mine next week.

The Shoutout

Sharp, resourceful, experienced, confident, and with more executive presence than most people I've been in a room with.

That's Christine Rogers.

Not far behind: witty, kind, generous, and a ton of fun to be around. The kind of person you just always trust to do the right thing. Her track record proves it, which is why I'll also add high integrity and trustworthy to the list.

Christine and I connected many years ago, before she came on The Why and The Buy. There was something engaging and dynamic about her even through a Zoom call. Later, she gave me space to think through a couple of AMA sessions for her company, Aspireship. Now she's casually running a global sales training company and making it look way easier than it is.

We hop on calls to bat ideas around and share good news memes on Instagram. She supports, occasionally consoles, and continually inspires me.

I pinch myself that someone like her takes my calls.

What I'm Into, and The Nudge

I spent most of this week deep inside the position piece. When a piece of writing pulls me in that completely, I take it as a sign that I'm working on something that matters.

It’s the clearest articulation I've written of why most sales organizations are leaving margin, ramp time, and veteran knowledge on the table, and what to do about it.

It’s also my nudge for this week…

The feedback I've gotten since publishing it has reinforced that. It’s a chewy read, but I’m eager to hear what you think of it, considering I’m building my business based on the concept. 😉

If you know a VP of Sales who needs to read it, please consider sending it along. That's the nudge this week.

Read it →

Cheers, and Happy Mother’s Day!
JB