On today’s Labor Day holiday in the US there are celebrations of our past & present, along with hopes for the future.
It’s important to remember if you’re always looking in the rear view mirror – you’ll miss what is about to happen.
The past gives us important lessons.
What is happening in this instant is critical.
Hope for the future isn’t the same as making sure you’re looking at what is about to happen so you can respond to it.
When I was going through coach training there was a whole class on responding vs. reacting. The interesting thing about the concept for me is it shows up in leadership every day, in lots of different ways!
> respond – a thoughtful reply to a situation
> react – an immediate and unthinking emotional effect of what happens
What I want you to think about today is when a salesperson on your team request something do you respond or react?
RESPOND – acknowledging the request, then asking questions, qualifying time-frames, and seeing how the current request fits into your existing priorities for the day.
REACT – dropping what you are doing and take immediate action on their request. Instead of asking questions – just starting to do do (oh now we’ve made a mess).
When a request comes in, take a breath and stop your unthinking, emotional reaction. Make sure you choose what you want to do and respond.
Sounds so simple when you read it in a blog post – not always easy to accomplish in the heat of the moment! It’s going to take practice, it is going to take mental energy, it is going to help you achieve the success you’ve defined for yourself.
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