Gandhi once said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
So often in life, we try to make big changes to everything around us or we are pressed to make changes due to outside circumstances and forces. When we’re doing this, we struggle as we try to make the changes or adapt to the changes and we complain that it’s so hard to change and why can’t it be easier. We wish for the changes and everything to be easier, but we don’t often wish for ourselves to be better as we’re making the changes. What typically happens is that we fight and resist the changes, going through the various stages of change (denial, resistance, exploration, and commitment) before we finally adopt the change into our lives.
The problem isn’t how we go about making the changes (although we can work on that to make it easier and faster to change), but the fact is that we’re not first looking at what is motivating us to change, why it motivates us to change, and how committed we are to making the change. On top of that, we believe that we can change all of these things around us, but that it doesn’t require us to change along with it. You tell yourself, “I’ll just keep doing what I was doing before the change and the changes will happen and everything will work out fine or things will be even better. Right?”
WRONG. Let me say that again. WRONG.
If we want to see change happen in various parts of our life (personal, professional, relationships, financial, etc.) and for the change to last, we have to first change ourselves and evolve into a newer, better version of ourselves that can implement the change and support it so that it lasts.
The same goes for our sales team. If we want to see them change and grow in their roles within our companies (i.e. growth in sales, etc.), they have to first change themselves to grow and evolve and they must have the motivation - the compelling reason - the desire, and the commitment to make the change.
If we aren’t regularly changing and evolving, we’re not growing and progressing to our best self. We stay in comfort zones and get stagnant and we’re left looking back at what could have been, saying to ourselves, "what if…" or "I wish things would have been different."
If you look at your life right now, what areas do you want to make changes?
What Motivates Your Sales Team to Change?
As you look at these areas of change, ask yourself:
- What specifically do I want to change?
- Why do I want to change?
- What happens if I don’t make this change? Am I willing to live with not making the change happen?
- What will it cost me if I don’t make the change? Can I live with that?
- What will it take to make this change?
- How committed am I to making this change?
- What do I need to change about myself to make the change happen and last?
In order to make a change in your life, you must first change yourself.
What are you doing to make this happen?
