“Win-Learn-Grow." That’s the tag line of the National Sales Conference I attended a couple of weeks ago. It's about inspiring and motivating individuals to do more, much more than increasing sales. The high-level speakers had hundreds of nuggets that got me thinking. Here are a few I thought you would be interested in.
1. To grow and develop our businesses we all need to build rapport and connect with others; whether that’s the team or a prospective client or a supplier. Using some research that reviewed a few TED Talks Jim Steele highlighted it might not as difficult as we think. Here are the suggested ‘4 secrets of a great TED Talk’.
Its not just about what you say – its about the say you say it.
‘Jazz hands’ are important for attention grabbing and point making, be careful of your body language. Is it revealing more that it should?
Smile it makes you smarter. Fact – people who are open and confident enough to smile on stage or in a presentation are seen as being smart.
You have to get your message over in the first 7 seconds.
2. Don’t sell the product or service, sell a better future. Richard Newman walked us through the power of storytelling in getting others to do something you want them to do. A story always needs 3 things: characters, challenge and a jounrey. By putting the other person in the centre of their own epic and yourself as the mentor, they become the hero and then are more inclined to take amazing action. How can we help others become the Hero?
3. Recovery is everything in high performing teams.
A panel of experts including a gold medalist team captain, a female fighter pilot and a MD of a multi-national manufacturer gave examples of how they recover to improve performance
The DESK Policy – Diet, Exercise, Sleep and Kindness.
Friday is ‘give back to yourself’ day – spend time on you.
Keep communication channels open but spend some time apart.
Check in with mind, body and soul.
4. Devolve the power and get the team to build the plan/ take action/ do
This was the theme of a couple of sessions from Peter Docker (Coauthor of Start with Why - Simon Sinek) and Kate Walsh (GB Gold medal Olympic hockey captain). In Peter’s new book “Leading from the jump seat” he talks about how the following 3 things will get people to act…
Commitment – what lights the fire within others
Humble confidence – we don’t need to know all the answers
Belonging – nurture the feeling of belong so people want to be with you and your business
5. Fighter pilot Mandy Hutchison said “Control the controllable”. Good advice in general but she also went on to suggest that you should look at threats with the following structure
What – facts
Why – Cause
How – Cure
6. Remember you don’t have to do what everyone else does.
Learning, networking, and connecting with likeminded people – my idea of heaven. The day refreshed me, inspired me and got me thinking about how I was going to WIN-LEAR-GROW. If you fancy going next year – give me a shout we can drive up together.