Tag Archives: Leadership

What Sales Professionals Can Learn From the Marines

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The military is very much a top-down, command-and-control environment. It is essential that orders are communicated clearly and with alacrity.

As you can imagine, this style of “battlefield” communication doesn’t always work back at home, which is how I teach vets how to use influence and persuasion – how to “ask” in other words – to get things done when the command and control style isn’t a good fit.

Despite their training – or maybe because of it – our military members make for some of the best ASKERS you can imagine.

Why? They have skills that translate into leadership and sales practices.

WATCH to see what I mean.

Ask for Less and Get Less Done

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Vol. 3, Issue 11

No, that’s not a typo in the headline.

In this post, I’m using a hometown business – TARGET – to illustrate one of the principles of The Asking Formula: WANT ONE THING.

If you, as a leader, can’t focus and choose, how will your team? As a sales or service professional who can’t prioritize, how will you get anything done? With your family, how do you make hard choices and be willing to say “no”? (Maybe that last example is easier.)

As the saying goes: If you chase two rabbits, both will get away.

Watch to see how Target, and you, can focus and be more successful.

Have the Courage to Want ONE Thing

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Vol. 3, Issue 10

“Truth is ever to be found in simplicity and not in multiplicity and confusion of things.”

While that sounds like (another) commentary on pending election news, it’s not – it’s wisdom from Sir Isaac Newton.

Newton, like great orators, people with persuasive skills, and influential leaders know: keep it simple.

They don’t ask for many things or demand listeners to juggle multiple inputs. They know how to NOT become irreverent to listeners.

The lesson is simple, but it takes courage.