Follow Your Passions

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments”
- Jim Rohn

I used to be a sales person for a major clothing retailer back in the nineties. Before I ever took a job there, I was a big fan of their products, and in fact I chose them because I thought I could do a good job selling something I believed so much in. When I began with them, I wasn’t making much more than minimum wage, but I loved my job and my living expenses weren’t too high at that point in my life.

I stood in the front of the store and greeted every customer. I wanted to sell to them, but I wanted to do it in a non-invasive way. I knew that if I could show them why I was so passionate about the way the company treated the customers, and set up its policies around making sure the customer is happy with the quality and value of their purchases, I could have those customers coming back again and again. And I was successful, always finding new ways to communicate with everyone I came in contact with, quickly becoming the top salesperson in the store for several months.

Then a major shift in management and direction took place, both at a high level and locally to my store as well. Without going into details, things rapidly soured and I felt like I could no longer support the customers like I used to, or sell our products to them with the same confidence that they’d have a great experience with them. I began to just go about my daily tasks, doing what was expected and asked but nothing more. I lost my top sales person status, and just remained average. There was nothing wrong with the way I performed – I did what I needed to do to keep things moving and keep my managers satisfied, but it was just going through the motions to earn a paycheck. Eventually, I left, dissatisfied with working in a place I felt that way about.

When I was passionate about my work, I accomplished. When I lost the passion, I was only doing activity. If you’re a sales person and you just say “can I help you”, that customer is going to just shut you down with a “no thanks, just looking”. If you instead introduce yourself, build a relationship, explain how your product can improve their lives, and be genuine and passionate about it, you’ll accomplish great things.

The same translates to all activities. Managers can make sure their people go through the motions and get their work done, but it is leaders that encourage the people they work with have all the tools and opportunities they need to innovate, to feel empowered, and to not be afraid to ask questions that might lead to improvements or opportunities.  We often get so caught up in other things, that the most innocent, inexperienced eyes can see important things we may be missing.

So at the end of the day, I would ask yourself if you have spend your time working towards activities, or working towards accomplishments?  What have you added value to today?  What will you differently tomorrow?