SalesForceXP: November/December 2007 Coverstory: Success Is More Than Showing Up

FEATURESTORY

Success Is More Than Showing Up – But That’s An Important First Step

by Paul Nolan

“How you organize your view of the future has an awful lot to do with what happens in it,” says Watts Wacker. “Optimists have pretty good futures. Pessimists have pretty bad futures.

Interestingly, they do have the same things happen to them.” In his usual rat-a-tat-tat manner, Wacker then rips off four things that bring success to people in work and in life:

You have to show up. Wayne Gretzy says you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take. Woody Allen says 80 percent of life is just showing up. But in the world today, showing up is like a C minus. It’s not enough.

Bring your “A” game every day. To do that, you have to find what inspires you personally and make that more of your life every day.

Speak your truth. If you’re doing the first two and not speaking your truth, then shame on you. Say what you mean and do what you say.

Invest in the process, not just the outcome. You can only tell people what you know when you’re talking; you can only learn when you’re listening. Invest in the process instead of having to feel like you’re the one who has to have the best ideas.
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Later during our interview, Wacker offered a thought that we’re counting as the fifth thing that can help bring success:

Service recovery is a shortcoming of most companies, particularly in their sales function. In the world we’re living in today, it’s better to be wrong and fix it than to strive to be perfect. People expect mistakes. As Miles Davis said, “When you hit the wrong note, it’s the next note that makes it good or bad.”