I’m one hell of a sales manager. I know it. I have the record and credentials that few can match and many would be proud to claim. I am not a playing coach. I would never want Bobby Knight playing guard on my basketball team, but I would kill to have him on my bench coaching. I am not much better player of my game than Knight was of his. But we are students of our individual games and have spent years observing, developing our motivational skills and practicing techniques designed to get the most out of the talent we’ve been able to recruit. We know the tactics, strategies and mechanics of achieving our goals and with a coach’s perspective can win much of the time through the efforts of others.
There are hundred of nuances to winning, but just a very few basics. The most important are having players willing to play and having opponents to challenge you. If a player’s heart in not in the “game,” there is virtually nothing you can do to engage him into the challenge of winning. And even if you are blessed with enthusiastic players they can only ascend to the level of competition with which they are presented. When you play against the worst, you can work hard and become the best of the worst. Or you find ways to play against the best and aspire for the obvious goal. But above all, you must “show up.”
