Sans Sales
What we can learn from history, psychology and human interaction to help us succeed outside of sales as people leaders
Hello friends-
Quick quiz: without looking these up - can you define these terms heard around High Schools of today? Bonus points if you can use them appropriately in a sentence.
“MID”
“SLAY”
“BUSSIN’”
“SLAPS”
“NO CAP”
“BADDY”
“FIRE”
Thanks to my teenagers, I now know what these terms mean. (Side note: Try using these in a completely incorrect way - and get a better reaction than if you used them correctly).
They have nothing to do with selling, but everything to do with understanding human interaction and communication.
I think that is a good lesson for us. There are many things we can learn from history, sports, relationships, and life in general that will help us in our roles as sales leaders.
In fact - just a few of my favorite “Non-Sales” books that I’d recommend to help sharpen your saw and, in turn help you as a people leader: 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. How to Win Friends & Influence People. Extreme Ownership. Atomic Habits. The Greatest Generation. Killing Lincoln. Essentialism.
That brings us to today. An entire newsletter without a shade of sales tint, that I found pertinent, relevant and insightful the past few weeks. NO CAP.
In this week’s edition of Stretch Weekly -
Riley Jensen talks about the allies (and enemy) of Motivation.
Tony Robbins speaks with historian and demographer Neil Howe about the fascinating patterns of human history and what we can learn for the future.
And don’t miss this week’s sans-sales-snippets to sculpt, shape and sharpen your saw.
THANKS for reading!!
-Grant
And lastly - as always, if you find this newsletter valuable- subscribe or share it with someone who might as well 👊.
STRETCH SHARES
Enemies and Allies to Motivation
I was talking with a sales leader this week about motivation. Specifically about ways to motivate a sales team etc.
I was reminded of a really great article written by my Riley Jensen- a Sports Psychologist, a couple years ago after a conversation with him on the phone about this very same question.
I shared with this sales leader the lesson I learned from Riley about Motivation.
Riley talks about 3 friends of personal motivation:
Autonomy (I choose)
Competence (I can)
Social support (I belong)
But my favorite part of this post - and something that has stuck with me since that conversation a few years back - is that MOTIVATION is fleeting. It’s impossible to always be motivated.
Motivation is like having feelings of happiness, sadness, frustration, disappointment, and excitement. These feelings tend to come and go. It is important to recognize them when they are present, but we certainly can’t expect them to be with us all the time.
Instead - focus on Commitment. Commitment over motivation. Wherever you are at today (90%, 53% motivation etc), give 100% of wherever you are at today.
Commitment shows up long after motivation is gone.
What Past Generations Can Teach Us About Our Future
Fair warning - this episode is about as far from Sales advice as you can get. Its history. Its political. Its a bit speculation.
But…I really liked it. And I think you’ll learn a bit about how to lead your team today, and prepare for the future.
In this episode, Tony Robbins speaks with historian and demographer Neil Howe about the fascinating patterns of human history, as he and co-author William Strauss explained more than two decades ago in Generations (1991) and The Fourth Turning (1997).
If you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or uncertain about all that’s happening in the world, this episode will give you a much-needed shift in perspective. You will understand how cycles of crisis catalyze massive economic, cultural, political, and institutional disruption – and how as a society, we solve problems we never thought we could before.
No storm lasts forever, and this too shall pass. Listen to this episode for Neil’s predictions on how much longer this crisis period will last and what we can look forward to in our beautiful, shared future.
STRETCH SNIPPETS
😎Darius Foroux caught my eye with this well written article on how the simple act of showing up can make you successful.
👟 Since 1984, Michael Jordan has been paid over $1.3 Billion by Nike — making their partnership the richest athlete endorsement in the history of sports. The most interesting part? It almost didn't happen. Joe Pompliano tells the story.
🗣 LOVED this article from Inc.com on 11 Common Words and Phrases People Use but Rarely Ever Mean. Sharpen that vocabulary!
😃 AWESOME article on the power of optimism and how we can train our minds to be more optimistic.
📚 Better your sales skills by studying non-sales things. Andy Paul gives us his top 12 favorite non-sales books. I’d add Good to Great, Essentialism, Never Split the Difference, Atomic Habits, Extreme Ownership, amongst others. You?
🧠 Mindset
Thanks for reading!
My hope is if you find this valuable, consider sharing it with friends (or signing up if you haven’t already).
— Grant 👋
About stretch vp: confessions, learnings, and insights from sales leaders in SaaS
Compiled and aggregated from a network of sales leaders in SaaS, Stretch VP showcases learnings, insights, and experiences as well as best practices to overcome common hurdles, obstacles, and setbacks in your quest for excellence as a sales leader in SaaS.
Are you a VP, Director, thought leader, or content producer in the SaaS space? We’d love to have you contribute. Just reply to this email and I’ll be in touch.
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