“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Back in the day, people pursued mastery–maybe in an art they had a natural talent or interest in or a trade passed through the generations. In anything from shoe cobbling to martial arts, people strove to be the best and took pride in their work.
In the age of factories and mass production, we have lost the need (in some ways) to have such specific skills in trades. And thus, the mark of excellence comes in the form of a swoosh symbol instead of a row of precise, handmade stitches.
But, whatever our pursuit, there is still a joy in being better today than yesterday. There is still a personal satisfaction that comes with striving each day to reach your potential–whether as a street sweeper or a new home sales professional.
In addition to personal satisfaction, there are other benefits that come with pursuing mastery. More sales, for example. Don’t you think people are more likely to buy from the sales pro who openly treats her role as the art of solving customers’ mission than the one down the street who treats it like a task to get through before they can get home to dinner?
Speaking of dinner–we’re about to have a master chef in the family. My wife is going to school for culinary arts. I have a feeling my life’s about to change–and it may involve bigger belts and new suits.
How would your life change if you treated the art of selling with the kind of reverence Dr. King described? Share your comments below.
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Contributed by Jason Forrest
Jason Forrest (named one of 2012′s Top Young Trainers for Training Magazine–a national, industry-wide publication) is an expert at creating high-performance sales cultures through complete training programs. He incorporates experiential learning (rather than theory) to increase sales, implement cultural accountability, and transform builders into sales organizations that build homes. A sales professional at heart, Forrest is the author of Creating Urgency in a Non-Urgent Housing Market and 40-Day Sales Dare for New Home Sales. As a consultant for many of the leading homebuilders in the United States, Canada, and Australia, Forrest’s competitive distinction is his behavior-modification approach (which focuses on people, process, and presentation) and his focus on culture change. Learn about our new home sales training programs at http://www.forrestperformancegroup.com.
