Starting the Year
The coach of 1983 national college basketball champion N.C. State, Jim Valvano will forever be remembered for two famous speeches. The first came at Reynolds Coliseum, in which he gave his "Don't give up, don't ever give up" quotation. The second came during the 1993 ESPYs after a teleprompter informed Valvano that he had 30 seconds to wrap up a speech. "They got that screen up there flashing 30 seconds, like I care about that screen," Valvano said. "I got tumors all over my body and I'm worried about some guy in the back going 30 seconds." He closed the speech by saying, "Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. And those three things are going to carry on forever." He died less than two months later.
What is your legacy? What will it be one day? How can you make this year your best ever – personally and professionally? In Jimmy V’s 1993 ESPY speech, he shares several key ideas that are important to us regardless of what we do every day, and especially relevant to us as salespeople and sales leaders. Here are a few of his most simple and important messages:
- Be enthusiastic every day…Smile. People buy from people they like. Are you that person who brightens the room when you enter it, or the one who makes the room brighter when you leave? Do what it takes for you to get excited about that call, that meeting, that report, or whatever it is you’re doing. Many consider the 1983 Valvano-led N.C. State championship victory to be the greatest underdog story in sports history. They were not supposed to have any chance to beat heavily favored Houston. Don’t you think Valvano’s relentless enthusiasm had something to do with his team’s belief and ultimately their execution in defying the odds?
- Practice your message and be willing to work. In his ESPY’s speech, Jimmy V. talked about the pre-game speech he gave to his team before the first game he ever coached. He practiced his message over and over again in the hallway outside the locker room. Then he delivered it and completely screwed it up. He was very nervous because he cared so much. He went on (after much practice) to deliver some of the most inspirational speeches of all time. No matter how good we are, we’re all better when we practice. Put time and energy into your craft and be even better this year.
- Laugh, think, and cry each day. On laughing - most of us take ourselves way too seriously. Have fun at work. On thinking - spend a couple minutes at the beginning or end of each day working on your business instead of in your business. Consider Google, one of the most forward thinking companies of our time, which encourages its engineers to spend 20% of each day “thinking” and working on a project they’re very passionate about. On crying - while we will not necessarily advise that you cry in each of your client interactions every day; we do believe that connecting emotionally (which sometimes leads to tears) and truly understanding the emotional motives that drive client and prospect decisions will lead to stronger relationships and more success.
Experience Jim Valvano’s enthusiasm and his version of these simple, important ideas. It’s worth the 11 minutes and 15 seconds and a great way to inspire you as we begin the new year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E&feature=related
Be enthusiastic and smile; practice and work hard; and laugh, think, and cry each day…on your way to a big, successful year ahead.