That’s Going To Leave A Mark!

OUCH!

I played quite a bit of racquetball in college.  I loved that game.  It was fast paced, easy to learn and great exercise.

I preferred racquetball over tennis primarily for two reasons:

1. Even a novice could keep a volley going if playing someone of relatively equal skill.
2. When you hit a really bad shot you didn’t have to leave the court to find the ball that you had launched over the fence

After a while, I began to seek out players whose skill level was superior to mine.  I looked for those who were quick and were great at placing their shots in strategic places.  As a rule, they could also hit their shots so hard that the resulting “BANG”  as they made contact was sometimes startling to me.  I knew that playing those people would raise my level of play.  So I was willing to suffer through a little bit of frustration (and sometimes humiliation) in order to improve.

One of my favorite people to play was a fraternity brother of mine named Howard.  He was a few years older than me, a great trombone player, and a larger than life figure in my eyes.  He was also one of the nicest people I knew.

“In sales leadership, we all leave our mark.”

Howard was strong and big – and could hit a racquetball so hard that you could hear the sound three counties over!

There were a few times when Howard would hit the ball – and a millisecond later I would feel this sharp and painful stinging sensation in my… well, uh.  The ball had hit me squarely in the gluteus maximus!

Howard always felt bad when it happened.  Not as bad as me, I suppose.  And he would almost always say, “Oh… That’s gonna leave a mark!”

He was correct of course.  The ball left a big bruise on my… well, uh, you know.  But more importantly, Howard left a mark as well because of what a great guy he was.

In sales leadership positions, we all leave our mark.  And just like playing racquetball with Howard – some marks are good, and some are a pain in the… well, you know.

What kind of marks are you leaving?  We will discuss that more over the next couple of days.

QUESTION:

What type of legacy do you want to leave to your sales team?