“Let me tell you about the very rich, they are different from you and me…” F. Scott Fitzgerald
There are two parts in viewing the rich. Yes the rich have more money, by definition, which tends to allow them to live different regarding many of the rules regular and poor people have to follow. This means that simple challenges others face are not for them: How do I research something that I can’t go and visit, How do I meet that person of influence, etc.
Lack of access to the money that can get you out of an emergency is one definition often used for poverty. When in a crisis do you have a friend or family member that could lend you $2,000 to get you out? If so you are likely not poor. When my wife and I were doing non-profit work there would be regular conversations about whether we were poor, yes we were a dual master degree family living below the poverty line, but as we finally demonstrated at any point we knew that we had the means and connections to relieve ourselves from the circumstance. This is not true for people in poverty.
On a layer different the rich are exactly the same as every other human being, same problems, hang ups and often their riches only make the flaws in their personality worse. Take care of those items regardless of your stature or rank. Often my experience has been that the rich are more isolated from others and the community around them.
Trust that good is available to transform you so that rich or poor you are living as the person you have been created. Also know that the rich are same as you.
Something happens to me as the days get longer. I’m finally aware of it after the past few years it becoming extremely noticeable. My goal was always to be steady, keep up a baseline of work and activity so that regardless of external factors, I know that I kept what I could in control.
Then there is a shift, both related to waking up and getting out of bed, but also in regards to my thoughts and creativity. The energy of the spring changes the way that I engage the world. At first, I thought it was just coincidence and that other factors in my life provided this energy. The explanation seems reasonable. Now after the fourth year of this change I’m embracing it, the slow pace of fall and winter begins to transition into a flurry of activity. This physical response has helped me better understand the world of liturgy and why spirituality is broken into seasonal expressions by most major religions.
Ecclesiastes 3 1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every [a]event under heaven—
2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. 5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. 6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
Writing becomes easier, thoughts flow thru more…leaving me excited for this season and the work that is before me.
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. -Margaret Atwood
Yesterday while running through the park yesterday I ran past this art and was reminded of a simple mental exercise regarding sales. Follow with me for a moment:
Which of these to chairs represents the salesperson and the client?
There is no correct answer but the way you answer may reveal a great deal about how you think of salespeople. If you are a salesperson it may reveal how you think about yourself. In an ideal world the chairs would be the same size and it would be two experts working together for their common good. There are also times to humble oneself, when providing hospitality or after a mistake that may lead to an discrepancy. There have been moments where I have remembered this image and thought to myself, which one do I feel like right now…and is that okay?
Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman, not the attitude of the prospect.
There are a number of models of success in the localization industry.
Each day billions of people use products they would otherwise not have access to because of the translator or editor and supporting services.
Global companies continue to drive higher revenues worldwide, often outside the country that the company was originally founded in.
An author gets his book out to an audience that doesn’t speak his native language.
Communities are being connected and the localization industry has a continued opportunity to onboard new groups of people to this exciting connected world we live in. Through this work we share in the beauty of the worlds growing diversity, and language is at the core of it.
If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. -Nelson Mandela
Today we put our the latest episode of our podcast, Episode 010: What about Sales, from Globally Speaking. www.globallyspeakingradio.com or you can listen and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Google Play (USA or Canada), Stitcher, or via RSS. This inspired me to share a story that tells you how hard it is to do sales, which is something I am passionate about.
A few years ago before the localization industries primary trade show, LocWorld, I sent a note to a friend that I saw was going to be in attendance, offering to show him around town since the show was in Seattle. It had been a few years since I had connected with this friend and former client, so I thought it would be great to catch up. Surprisingly, to me, there was no response.
On the second night of the show we are at a bar and I see this friend I reached out to at the same bar with his colleagues enjoying a drink. The bar was closing, and I went up to see how he was doing. After some small talk he said, “You’re from here, where can we get another drink?” I had my car and offered to take them to another bar I knew would be open and fun. So we went out to my car, the four of us squeezing into a small two door car, once everyone was in I locked the door and asked, “No one is getting out of the car until I found out why you didn’t respond to my email.” There was laughter, but I did not move or start the car as everyone looked around.
Finally my friend went to explain that he had received no less then 400 emails or LinkedIn InMail before the conference. Some were offering him “10% less then his current prices, guaranteed.” He then apologized, under the threat of never getting out of my car, and went on to explain how it was impossible to separate the signal from the noise in such circumstances…so he just shut off.
Not only was it fun to reconnect with an old friend, but he insight was shocking to me. How do you distinguish yourself when people have shut off because there is too much noise? How do you respect a person’s desire to not be bother but also let them know that you are thinking about them? This is the work and the art of sales, each person and company are unique but the principles you have in place to tackle this obstacle are key in your success.
Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the prospect.
The existence of this tool is far overrated. Often in strategy meetings adding that one tool is the over simplified solution for an extremely complex problem, and it is no surprise that it often does not work.
Few things work as well as compound interest. This goes for money and showing up every day to the work before you. Constantly doing your job, regularly and steadily improving small bits that can improve the whole.
For those not paying attention success does look like a silver bullet was discovered, an overnight sensation discovered, and all the lonely days practicing in the garage or at empty shows are forgotten because of the success. For those who accomplish it, they remember all the work and failure that provided the foundation for the win. Once it is achieved it means you have to go out there and do it all over again.
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”
There are risks involved in your job. For some, such as police and firefighters, the over all daily risk of death is much higher then others. Being an Olympic Athlete is not a job generally thought of as high risk for death, and yet this week Ryan Lochte was held up at gunpoint while in Rio. The details seem sketchy and this could end up going strange directions, but the fact remains that many of us do not have regular threats on our lives in daily work or even when we travel for work.
I’m grateful for the peace that I experience on a daily basis and I also am grateful for those who put themselves in harms way intentionally for the sake of others. So the next time you take a cab or Uber and end up at the destination without being robbed, say a little thanks.
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
In The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, there is case study after case study on how organizations unwritten rules led to crisis at the time when the organization needed to function optimally. The King’s Cross fire in the Underground is one example where all those in authority were occupied with their kingdoms and no one was focused on rider safety costing 31 passengers their lives.
Every organization functions with a “common grace” approach that keeps rivalries in check and the orders shipped. During crisis is when the unwritten functional rules of the organization can be re-examined, when great scrutiny is on the operation unproductive power structures can be address. It is even said that in some crisis great leaders prolong the crisis in order to get the greatest positive effect of the change. Great wisdom is required to pull that off.
Is it possible to address this change without the crisis?
“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”
When I first entered sales my goal was about using the phone to get in front of potential customers, after years in non-profit world I returned to something very different. Web meetings, conference calls had taken the place of most in person meetings, much of the sales process was done this way and I had to learn a new set of skills.
One interesting I have found after doing this for awhile. When it comes to new sales the likelihood of winning goes up when I meet folks face to face. As I have talked with others about this I found that it holds true for them, so it’s not just my in person charm.
People still buy from people, the more human experiences are…the better they are for everyone involved. With that enjoy the inspiration from David Brent today!
There’s no lotion or potion that will make sales faster and easier for you – unless your potion is hard work.
This podcast was a lot of fun, and the first that we recorded with my good friend Teresa Marshall. She is a rockstar for getting on the podcast with little to know idea of what we were doing and whether it would be good or not. We will have to have her back at some point as we seem to be finding a groove!
As we sat with the content, we wanted to bring in a few others to discuss. So another dear friend in the industry Oleksandr “Alex” Pysaryuk joined us to weigh in on his experience with the Unconference. There was more editing work then we have had on any of our other podcasts and hopefully the effort will have been worth it.
Something happens to me as the days get longer. I’m finally aware of it after the past few years it becoming extremely noticeable. My goal was always to be steady, keep up a baseline of work and activity so that regardless of external factors, I know that I kept what I could in control.
Yesterday while running through the park yesterday I ran past this art and was reminded of a simple mental exercise regarding sales. Follow with me for a moment:
Today we put our the latest episode of our podcast, Episode 010: What about Sales, from Globally Speaking. 
The existence of this tool is far overrated. Often in strategy meetings adding that one tool is the over simplified solution for an extremely complex problem, and it is no surprise that it often does not work.
There are risks involved in your job. For some, such as police and firefighters, the over all daily risk of death is much higher then others. Being an Olympic Athlete is not a job generally thought of as high risk for death, and yet this week 
In 
Web Theologian 