How Achievers Handle Today's Harsh Realities

Job cuts, political unrest, wars, wild financial market swings, totalitarian governments, budget cutbacks, demanding customers, health care reform, fierce competition, low margins, shrinking markets and heavy workloads. How can we have a great week when we are concerned about these things on Monday morning and every morning?  One way, is to think and act like the people I refer to in my best selling book (Wake Up and Smell the Competition) as Achievers. The purpose of today's MMM - is to inspire you to become an Achiever.  

The Achiever

Let me The "Achievers" of this world are the true masters of excellence. They make great salespeople, superb managers, and excellent customer service people. They tend to achieve success in whatever they do, not only because of their enthusiasm, but because of their belief in themselves.  
           
Achievers make great team players because they encourage others to achieve. They manage to focus on the positive in everyone they encounter, and bring out the best in others because they know that doing so; it benefits everyone in their company or on their team in many untold ways. Being in the same room can easily transmit their positive energy to others. Positive attitude and determination are the ammunition they use to cope during these tough times. They know that a positive mind-set combined with the energy and enthusiasm they put into their work determines their success.
 
Achievers know that today, they don't need titles to be viewed as organizational leaders. They know their companies need their ideas  and solutions to problems and put forth extraordinary effort to come up with them. Challenge is something they thrive on, because they feel a sense of accomplishment of having conquered a difficult task, landing a new account in a tough economy, or participating in a successful team project. After attending a seminar, they head back to the office and implement the ideas they have learned.  
          
Even though times are tough, they consistently strive to be more than they are and perform at their highest level at the most crucial times. Achievers are adept at acquiring whatever skills they need, but their true edge comes from making each small accomplishment or victory spur them to greater ambition. Here is another characteristic I find in Achievers: they accept full responsibility how they choose to react to these tough times and find ways to manage their stress.    
         
Achievers have learned to do their best no matter what is occurring around them because their values dictate that they must. That's why every company today needs them. They are the people who win new customers, in spite of how hard or long they have to work to win a sale.  They are the ones who will not only correct a problem for a customer and exceed customer expectations, but will recommend what action the company should take to prevent the problem from recurring.  They are the ones who make great managers because they recognize whose job it is to keep their people motivated in today's tough business climate - theirs. 
 
What a group! We need more Achievers to sell our products, serve customers exceptionally well, head up teams, become mentors to others, and inspire others to excel in spite of today's harsh realities. Are you an Achiever?

With thanks to Christine Corelli!