Entries from October 2007 ↓

Few people epitomize the art of being accomplished more than Tiger Woods and the game of golf. He is now 31. He putted with Bob Hope on the Mike Douglas show when he was 2. When he was 3 he shot a 48 over 9 holes of golf. He was on the cover of Golf Digest when he was 5. He has a lifetime of practicing and competing. But he’s only 31.

Being young doesn’t mean a person is inexperienced. Tiger has almost 30 years of golfing experience. He’s accomplished. Of course, he’s extraordinarily talents, but if you give most people 30 years of quality experience - at anything - you’ll likely get a person who is accomplished.

For Tiger the key may have been starting early. Head starts almost always benefit us. The earlier we can begin a quality quest toward accomplishment (of anything), the greater the chance we’ll soon become accomplished. We may never be Tiger Woods great - but being accomplished isn’t about being the very best. It’s about being very good. An expert. The world is full of expert golfers who have never won any PGA event.

We tend to become accomplished at things that interest us. Video games, website design, writing, speaking, selling, accounting, sailing, hunting, driving, reading - name the activity and it’s possible to become accomplished. Being accomplished requires time, experience and quality practice.

Discover your passion as soon as possible.

Chase it hard.

Find a good coach/mentor.

Be patient. Give it time.

Practice, practice, practice.

Don’t quit too soon. Sometimes success happens just as you think you’re failing.

Think of it. If you’re unable to do something today (let’s say playing a musical instrument), but you start today - by taking lessons, practicing daily and learning all you can - within a few years you could be accomplished at it. Good enough to get a recording contract? Likely not, but good enough to be considered by everybody who hears you - as accomplished. Capable, even expert.

The few years is where we trip up. “You mean I can’t be accomplished by the end of the week?” We’ve grown so used to compressing time that our patience is shot. We’ve little patience for anything. Rarely, do we put ourselves into a position to see the value of the sacrifice necessary.

If we practice the piano every day - so we can become an accomplished piano player - we’ll miss some of our favorite TV shows. We’ll miss hanging out with our friends. We’ll miss lots of things.

So I guess the conclusion is that we’ll become accomplished at those things that mean enough to us. Enough that we feel they’re worth the sacrifice.

The price you pay for accomplishment is whatever you’re willing to give up so you can reach a place where you’re considered “accomplished.”

Addendum added 10/12/2007

Read this somewhat related article on “The Einstein Principle: Accomplish More By Doing Less.”

Thanks to Dumb Little Man for directing me to that article.

Bad guys always wear black hats. At least they wear dark hats. You rarely see a bad guy wearing a white or light-colored hat. Just doesn’t fit.

The Yankees are a love-’em or hate-’em team. Those who hate them vow they all wear black hats. They’re bad guys to those who hate them. Me? I’m indifferent. I don’t care about the Yankees one way or the other. But I don’t care about baseball either - until this time of year. And even now I don’t care who wins or loses. I just like the drama of playoff baseball. At least this time of year there is drama.

I’m not that indifferent to management/ownership styles. Enter Yankees’ owner George Steinbrenner and his team’s manager, Joe Torre. Of Torre Mr. S made some public comments.

“His job is on the line,” Steinbrenner told the Bergen (N.J.) Record in Sunday’s editions. “I think we’re paying him a lot of money. He’s the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don’t think we’d take him back if we don’t win this series.”

Mr. Steinbrenner is quite literally Joe Torre’s boss. Steinbrenner likely loves being called “The Boss.” I wonder how Bruce Springsteen feels about that. Pay me $7 million a year and I’ll call you anything you like.

To be fair, Torre has delivered 4 World Series Championships to George over the past 13 seasons. He’s never failed to make the playoffs, but these are the Yankees and making the playoffs is no barometer for success in New York.

Tonight Torre’s team faced another first round knockout for the 3rd consecutive year. Was it proper or beneficial for Steinbrenner to make that statement to the press?

I say, “Sure. Why not?”

One, Torre is a professional. He’s a seasoned veteran. Steinbrenner has never been a pat-you-on-the-back type of owner. He’s quite capable of being a jerk. But I’d imagine Torre can also be a jerk. We all can. And George writes the check. Like it or not, writing checks gives people license to behave badly - or in ways unapproved by some. Torre’s bank account has benefited from working for Mr. S. There’s a stick dangling that carrot, Joe.

Two, Torre knows exactly what’s going on. He’s been with Mr. S for 13 seasons. Torre’s responses to the comments tell you he knows the score. It’s just part of the gig. You get the $7 million annually - and you get criticized. Joe knows.

Three, Mr. S has never been shy to speak his mind. He doesn’t care if people agree or disagree. He’s part of the fabric of New York and he knows that puts him in a different light than owners in other markets. New Yorkers don’t soft-peddle anything. George is a New Yorker.

Four, (and this is really the point) teams thrive on bunker-mentality. Steinbrenner is like all good bosses. He’s willing to wear the black hat. He’s willing to be the bad guy. Somebody has to be that guy. George has no problem being that guy. He’s not part of the club house. He’s not on the team. He owns the team. If the team needed to climb in the bunker, George knew it was now. They were on the verge of being swept by Cleveland. So, if George was going to exert the pressure - he choose his time wisely (you could even argue that he should have done it one game sooner). If these players need to hate somebody - George put himself out there.

You may not like Mr. S. You may not like the Yankees. You may love them both. I don’t care. I just know that sometimes it’s vital for the boss to be the bad-guy who challenges the group to dig it out. Torre can’t do it. He’s too close. More often than not the direct supervisor can’t openly challenge the group without risking the group turning on him. Sometimes the guy upstairs has to do it. Mr. S is willing to do that for his group. Some bosses aren’t. And groups aren’t better for it.

Praise and back-patting are fine. I applaud those actions. I think success should be celebrated and freely confess that most organizations do a pathetic job of it. It’s easier to criticize. But, I also know that hand-clapping won’t win championships. Accountability will. It’s true in professional baseball or professional selling. It’s true in professional health-care or transportation. Name it, and it’s true. You can either clap your hands and applaud a losing effort or you can encourage accountability - and make it stick - and enjoy success.

Soft-bellied management gurus preach touchy-feely stuff. When I lift the championship trophy and shove it in your losing face, I’ll yell, “Touch this!” When people excel, I think the celebration should be tremendous. But when people fail to perform up to their ability, fur should fly. Lowered expectations and the ready acceptance of poor performance will never generate success.

Tonight the Yankees lost in game 4 to the Cleveland Indians. Three consecutive years of post-season failure. Torre should be fired. Build a bridge and get over it. Crap happens. Joe, you should have done a better post-season job. Time for a change.

A brash, loud-mouthed owner made a public comment to the press to put pressure on his team, the highest paid in the sport - and on his manager, the highest paid in the sport. Did it help? I don’t know, but I know it did not hurt!

If you want the bucks, you get all the crap that goes with it. There’s always a downside. Besides, Torre may have worn out his welcome after 13 seasons anyway. Every group needs a change at leadership every now and then. Teams stop listening to the same voice year after year. Not just in baseball.

Every organization needs a person willing to play the role of Black (maybe Yankee Navy) Bart. That doesn’t mean the person is a jerk, but it does mean it’s a person with the willingness and ability to do what must be done, say what must be said - all without fear or favor. In this case, New Yorkers and Yankee fans everywhere would be disgusted if Mr. S had such low passion about his team that he quietly sat by while they faced elimination again. He’s competitive. And he expects his team to be competitive. I don’t blame him. He’s writing the checks. And he hates to lose.

Tomorrow morning he’ll be searching for a new manager. Don’t feel sorry for Torre. He walks away with some terrific parting gifts.

I’m a fan of Steven Johnson. He wrote, “Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter.” He’s written other stuff, but I’ve only read that one, and some articles he’s written. Bright guy.

Some time ago I saw a video of a presentation he gave at TED about his book on the London cholera epidemic of 1854. It was a fascinating presentation and it piqued my interest in the book. Now the book is available in paperback. And the publisher has produced perhaps the coolest website ever done for a book. I plan to go buy a copy and begin reading it soon.

This is from the inside flap of the book:

It is the summer of 1854. Cholera has seized London with unprecedented intensity. A metropolis of more than 2 million people, London is just emerging as a one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure necessary to support its dense population - garbage removal, clean water, sewers - the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease no one knows how to cure.

As their neighbors begin dying, two men are spurred to action: the Reverend Henry Whitehead, whose faith in a benevolent God is shaken by the seemingly random nature of the victims, and Dr. John Snow, whose ideas about contagion have been dismissed by the scientific community, but who is convinced that he knows how the disease is being transmitted. In a riveting day-by-day account, The Ghost Map chronicles the outbreak’s spread and the desperate efforts to put an end to the epidemic - and solve the most pressing medical riddle of the age.

The Ghost Map is the chilling story of urban terror, but it is also a story of how scientific understanding can advance in the most hostile of environments. In a triumph of dynamic, multidisciplinary thinking, Steven Johnson examines the epidemic from the microbial level to the human level to the urban level. Brilliantly illuminating the intertwined histories of the spread of disease, the rise of cities, and the nature of scientific inquiry, Johnson presents both vivid history and a powerful, provocative explanation of how it has shaped the world we live in.

Death. It can happen when you’re laying down. Or when you’re walking.

Of course, you could also be sitting, squatting, kneeling, standing or any number of other postures seemingly unassociated with dying.

I suppose more people die lying down than in another other position. Sick beds, injured people. But we’re bombarded with advice to “not take that lying down.” It signifies that we need to get to our feet as quickly as possible. Death may come if we don’t.

Somebody, somewhere has probably studied the positions of death. No, I didn’t Google it, or Ask it. Too lazy. Sue me. My guess is most people leave this life flat on their back. Which is why I guess we signify giving up with being put on your back, or being knocked down. Death is the ultimate give up. But I suspect people don’t often have a choice in the matter.

We don’t much care to think about, or talk about - death. Morbid. Depressing.

But death is part of life and it will happen to all of us. It’s unavoidable. Positive thinking, great mental attitudes, physical fitness - none of these things will stave off death. Death will still come get you. You’ll just feel more positive, or be in better shape than most. You’ll still be dead.

I’m not terribly concerned with the posture of death, but I do wonder if I’ll be laying down or walking or “fill in the blank.” I might be sitting in a car behind the wheel, or kneeling by the side of the road changing a tire, or on the stair machine at the gym. Maybe I’ll be laying on the leg press machine. Or laying down, reading in bed. Maybe I’ll be sitting at my desk at work. Or sitting in a chair watching a football game, or a hockey game, or Ghost Whisperer.

It doesn’t much matter. I don’t suppose death is more comfortable laying down than walking on a treadmill. I could be wrong, but I’m not signing up for that death study. As I Lay Dying versus Dead Man Walking simply addresses the posture, perhaps the activity at the time death happens. Will we be doing nothing, or something? That’s really what got me thinking of these two book titles. Doing something. Doing nothing.

Since death will come no matter what - we can decide to be doing something before death comes, or we can decide to do nothing. As I Lay Dying speaks to the expectation of death. Waiting. Laying around - waiting. Dead Man Walking speaks to the expectation of death without the waiting. Keep on going even though you know what’s coming.

As I Lay Dying may seem more profound - and Faulkner was an exceptional writer. But I’ll take Dead Man Walking, please. Not as a book - but as a better course of life, while we all wait for death to come tap us on the shoulder and tell us, “It’s time.”

I work out every day. For the past few weeks I’ve amped up the intensity and weight. I needed to be sore again. You know, no pain - no gain. Or, soreness is the weakness leaving your body. All those cliches.

The muscles between my shoulder blades began to twitch (and be sore) over a week ago. They’ll settle down every now and then, but the twitching is pretty regular. Technically it’s called fasciculation. I had to look that up. It wasn’t something on the tip of my tongue.

Over-exertion (my problem) is a cause. Lack of magnesium is another. Stress yet another. I likely have two of these factors working for/against me.

It’s annoying more than anything else. There don’t seem to be any comfortable positions for sitting or laying down. Rest, sleep in particular, is just about non-existent. I should probably take a few days off, but that’s not likely to happen.

My remedy plan is:

- Keep drinking tons of water
- Do more cardio (so boring)
- Keep taking my vitamins
(I don’t think a lack of magnesium is really the issue for me)
- Rest my shoulders and back for a few days
- Take 2 Aleve in the morning and at bedtime (anti-inflammatory)
- Avoid caffeine during the evening (4 hours before bedtime)
- Pop a couple of Benadryl about an hour before bedtime

Will it work? I’ll let you know.

“Gloom, despair, and agony on me. Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me.”

“We figured she was rich, loaded to the hilt. And we figured she had class like the Vanderbilts. ‘Cause we had heard for years how she was so well reared. How was we to know they meant the way she was built.”

“Gloom, despair, and agony on me. Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all. Gloom, despair, and agony on me.”

Buck Owens and Roy Rogers wrote that song and it was performed every week on Hee-Haw, a TV show unknown to anybody under 45. Funny, though. Entertaining. Corny. Intentionally so.

Despair is hopelessness. Self-pity isn’t despair. Neither are particularly inviting, but they’re not equal. I know plenty of people who are accomplished at self-pity. But they’re hopeful. Some are hopeful things will grow worse - so they can complain and wallow in deeper self-pity. I’m hopeful for them, too. I hope they get their wish. I just want them to be happy in their misery. They deserve it.

Everybody has bad days. Sometimes bad days go terribly bad. Usually, in retrospect they’re not bad at all. Just frustrating. But I’ve seen people embrace despair - hopelessness - when it’s clear that things are far from hopeless. They just can’t see it. It’s like one of those puzzles where a person’s face is hidden in a pencil drawing and you’re searching for it. Once you see it, you can’t avoid seeing it. It sticks out like neon sign. Unavoidable, once you spot it. Some people have such poor mental strength - coping skills, whatever you want to call it - that once things go bad, they just can’t rebound, quickly. All they see is that hidden face in the big picture - they don’t see the big picture any more.

Days of pity follow. Days of misery. Lost opportunities to live. Lost opportunities to embrace what really matters.

We’ve all done it. I’ve done it. I’m doing it now. Sitting in a place where I’d rather not be, but I’m “here” because I don’t particularly want to be “there.” About 8 hours ago I almost got in the car to embark on a 200 trek east, one-way. The thought crossed my mind to visit a place I’ve not been in many years. The thought reoccurred to me about 3 hours. But the thought of making the return drive defeated the notion, so I came “here” - so I didn’t have to be “there.”

Get it?

Of course you don’t. Because it makes no sense whatsoever. That’s the point. Clear thinking often abandons us when things suck. Not always. But sometimes. Clear thinking alludes me today. As it did last night. As it did yesterday. As it may later today. Time will tell. The weekend is just beginning.

Despair? No. I’m hopeful this will pass. I know it will. Just a little hacked at the lost time. Hacked that this is the third weekend in a row that sucks. Just plain hacked. You’ve been there. We’ve all been there. It’s part of that proverbial “human condition.” Proving that we indeed are human! Today, I’m wearing the T-shirt.

Passion. Emotions. They show we care. Sometimes they show we’re stupid, immature and unable to cope well. They can fuel us. They can wreck us.

Mental health the Hee-Haw Way is okay - for a brief period. Feeling badly, self-pity and all the other negative feelings are okay in my non-professional opinion, as long as don’t let them camp out too long. But for me, the Hee-Haw Way means laughing - finding the humor in your own idiocy. Some of us have lots to laugh about.

Today will pass. Yesterday did. And like yesterday, today will likely be a complete waste. That’s the saddest part of this deal. Time wasted. But, you can’t be happy and gleeful every day. I could use a good rain storm today. Accompanied by golf-ball-sized hail. It would make my day complete.

I don’t know how many “motivational” speeches are delivered in America every single day. It’s a very large number though. One speakers bureau has over 4000 motivational speakers. Fees range from $2000 to well over $20,000 for a single speech. And that’s just one speaking bureau. I can’t even count how many bureaus there are, much less how many speakers there are. Or how many speeches they’re delivering every year.

I’m a reader. Business is a game that I find particularly intriguing. So, I read a lot of business books each year. My library, which gets purged pretty regularly, consists of thousands of volumes of books about business. Many of the authors of those books are also speakers. Their books gave them credibility and propelled them onto the stage to deliver speeches about their books - or the subject matter of their books. Many are better at writing than speaking. Many shouldn’t be tossed into that “motivational” genre. For example, Stephens Levitt and Dubner co-wrote “Freakonimics.” It’s a terrific thought-provoking books. They’re on the speaking circuit, but it’s more of a lecture than a seminar and it’s certainly isn’t of the motivational ilk. Tom Peters is another business guru who conveys his latest observations in lectures or speeches. I exclude these types of speakers from what I consider the more traditional business or personal development seminars. They convey information and provoke thought. Sometimes that leads to changes in behavior, but sometimes the content of the speech or lecture is the reward.

Seminars are given on just about everything imaginable. How to seminars teach us about Excel, PowerPoint or other computer programs. They show us how to sew, make home repairs, lay carpet, build cabinets, fix cars, write books, and give speeches. Some teach us how to sell, how to manage, how to make better use of our time, how to resolve conflict, how to argue, how to negotiate, how to hire, how to fire, or how to create teamwork. Some teach us how to be happy, live more fulfilling lives, be productively angry, find inner peace, have a happier marriage, how to pick up women, how to interpret our dreams and how to be a better lover.

Whatever you think you need - I assure you there are many seminars or speakers who can tell you what you should do. Many choices. And most, have little or no lasting impact. If they did, the need would dwindle. And it doesn’t appear to be slowing. If anything, the growth of training, education and motivation seems to be growing rapidly as people continue to search for answers to their problems.

Reason 1 Why Most Seminars Have No Lasting Impact

People are looking for easy answers.

Some problems are complex and require more work than most people want to admit. Seminars about weight control are popular. Enter a guy who tips the scales at 400 pounds. He’s 5′ - 8″. He’s 42 years old. He’s looking for a fast, easy way to loose 150 pounds. He’s dreaming. His expectations are unrealistic. He’s overweight because of lifelong bad habits and poor choices. No seminar is going to give him the oomph to make those changes. There are no easy answers for him, but he’ll throw $99 at a speaker to listen for a few hours on how he too can one day be thin. He’s only lighter by $99.

Reason 2 Why Most Seminars Have No Lasting Impact

Most speakers have nothing important to convey.

Most speakers who I’ve listened to over the years have little or no substantial content. The better ones are talented in delivering a speech, regardless of content. Platform performance skills bring in the crowds. Catchy, unique phrases get attention. But boil down the messages and they’re typical of the funny photo of the motivational poster. It’s a public speech about the little engine that could. Without concrete action steps or planned methods of changing behavior - most of us just keep doing what we’ve always done. Collectively, we’re nuts because we often expect different (better) results by doing exactly what we’ve always done.

Besides, content is hard. Most speakers are too lazy to have great content. And those with great content tend to be too cerebral to be dynamic platform performers. Sometimes, they’re riveting - but most times, they’re not. And this fits in nicely with the first reason. We don’t want it to be hard to understand. We don’t want it to be terribly fact-filled. We want it to be easy and fun. So what if it took us 20 years to gain 150 pounds of fat. We want to be thin tomorrow - without sacrificing. Speakers tend to deliver what we pay them to deliver - easy, soft answers.

Reason 3 Why Most Seminars Have No Lasting Impact

People are unwilling to change.

Habits are hard to break. Bad habits seem impossible to break. The smoker who attends a seminar on how to stop smoking must really want to stop smoking. The family has bugged her to attend this seminar, so she attends. The speaker is engaging and entertaining. There are a few concrete action steps suggested. There are CD’s and DVD’s for sale in the lobby during the break. She invests a few hundred dollars in them, plus the $149 she paid to attend the seminar. Leaving the seminar she pulls a smoke out of her purse and lights up. Even good intentions do not a change in behavior make. No intention to change will result only in lost time and money to attend the seminar.

Reason 4 Why Most Seminars Have No Lasting Impact

This is a double-edged sword: 1) speakers don’t teach us specific things we can change, and 2) we don’t learn what or how to change. Additionally, it could be that the speaker and listener don’t connect. The exact same information from a different source might connect, but this speaker and this listener have no connection.

More often than not speakers don’t address specifics because they’re attempting to appeal to the largest number of people possible. And, giving specifics is much harder than giving generic advice. Many speakers are ill-equipped to give specific advice because many of them have never done it. They’re only able to tell you how to do it, unable to do it themselves.

Years ago I attended a sales seminar by a talented speaker. It was full of the old-school steps of selling, something I never much believed in because I never found them real-world. I was making my living in sales and marketing. I followed one basic philosophy - be helpful. It worked for me. I was always at the top of the heap because of my strong work ethic and my spirit of service. But I went to hear this guy’s advice. Within moments I knew he had never done it himself. I looked around the room though and people were feverishly taking notes and soaking it all in. He even role played with a few people prompting them to say what he wanted to say. One word summed up my feelings that day - contrived. He gave me contrived information. And there wasn’t one thing I could do with it except endure the seminar and make note that this guy wasn’t credible. Like most successful salespeople, I was always willing to try new things if they fit my philosophy.

I’ve attended some seminars that were so content heavy you couldn’t get your arms around the process. Where do I begin? How do I go about this? No answers is the result when there are too many answers. Pages of notes resulted in no concrete steps that can help you. Been there, done that.

But more frequently, at least for me, are the seminars full of verbiage, but no substance. There are many highly paid motivational type speakers who ramble on for hours in an entertaining way - but at the end of the seminar you can boil down their message to the one on that poster at the top of this post. People line up to shake their hand and tell them how wonderful the day was. I leave shaking my head wondering why I was so stupid to think this person could benefit my life.

People sometimes leave seminars inspired and built up, but unable to figure out how to put what they’ve learned into action. The speaker never told them how to do it. All hat, no cattle. All cheer, no play. It happens every day, somewhere.

There are other reasons why seminars fail to have a lasting impact on people, but these are just 4 main ones that come to my mind. I’ve heard some great speakers and attended some wonderful seminars. They’re memorable. They provoke thought. They alter opinions. They change behaviors. Most do not. That makes the ones that do memorable.

Tom Peters. Jeffrey Gitomer. Seth Godin. Guy Kawasaki. Bob Sutton. Jim Karger. Stephen Berlin Johnson. These are tops in my opinion. There are others, but these come to mind right now. Ironically enough, each of them are creative, intelligent, engaging and substantial. I’ve learned things from each of them.

I’ll keep reading. I’ll keep buying tickets to hear various speakers. I’ll attend my share of seminars. I’ll enjoy all of them, to varying degrees. I’ll learn something in most of them. But only a select few will alter my life in any meaningful way. And part of it will be my fault.

I won’t quit because winners never quit.

UPS is going young. Really young. Kid young, in fact. Toddler young.

Branding theory has met branding reality. Get ‘em while they’re young. As Halloween approaches, kids are scrambling to be super heroes. Among them, The UPS Man. For about $25 your kid can be a miniature UPS guy.

It’s a great idea. And it’s funny, too. I wonder what the business end of this deal looks like. Licensing fees, etc.? NASCAR sponsorship is so passe. Look at Brown go!

Today I went to see Jeffrey Gitomer deliver a seminar on his “Little Black Book of Connections.” I’ve been a fan of Gitomer for almost 15 years. He’s brash, forthright, in-yo-face and honest. It’s always worthwhile to go see him live and in person. Seize the opportunity if he’s ever within driving distance. Or fly somewhere to go see him.

I once ran into him at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. We had a nice exchange and he promised to send me his latest book. He was en-route to New York. Within 3 days I had a signed book via Fed Ex - FREE. Jeffrey delivered as he promised. And I was blown away that with all he had going on, he remembered - and executed perfectly. That may help explain my loyalty to him.

This morning Gitomer began by playing songs from his iTunes. He informed us he was in a double deficit position - he’s both a Mac user and Jew. He warns audiences early to turn down their sensitivity meter. He cares nothing of political correctness. And away we go…for a few hours of pithy, relevant tips on how to better connect with people, some of whom should become our customers.

Among the topics covered:

- Don’t be stupid. And don’t suck at sales.
- Be creative. Think.
- Invest your time, don’t waste it.
- Email and e-zines.
- Put in the hard work needed to make selling easy.
- Write.
- Be the best.
- Give value.

Read any of Gitomer’s books. His first was “The Sales Bible.” One of my all-time favorites is, “Customer Satisfaction Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty Is Priceless.” Of course, you can pick up any of his “Little Book” series comprised of various colors black, red, green or yellow. They all cover variations of selling and personal self-improvement. Even if sales isn’t your bag - read any one of Gitomer’s books. You’ll appreciate his style - and you may find substance to what he says.

I’m glad Jeffrey came to Dallas. And I’m glad I was there.