I bumped
into the following article and I found it very intriguing as it carries the
very heart of what I do as a success coach so let me share it with you and
hopefully inspire you. I cannot acknowledge the source as I have no idea where
it came from but it will help you. Change the way you think and you will change
your life.
Executive mindset versus village mentality
Peter
and Prosper joined a wholesale company together just after graduation. Both
worked very hard. After several years, the boss promoted Peter to Senior
Sales Executive but Prosper remained a Sales Executive.
One
day Prosper could not take it anymore. He tendered his resignation to the boss
and complained that the boss did not value hard working staff, but only
promoted those who flattered him. The boss knew that Peter worked very
hard for the years he’d spent at the company, but in order to help Prosper
realize the difference between him and Peter, the boss set Prosper a task.
“Go
and find out if anyone is selling water melon in the market?” Prosper
returned and said yes there is someone. The boss asked how much per kg?
Prosper went back to the market to ask and returned to inform boss the $12 per
kg.
The
Boss told Prosper, I will ask Peter the same question, pay close attention to
his response.
Peter
went, returned and said: Boss, there is only one person selling watermelon. The
cost is $0.50 per slice of melon and $5,50 for a whole melon at wholesale. He
has an inventory of 37 melons with each one weighing about 15 kg. He says he
gets new consignments every other day. They appear fresh and red with good
quality. On the table, there were 3 whole melons and about 6 remaining slices
of a fourth melon. The rest are in His shop, ready to be sliced or shipped,
whichever the need is. I've put this information down in writing and can have
it converted to a spreadsheet and sent to you in fifteen minutes if you
want.
Prosper
was very impressed and realized the difference between himself and Peter. He
decided not to resign but to learn from Peter.
As we
go on from now, let this illustration help us keep in mind the importance of
the extra mile in our endeavors. You won't be rewarded for doing what
you're meant to do, what you're asked to do (you only get a salary for that).
You're only rewarded for going the extra mile, performing beyond expectations.
To be
successful in the intelligence sphere/field, you must be observant, proactive
and willing to do more. Think more, have a more holistic perspective and go
beyond the call of duty.
May
you be blessed with a better perspective to your work / intelligence analysis
anytime any day.
After
reading this story I was thoroughly inspired that I am in the right business
and indeed every person I coach and catches this revelation there is an
immediate shift in the paradigm and subsequently in their delivery and outlook
in life. In my first book Success Paradigms 101 I wrote a chapter on get out of
the village. The whole chapter addressed this very point. (You can download a
free copy of the book at www.africamustread.co.za) this is my gift to you.
As I read
this I made a few observations about the difference between Peter and Prosper
that I want to drop in here and perhaps challenge and inspire you to make some
adjustments. One of which is get yourself a success coach. When I quote people
for a set of coaching sessions I get mixed responses and those that say it
sounds expensive my response is "that is why you are where you are".
Successful people understand the value of a coach, buying a book, attending a
seminar. Unsuccessful people on the other hand don't see value in this that's
why they can go a whole year without buying a book, without reading and
investing in themselves, or without attending a Personal Development
seminar.
I often
ask people to look at their monthly budget and see whether they are becoming a
success or a burger. Anyway have a look at my six observations from the story
above and find out where you are.
You
should actually ask your coach whether you are a Peter or a Prosper because
it's easy to say to yourself I am a Peter and deceive yourself when you are
really a Prosper.
Signs of a Prosper (Check and see if any of these are in your life)
1. No
promotion (pro=forward motion=movement) so if you have not seen any forward
movement in your personal goals and vision you are probably a Prosper
2. You
are fighting the same battles over and over again. Your life is stagnant there
are no victories.
3. You
are seeing others that were with you moving up faster than you and there is an
air of resentment in you. Some that came after you are making progress faster
than you.
4. You
have very little tabled data on your vision and annual goals. Without vision
you will not go far. Peter probably had the habit of writing his vision and
reviewing it regularly. While Prosper hoped to get promotion simply by hard
work.
5. You do
not have an accurate assessment of your past year to help you make decisions
about where you want to go. Have you done a personal assessment of your life,
vision and goals to see whether you are making any progress? Many people never
stop to assess. In this case the pain of not being promoted caused Prosper to
encounter his boss who made him assess his life by observing the differences in
their follow-through on the assignment.
6. You do
not have a personal coach. It looks to me like the meeting Prosper had when he
decided to resign was probably the first coaching session he ever had. Then he
decided to learn from Peter. You need to have a success coach in your life it's
imperative.
At
Success Paradigms 101 we help with all of this unfortunately many people do not
appreciate the value of success coaching. Many think it's a waste of time and
money. We have a series of seminars lined up for the year. Get yourself in all
of them and you will see that by the end of the year your life will be at a new
level.
Coach
Tich.
Your
favorite coach
Author,
leader, church planter, Pastor and Coach
