Happy Independence Day! If you know someone who served, offer them a bit of gratitude.

Please enjoy this week’s blog which is dedicated to Paul.

When I was a teenager learning to drive, my mom would take me out to practice around the neighborhood. As I approached an intersection a few blocks from the house, Mom asked me to tap the brakes and slow down. I had the right of way, and the traffic on the cross street had a stop sign. I said, “Mom, I don’t need to slow down. They need to stop. I have the right of way.” She said, “Yes you do, but if someone blows through the stop sign, right or wrong, you’re just as dead.”

As I look back over my years in sales management, that phrase, right or wrong you’re just as dead, has echoed in my brain more than once.

I’ve been absolutely 100%, no-contest, zero arguments, etched in stone right, and still lost. When I forgot to apply Mom’s admonition to my business life, I lost deals, people, and respect.

How? Because I didn’t tap the brakes and slow down to see the other person. I didn’t read the room correctly, and while many of my left-brained colleagues won’t agree, the right approach means more than being right.

It does not mean I don’t get to offer corrections or that I am ever untrue to my own beliefs. It means just what Mom said, tap the brakes, see what’s happening, and proceed.

Own Your Sales Gene…