This is a guest post from Gerhard Gschwandtner, the founder of Selling Power magazine and host of the Sales 2.0 Conference.
There is no more important factor to personal and professional success than our inner mindset – the set of attitudes and beliefs that influence and shape our behaviors. That inner mindset is reflected by our outer environment and workspaces. Take a moment to look around your workspace. What does it look like?
I’ll tell you a little bit about my own workspace. I love working late in my library, with its more than 3,000 volumes and pieces of memorabilia. It gives me the feeling of being in the company of amazing minds, and moving around such a space helps keep my mindset sharp. That’s why I like to walk around and keep moving during phone calls.
But I’ve been in the offices of some salespeople whose mindset is clearly being held back by their workspace. Their spaces are cluttered and disorganized. They don’t know where to find important files on their computer. Their devices are outdated. And they have nothing inspirational posted on the walls to keep them motivated, mindful, and successful.
Tapping Your “Inner CEO”
The difference between those two workspaces is mindset. According to scientific research, we start to create our mindset the moment we’re born. We store them in a particular area of our brains, called the prefrontal cortex – where neural connections form cognitive elements, memories, and associated feelings from past experiences. Some call this the executive function of the brain – I like to think of the prefrontal cortex as our “inner CEO.”
Do you have a strong inner CEO? When your mindset is functioning at optimum levels, you’re better able to excel in tough sales situations. That’s because – according to scientific research conducted by Professor Michael Bernard at the University of Melbourne, Australia – high achievers consciously create a belief system that helps them cope effectively with difficult situations at work.
I’ve had the privilege of working with Dr. Bernard for the past three months, exchanging ideas in weekly Skype sessions, and I’ve shared his amazing insights and techniques with thousands of salespeople through keynote speeches and workshops in San Francisco, Denver, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico. The results have been amazing. One account manager applied the mindset shift on the golf course and shot a hole in one. A sales manager for a small technology company created a mindset shift in his team and empowered them to achieve the best quarter in the history of the company. One business leader who attended my workshop in L.A. achieved a personal breakthrough and is on track for increasing his sales by 300 percent.
A High-Performance Mindset for Sales
Dr. Bernard and I have also teamed up to create a High Performance Mindset workshop for sales leaders – as well as a certification-training program, which we will launch at our Sales 2.0 Leadership Conference in Philadelphia on Nov. 16. We also invited a number of world-class speakers who will share their insights into how their mindset, skill sets, and tool sets create high performance. Matthew Pollard, a millennial entrepreneur, will share how to avoid the seven self-destructive mindsets that will make you fail.
If you’re curious how you can take your mindset to the next level and achieve the highest levels of performance with your sales team, join us at the Sales 2.0 Leadership Conference in Philadelphia. Learn why positive thinking isn’t enough and discover how to develop a growth mindset, a commitment mindset, and a resilient mindset that will get you to your next personal and professional breakthrough.
Register now for the Sales 2.0 Leadership Conference in Philadelphia on November 16. For more information or questions about the event, email larissa@salesdottwoinc.com.
