Who Do You Admire?

Written by Bill Sayers

Who are the people you admire? Why do you admire them? Most people have someone that they look up to. It may be a family member, it may be a business colleague, it may be a friend, or it may be someone famous.

Who is it you admire?

Sometimes it is a friend or contemporary. With a friend it is someone you see on a regular basis and you are reminded on a consistent basis of what that person stands for. It may be a colleague. You may use them as a mentor and have them coach and guide your development. These people are in your lives and are a constant reminder.

You may look up to a famous figure – John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa. They represent someone you admire and aspire to be like. These people you read about and there is a mystique to their past. These are the people you dream of being like.

Admiration What do you admire about yourself? We all have a guiding principle that is a big part of who we are as individuals. What is that principle? If you do not have a healthy attitude about yourself – how can you look up to others and make the appropriate changes in your life?

What is it that you admire?

What is it about the person you admire? Most times you admire what the person stands for and you aspire to be the same. Sometimes it is the way the person carries himself or herself, how they dress or look or how they manage their life and situations. In business we admire top sales people, great leaders and successful entrepreneurs.

In my classes I ask people: Who is the best boss you ever had and why? Who is the worst boss you ever had and why? The answers are always the same. People admire and want to be like the best boss they ever had. They also loathe and do not want to be anything like the worst boss they ever had. So I then ask people if we asked their peers or direct reports – What would they say about you? Are you the worst or the best boss or sales rep they know?

What are you doing to grow?

There is no growth in your comfort zone. So what are you doing to make the changes you need to make? What attitude or behaviour needs to be changed to allow you to mirror those people you admire? I talked about mentors. Ask the people you admire at work or in your community and ask them to be your mentor. Set up times to meet and discuss what they do that you admire and how you bring that behaviour into your life.

Mastermind groups are another way to make this happen. Get a group of like-minded individuals together on a regular basis to discuss the issues that are important to you. If it is business you want to focus on – create a business group. If it is for parenting, get together a group of parents you admire and meet to talk about family and parenting. The goal is to meet to discuss a specific issue.

For those people in history you admire – read their biographies and research what has been written about them and study that material. Become a student of the sales game or leadership game and become the best sales rep, parent or leader you can be.

Now what are you going to do? Create a plan or goals that you want to achieve and how you are going to accomplish these goals. Set timelines and then begin to make it happen. Remember that once you have arrived at your goal and taken on the behaviours of those you admire, what you will do to maintain that level of performance and what is your next goal.

Remember, you do not want to idolize or become that person you admire. You want to become JFK like, Mother Theresa like or Winston Churchill like. You are who you are and we are all unique individuals. Make sure you take your strengths and build on those and make the changes to your behaviour that is not serving you appropriately.

Sayers Says………

Who do you admire? What are you doing to be the best? Who are you? What are your goals and what are you doing to change the behaviours you need to change? What are you doing to become a student of the sales game? Who do you want to be your mentor?

Who do you admire and why…………………

Bill Sayers -
	Bill Sayers speaks, coaches, leads education sessions and provides management consulting services to a variety of companies. He recently completed “Funnels and Forecasts – The Great Game of Sales”. He has been a professor at George Brown College teaching Personal Selling Skills to the Sports and Event Marketing Graduate Program, and is on the faculty of Canadian Professional Sales Association and Canadian Management Centre. To receive our free “How are you Playing The Game” Scorecard and a 45 minute one-on-one session with Bill Sayers, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit: www.TheSayersGroup.com . Read More >>
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