Want to be unstoppable at work? Try this.
Daniel Pink graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Northwestern and was named a Truman Scholar. Then he went to Yale Law School. Then he became a speechwriter for Vice President Al Gore.
Then he wrote 5 best selling books, including one of my favorites, To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.
Selling isn’t prestigious.
Other professions get more respect. Lawyers, accountants, doctors, teachers.
Imagine a stereotypical salesperson.
See?
But selling isn’t about convincing someone to buy something they don’t want or need. Or it shouldn’t be.
Selling is solving problems. It’s influencing. Selling is making a case your idea, product, or service will advance the goals and priorities of whoever is sitting across the table.
One of 33 tweets from one of the most famous and popular Twitter threads of all time, How to Get Rich (without getting lucky).
And it’s not just about customers. We sell ideas every day to our colleagues, our families, and our neighbors.
If we have a winning idea, something that will improve lives, we’re doing the world a disservice by not selling it.
“To sell well is to convince someone else to part with resources. Not to deprive that person, but to leave him better off in the end.”
- Daniel Pink
The most technically expert doctors, lawyers, accountants, and teachers can make a broader impact if they know how to sell.
In many cases, it’s the only way to get a good idea, service, or product out into a world that will be better for it.
Learn to sell.
Learn to build.
If we can do both, we’ll be unstoppable.
