FranklinCovey-The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Sales Leaders

HABIT 2: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND

HABIT 2: BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND Imagine yourself stepping into the crowds on Rio’s Copacabana Beach with an easel and a canvas, and inviting everyone you see to pick up a brush and paint whatever they want onto the picture. It might make for an interesting afternoon, but would you expect such a random process of individual contribution to result in a masterpiece?

A creation that shows mastery and results in something considered as a masterpiece typically requires vision, planning and coordinated action. It’s no different when it comes to leading a sales organization. Rather than allowing outside factors and others’ actions to determine what you create, or executing someone else’s vision, you can take control of what you ultimately accomplish. Begin by asking yourself exactly what you want to achieve and how you want your organization to operate. Beginning with the End in Mind—having a clear vision of your destination—and then executing around that vision is far more likely to ensure you get where you want to be. The habit of “Beginning with the End in Mind” was introduced 25 years ago by Dr. Stephen R. Covey in his ground breaking bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Here’s how this principle of leadership can help you take charge of what you create and make you more likely to achieve it. DECLARE YOUR OWN MISSION I’ve talked with hundreds of sales leaders who’ve said, “I wasn’t trained to be a sales leader. I was just a good individual contributor hitting my numbers, and someone asked me to take on this role. I didn’t get the role because I was already a great leader.” A powerful first step in becoming one is to define your End in Mind by developing a mission statement. Whether you’ve just been promoted to sales leader or you’ve been one for many years, the habit of beginning with the End in Mind involves setting your own goals and intended

accomplishments, identifying the roles you play, fixing your priorities, and then sharing those frequently with your team. This is a best practice for success whether you’re leading a small salesforce or a larger regional organization, or you’re in a more senior sales executive role. Then periodically re-centre to your mission to make sure you’re still on track. Why have a mission? It seems so old-school. But as Dr. Stephen R. Covey pointed out in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the inarguable fact is there are always two creations to everything you see or experience. The first creation happens in your mind—it’s where you envision what you want to accomplish. And the second is when you align your actions to your imagination. Nothing happens without those two creations. If you ignore this principle, it’s essentially the same as passively letting everyone and everything else around you decide what you will be and what you will do. REFRESH AND ANCHOR TO YOUR END GAME Stephen Covey used to teach the principle of Beginning with the End in Mind every week. No matter where he was in the world, he would review his goals each week in the context of his mission statement. He set goals for each of the roles he played. And he reviewed his mission statement periodically to make sure his day-to-day actions and decisions were aligned to his mission. He also occasionally and purposefully changed his mission as the context of his life changed, sometimes affected by major events. Don’t hesitate to update or change your mission statement.

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