[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]My story is your story.
Like you, I’ve enjoyed success during a long career in corporate sales management and sales leadership. But like you, I eventually found myself at the end of my corporate rope. Feeling frustrated. Unheard. Disrespected. No longer valued.
At the same time, I found myself yearning for something more than just corporate status and financial stability. I found myself wanting to matter again. Wanting to make a difference for others. Wanting – no, needing – to find my purpose.
Like you, I tried at first to ignore these feelings. After all, aren’t such aspirations for younger people? Who was I to want more than I had already achieved? Who was I to ask for more than status and stability; to expect more than, well, comfort?
Make no mistake; I was lucky and I knew it. But I was also dissatisfied, and I knew that, too. I had traveled a great distance on a path that would be envied by most, but here I was – where you might now be, too – looking ahead but no longer certain of where to go, let alone how to get there.
My story is your story. If you’ve read this far, that’s probably fair to say. So, read on and you might just get a sense of how my story – our story – leads to a new path…
Meet Mr. Maslow
As human beings, we have hopes, dreams and aspirations as well as baseline physical and financial requirements. And here’s where Abraham Maslow comes in. Maybe you’ve heard of Mr. Maslow. An American psychologist best known for creating Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (more on that in a moment), Maslow was of the “humanistic” school and, thus, believed that every individual harbors the strong desire to realize their full potential. Humanistic psychologists like Maslow believed in the positive potential of human beings.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, meanwhile, asserts that human self-actualization builds from first satisfying primal needs such as food, water, and shelter. Achieving those elements leads to the need to become secure, including financial and career security. The commitment to family and a deep and abiding need for love and belonging comes next.
And then comes the need for Esteem. Per Maslow’s hierarchy, esteem includes self-respect, confidence, achievement, respect for others, and our need for others to respect us.
While we might fulfill many of our esteem needs in the corporate world, it doesn’t necessarily stop there. Indeed, what once brought us pride, satisfaction and fulfillment during corporate employment suddenly feels hollow and unfulfilling.
That’s why I’m writing this. That’s why you are reading it.
That’s why my story is your story, too.
Nothing Has Changed Even if Everything Has
As we move deeper into corporate careers, we should become more valuable. Indeed, this is probably the case – for a while. But at some point, we find our insights and opinions carry less weight. Our recommendations are embraced less frequently. Our importance to the organization diminishes.
And so does our passion for the job.
A Higher Purpose
Thus, after a long career, and operating from a more mature perspective, we seek a higher purpose. We want to make a difference again. We want to rekindle the feeling that we matter. And deep down we know that we can make a difference. After all, we don’t just have expertise and we don’t just have experience; no, we have a long track record of success based on real-world wisdom. That is a powerful one-two punch, and no reduction of clout on the corporate org chart can take that away.
Being Heard, Respected and Valued
Despite the inclination of the corporate world to take older sales executives like me and you for granted, there is an eager market that treats experience and gray hair and wisdom as prized commodities. Owners of small- to medium-sized businesses need and want sales consultants to help their companies survive and thrive. They appreciate the expertise of seasoned sales executives and they need advice from an experienced sales leader. So, they will hear you. They will respect your insights. They will value your guidance and will very likely use it to transform their businesses from being on the brink of failure to being a market leader.
And in the process, you might just feel transformed yourself.
The Bottom Line – An Invitation:
So, this was my story. And yours.
Of course, as you may know, my story doesn’t end here. Taking my own advice, I became a small business sales consultant. After years of success in that role, I recognized a need for outsourced sales executive services in the smaller business community and sought to make those services available on a larger scale. With my co-founder Chad Meyer, I formed Sales Xceleration, to equip sales execs like you with the tools you need to serve businesses in need and to fulfill your own higher purpose.
I invite you to learn more about my story and the stories of the sales professionals like you who are now part of the nationwide team of Sales Xceleration licensed Advisors. What’s next in the story of your life beyond corporate sales success? Contact us today at 1.844.874.7253 to start the discussion.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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