It was late July in 1983 when a young ballplayer saw his batting average drop to a paltry .229. In this, his first full season in the major leagues, he was watching his chance at making it slip away before his eyes. Known for his hitting prowess in the minor leagues, this baseball player now faced some serious doubts. Many thought he was just another minor league sensation that would turn into a major league washout. So what was there for him to do?
He utilized the new technology of video recording to review his at bats. He discovered some parts of his swing that he adjusted for, and stormed through the league the rest of the year to finish the season with an average of .309. He then went on to a stellar career as a 15 time all star, an 8 time batting champ, and a first ballot hall of famer with 97.6% of the vote.The player? Tony Gwynn, who is also a rarity in that he played for one team all 20 seasons of his major league career. Even to non-baseball fans, those numbers are pretty impressive.
We can all learn a lesson from what Tony Gwynn did when faced with adversity- he studied, looked within himself, and found a new way of examining a key element of his skill set. He not only thought about the problem, he used an objective source (videotape) to see something he was unable to see from his vantage point. He was literally too close to his swing to know what was wrong. He used this technology throughout his career, constantly studying his swing for even the slightest improvement.In many ways, succeeding in business is similar. When we encounter challenges, we must always be seeking new ways to overcome them. Often times the old methods are no longer effective. I have often seen business owners resign themselves to believing that they cannot secure greater market share because they see the competition as too fierce. Or that they will NEVER change an employee’s attitude or performance because “that’s just the way they are built.” Imagine if we could persevere through these challenges through introspection- investigating what it is within us as persons and within our organizations that caused the challenge, and correcting these issues as they arose. How many more sales would you close if you examined your pitch and found an item you tend to discuss that alienates prospects? How much more effective would your office be if you discovered the biggest waste of time for each member of your organization? By objectively examining your problem areas, you can discover far more than just trying to make adjustments on the fly.A salesperson can videotape their presentation, and give out surveys to get feedback from prospects that purchased- as well as those that did not. A manager can have employees track all of their tasks for a week, and perform an ROI analysis on individual tasks to find what is truly most valuable. I might suggest that you may just be too close to the problems to see them for what they are.I used Tony Gwynn as an example for a reason- we will be interviewing this baseball legend on Small Business Radio this Friday, at 4 PM Pacific Time. We will be discussing his career, adversity, and ways to overcome obstacles. We will also be discussing creative ways to use life insurance to protect your company from losses that could occur if key employees were to have a tragic accident.To tune in, simply go to our website at www.markdeo.com at 4 PM Pacific Time this Friday. We will also be taking calls from our listeners to help with any problems you may be experiencing in your business. Call in to speak with us at: 1-323-443-6878 – Then enter code: 226287 to get on the air. Perhaps we can help be the objective outside view that will help uncover the solution to your challenges. Tune in and give us a call to find out!