Every four years the calendar provides the gift of an extra day. Call it Leap Day. But what if every day had the potential to feel like a gift? It can. Any day in any year can be a gift like Leap Day if it means you are taking a leap of faith by putting yourself on the path toward a brighter future. For many seasoned sales executives and sales leaders, that path leads to sales management consulting. And their leap of faith is really just a transition to their next chapter of professional fulfillment.
Keep this in mind as you consider the gift of Leap Day (and every day): taking a leap of faith requires just two things of you:
- Having faith – in yourself, your purpose, and your value to others
- Taking that leap (more of a single step, actually) to make your second-act professional dreams come true
The Faith Part
Faith in Yourself
Taking a leap of professional faith begins on a personal note – having faith in yourself. And why not? After all, you’ve accomplished so much, both professionally and personally. You’ve gained valuable skills, honed your craft and earned the respect of your peers as a career sales leader. You’ve helped your employer grow and succeed and make a difference in the world. You’ve overcome obstacles, risen to meet challenges, and perhaps achieved more than you thought you could. And along the way, you’ve been a vital contributor to your family and your community, perhaps even to your church. (Yes, it’s possible – important, even – to have faith in your faith!)
Faith in Your Purpose
Having faith in yourself becomes easier when you focus on accomplishments, not shortcomings; on blessings, not frustrations. Doing that also makes it easier to recognize and have faith in your passion and your purpose. If you know where to find them, that is.
Many career sales professionals considering their post-corporate lives ask, “What’s next?” That’s a good and natural place to start. Unfortunately, too often they believe their next professional chapter must be radically different from their first. For many, this might be true. If you have a passion for fishing and yearn to be a fishing guide or make custom lures, that’s great. Congratulations on having a specific vision for your future! If you have always been a great storyteller and want to get to work on that novel, go for it. The world is waiting. But if you find yourself searching for “what’s next” and every possibility also seems like a dead end, consider instead looking closer to home. Look to your expertise and experience in sales leadership. You might just find your purpose lies in doing what you’ve been doing all this time – just in a different way and serving a new set of professional partners.
Faith in Your Value to Others
Serving others begins with recognizing how much they value what you can provide them. If you could see through their eyes the respect they have for your skills, your insights, your wisdom, and your leadership, you would quickly see the difference you can make. I’m talking about smaller companies – small to mid-sized businesses – that crave the guidance of a seasoned sales management professional like you. They want and need to take advantage of all you’ve learned, applied and accomplished at the large corporate level – just on a smaller scale, and typically for less time each week. This is called fractional sales management consulting. It’s called being an Outsourced VP of Sales. It’s called serving and leading and making a difference.
The Leap Part
Finding faith in yourself, your purpose, and your value to others should make “the leap part” easy, right? In theory, yes. But it is human nature to be cautious, to look before you leap. Just don’t get caught up in “paralysis by analysis.” As Steve Harvey said in his famous online video and his book, Jump: Take the Leap of Faith to Achieve Your Life of Abundance, “Every successful person in this world has jumped.” It’s “the only way to get to that abundant life. You got to jump, man. You got to take a chance.”
The Bottom Line:
Whether you call it a jump or a leap of faith, your future begins with being open to opportunity. And taking advantage of that opportunity can be as simple as using your past to help shape your future. I strongly believe there are many amazing possibilities for sales leaders who explore the option of becoming a sales management consultant. If you would like to learn more about how you can make this day your Leap Day, click here or contact us at 1.844.874.7253.
