Top Sales Consultant
I recently received an honor that caused me to reflect on an entire career. I was inducted into the 2026 Legends of the Speaking Profession. For someone who has spent decades speaking professionally, you might assume that communication always came naturally to me. It didn’t. As a teenager, I had a speech impediment that prevented…
There are people who become successful. There are people who become famous. And then there are those rare individuals who become something much greater. Dolly Parton became an icon. Her story didn’t begin with wealth, connections or opportunity. She grew up as one of 12 children in a one-room cabin in the mountains of Tennessee.…
Vince Lombardi famously said: “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work.” I agree. Leadership requires effort. It requires discipline, repetition, resilience and a willingness to keep improving. But there’s another piece we cannot afford to overlook: Hard work only creates meaningful progress when it is…
I recently received a sales message that opened by telling me the sender and I were in the same business. There was only one problem. We weren’t. The sender had my name. He had a template. But he clearly hadn’t taken the time to understand what I actually do, who I serve, or whether what…
Some of the biggest breakthroughs in business don’t begin with a brilliant answer. They begin with a different question. I recently came across the story of an industry built around companies purchasing life insurance policies from policyholders. Traditionally, everyone viewed life insurance through essentially the same lens: Buy the policy. Pay the premiums. Eventually, the…
Most communication problems are not caused by what we say. They happen because of what the other person believes they heard. People do not listen to words in isolation. They listen through filters shaped by past experiences, assumptions, emotions, expectations, and beliefs. Those filters can completely change the meaning of a message. I might say:…
In today’s business environment, leaders and sales teams are being pushed to move faster, produce more, adopt new tools, and deliver immediate results. But moving faster does not automatically mean moving forward. One of the most important principles of the Velocity Mindset® is to start with the end in mind, but first, you must make…
Markets are volatile. Budgets are tightening. International tensions are affecting supply chains, energy prices, and business confidence. For leaders, the pressure is real. But here is the brutal truth: Uncertainty does not destroy companies. Inaction does. When fear enters the boardroom, decisions slow down. Investments are delayed. Teams lose confidence. Organizations begin waiting for conditions…
Most salespeople don’t lose deals because of price. They don’t lose because of the competition. And they rarely lose because of the economy. More often than not, they lose because they’re approaching every opportunity with the same linear thinking they’ve been taught since childhood. From the time we enter school, we’re trained to follow the…
Fame can be addictive. Not just celebrity fame. Business fame. Leadership fame. Social media fame. The kind of visibility that makes people feel seen, validated, and recognized. But when attention becomes the goal, direction often changes. People start making decisions for reactions instead of results. They chase clicks instead of contribution. They prioritize visibility instead…
When You’re Down 29, Take the Next Shot There are moments in business, leadership, and life when the scoreboard looks ugly. You are behind. The pressure is rising. The odds look impossible. The people around you may start acting like the outcome has already been decided. But the leaders and teams who ultimately win are…
In the mid-2000s, I was lying in a hospital bed recovering from back surgery when a difficult question hit me: What haven’t I done with my life? And why? When you’re forced to slow down, clarity shows up. I realized that unrealized goals rarely come down to talent or opportunity. They come down to three…
Most professionals ask the wrong question. They ask: “How do I improve what I’m already doing?” High performers ask: “What outcome do I really want to achieve?” That shift changes everything. Because when you focus on activity, you stay busy. When you focus on outcomes, you become strategic. And here’s the real problem… We let…
Things like AI and other issues come second. The first question is: what do you want to achieve for yourself? If you are not happy with what you are achieving on an annual basis, what would make you happy? What would make you feel fulfilled? It has to be specific, and it has to be…
Let’s talk about what’s happening in the market right now: tariffs, inflation, supply chain pressure, price. Customers are cautious. Decisions are slower. And suddenly everyone’s favorite strategy is discounting, because nothing says “premium solution” like dropping your price faster than your confidence. Inside the company, it usually sounds like this: Sales says, “We’ve got to…
Most people think velocity is blocked by outside forces—other people, missed signals, bad timing. The truth is far more uncomfortable…and far more powerful. It turns out the biggest obstacle that gets in our way is internal, and it starts with the stories we create every day. Everything that someone says or does to you, you…
Every conversation you have is shaping a story in someone else’s mind—and if you are not aware of it, that story could be working against you. We are emotional creatures. Like a strength, it can help us—but if it is overused, it becomes a weakness. Anything you say to me or do to me, all…
A quick question: have you ever shared what you thought was a brilliant idea, and the reaction you got back was a polite nod, crossed arms, or the classic, “Yeah, let’s think about it”? Same idea, same words, same logic and yet it landed with all the impact of a wet noodle. Here’s why. Have…
I became a speaker for the wrong reason. I figured if I could be on stage and slay my dragons by being proverbially naked in front of the audience, then I had made it and gotten rid of all my fears. That’s not true. That was being self-focused, and it didn’t help the audience. I…
Before you even introduce yourself, your prospect’s hormones have already voted on you. The question is: did you win? In the first few seconds of any interaction, their brain is quietly—but decisively—determining whether to trust you, engage with you, or shut down completely. And it all comes down to three key hormones neuroscience identifies: cortisol,…