The $200 Million Question Most Leaders Do Not Ask
When I say most people aren't going after the right outcome, I usually get the same response: “That doesn't apply to me. I know what I want.” But in 90% of the turnarounds I’ve led as a top sales leadership consultant and keynote speaker, the first breakthrough didn’t come from doing more. It came from realizing they were chasing the wrong outcome—not because they weren’t smart, but because they were chasing outcomes shaped by the world as it WAS, not...
Companies Like Marriott and Aflac Generated Over $1 Billion With This One Mental Shift—Here’s Why It Works
Stop! The world feels out of control—economically, emotionally—and the instinct is to hit the brakes. AI is rewriting the rules. Global chaos is draining us. The pandemic shifted everything. It's no wonder that people feel like they have no control over their lives or businesses. And when that happens, we freeze—or we scramble. We grab a task just to feel like we are doing something. Even CEOs and senior sales leaders fall into that trap. They think they...
The #1 Mistake Leaders Make in Uncertain Times—Without Even Realizing It
Let’s be honest, the world feels a little uncertain right now. Markets are shifting. Customers are hesitating. Wars are breaking out all over. But here’s the truth: uncertainty isn’t the problem—indecision is. As a top sales leadership consultant and keynote speaker, I talk to sales leaders and executives every day. They say, “We are waiting for clarity. We need to see how things shake out before we act.” But here’s the thing—if you wait for clarity to take action, you’ve already given up...
Why Most Leaders AND Sales Execs Fail at Velocity—and Don’t Even Know It
One of the core tenets of the Velocity Mindset® that leaders and sales executives struggle with is this: start with the end in mind—but make sure it is the right end. As a top sales leadership consultant and keynote speaker, I have seen these three mistakes leaders and sales executives make that derail even the most driven teams: 1. They confuse tasks with outcomes. They get busy. They don’t execute. They push their teams. But when you ask, why?—what's...
The Goal That’s Quietly Killing Your Sales Team’s Momentum
You know, one of the core ideas behind the Velocity Mindset® is simple: start with the end in sight—not just a to-do list, but the real outcome you want to achieve. But here's the thing most people miss: they don’t aim high enough. They shoot for something small, something safe, and then wonder why nothing really changes. Let me give you a quick story. Let’s take the sales manager. We’ll call him Bob. Bob says, “Next year, I want my...
Why Being “Busy” Might Be Destroying Your Sales Results
You know what most people confuse velocity with? Speed—just speed. They think, “If I'm moving fast, I must be making progress.” But let me ask you this: Have you ever sprinted through a day, hammered out emails, checked 47 things off your to-do list, and still felt like nothing really moved the needle? That's not velocity. That's just motion. Velocity is speed with direction. And in sales leadership, direction means this: Are you driving toward the outcomes that matter—revenue, impact,...
Craving More Respect? This Airport Agent’s Hilarious Trick Is a Masterclass in Emotional Intelligence
Do you ever find yourself in a situation where people are losing it, and you're the one expected to stay calm? Let me take you back to a story from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Great Customer Service, which I co-wrote with Don Blohowiak. A few years ago, an American Airlines gate agent received the worst news possible: her flight was canceled. Now she had a line of angry passengers demanding answers—fast. One man storms up to the desk, veins popping...
The Surprising Reason Your Message Isn’t Getting Through
Most people think the biggest challenge in communication is what we say. But neuroscience says it's actually what people hear—or rather, what they think they're hearing. You see, people don't listen with their ears. They listen with their filters. And those filters? They're packed with personal experiences, assumptions, even childhood stuff they've long forgotten. It's like trying to play jazz through a kazoo. You're not getting Miles Davis—you’re getting noise. Here’s what happens: You say, “We need to move faster on...
The Chip That Fueled Velocity
Every success story has a chip on its shoulder—a reason to fight harder, to push forward when others would quit. This is the story of a young boy who dreaded introducing himself. He had a speech impediment—one that made it nearly impossible to pronounce the letter R. Now imagine not being able to clearly say your own name. Every time someone asked, "What’s your name?" his heart would race, his stomach would knot—because he knew the words would betray him. But here’s...