Training Camp: What the Best Do Better Than Everyone Else

Introduction

Before the 2008 NFL season, Mike Smith, the Jacksonville Jaguars' defensive coordinator, was hired to be the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. They had only won four games the previous year and Coach Smith was charged with improving the culture and turning the team around. As summer approached, Coach Smith called me and told me that he was having all the coaches and players read my book The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy and invited me to speak to the team during training camp. I had met Coach Smith the year before while speaking to the Jacksonville Jaguars during their 2007 training camp.

The same week that I was to speak to the Atlanta Falcons I was also scheduled to speak to a financial services company that was regarded by many as having the best sales team in the financial industry. As I prepared for these talks I thought a lot about what I should say that would benefit them. After all, I would be talking to people who have reached the pinnacle of their industry. On one hand you had the best football players in the world. On the other hand you had the best sales people in the world.

As part of my preparation I interviewed the top sales people from the financial services company and while I was expecting to hear some new sales techniques that I haven't heard before I discovered there wasn't any secret formula to their success. They told me they simply worked hard, focused on the fundamentals, stayed positive and had a ...