I think sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking we are playing aggressively - that we are doing whatever it takes to win. However, I would challenge that all too often, we are simply playing to not lose.
The biggest contributor to this phenomenon is complacency. As producers, we spend our career building a book of business, doing the right things - the hard things, the things it takes to win.
Then we wake up one day and say, “Holy crap, look what I’ve done! I never really expected to get here! I better protect it!”
And then it happens
Instead of continuing to play to win, we start playing to not lose.
Instead of looking for ways of helping clients that neither of you ever imagined, you stay with what’s comfortable. Instead of pushing them to the point that they say, “I can’t go there, at least not yet, but help me get ready,” you hope they don’t push you for something new.
Instead of giving them new reasons to say yes to you, you focus on not giving them a reason to say no to you. And you hope nobody else comes along and gives them a reason to say yes.
There’s an old saying, “What got you here will keep you here.” That’s a saying whose time has past.
I now believe that what got you here will take you back to where you were yesterday.
When you play to win, you may outgrow a client or two, but you will grow into countless others.
When you play to not lose, your clients will outgrow you.
So, how are you going to play the game?
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Photo by dziobek
