Blake: “Put that coffee down. Coffee’s for closers only.”
Blake: “I drove an $80,000 red BMW that’s parked right outside. THAT’S my name! And your name is you’re wanting. You can’t play in the man’s game; you can’t close them… then go home…”
If you’ve watched this iconic scene from the 1992 American Drama movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, you’ll understand two things. One – is the real estate agents who think they can’t crack deals with customers to buy land or property. And two – they believe their resources and leads are weak.
Blake is one of the firm’s top salesmen who visit their branch from another city. The salesmen sit around casually and appear to be taking things lightly without understanding the essence of time. They’re already set in their ways and beliefs that a sale can’t happen with a weak list of leads, that is, with people who do not have the budget to invest in land.
In a rather colorful tone of abusive language, Blake continues his monologue in a room of estate agents with an unwilling spirit.
Blake goes on to tell them that they don’t deserve the promising new list of stronger leads because they can’t close the initial leads given to them.
Blake: “The money’s out there. You pick it up, it’s yours. You don’t, I got no sympathy for you. You wanna go out on those sits tonight and close. CLOSE! It’s yours. If not, you’re gonna be shining my shoes. And you know what you’ll be saying – a bunch of losers sittin’ around in a bar? ‘Oh yeah. I used to be a salesman. It’s a tough racket.’ These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you they’re gold, and you don’t get them. Why? Because to give them to you is just throwing them away. They’re for closers. I’d wish you all good luck, but you wouldn’t know what to do with it if you got it.”
“There are only two options – Make Progress or Make Excuses”
~Tony Robbins
I can’t versus I won’t
Whom are you going to be as a leader? It’s important to ask yourself this question even before you embark on the journey. There are going to be tough decisions to make, strong actions to take, and potential failures and amazing successes. You will have the full package, but are you the type to say you can’t?
Some reasons are so strong that they convince you that you can’t. Some experiences are so misleading, they make you believe that you can never achieve.
I can’t do it versus I won’t back down
Blake is an aggressive salesman, and his words hit hard but they hit the nail on the head. It’s not that you can’t; it’s a belief that you carry with you. But if you change this belief that is so limiting, you will learn to take charge.
You will shift your mindset from “I can’t” to “I won’t”.
“I can’t” makes you give up on yourself, much like the real estate agents in that scene.
“I won’t” forces you to take back your sense of control and being in charge. It is a decision where you know you can but you won’t, and not “can’t”.
As a Leadership Coach in Delhi, nurturing your mind with the values of the Spiritual Quotient (SiQ) will help enhance your ability to be in control and not spiral into giving up.
When you work on increasing your FREQUENCY to believe that you are in charge, increasing your INTENSITY of self-belief, and boosting your TENACITY to hold on to that belief for a long period, you’ve improved your #FIT score. And this, in turn, improves your SiQ as a leader, transcending you into the ‘League of Legends’
No matter how many times your journey as a leader might make you feel like you’re knocked down, you learn to get up. Because your decision lies in the “I won’t” rather than the “I can’t”. You are in control of your journey as a leader.
Let’s not be the guy who makes excuses just like Gareth Owen calls it…
Excuses, Excuses
Late again Blenkinsopp?
What’s the excuse this time?
Not my fault sir.
Whose fault is it then?
Grandma’s sir.
Grandma’s. What did she do?
She died, sir.
Died?
She’s seriously dead all right, sir.
That makes four grandmothers this term, Blenkinsopp.
And all on P.E. days.
I know. It isn’t very comforting, sir.
How many grandmothers have you got, Blenkinsopp?
Grandmothers sir? None, sir.
You said you had four.
All dead sir.
And what about yesterday, Blenkinsopp?
What about yesterday, sir?
You were absent yesterday.
That was the dentist, sir.
The dentist died?
No, sir. My teeth, sir
You missed the maths test, Blenkinsopp!
I’d been looking forward to it, sir.
Right, line up for P.E.
Can’t sir.
No such word as ‘can’t’, Blenkinsopp.
No kit, sir.
Where is it?
Home, sir.
What’s it doing at home?
Not ironed, sir.
Couldn’t you iron it?
Can’t, sir.
Why not?
Bad hand, sir.
Who usually does it?
Grandma, sir.
Why couldn’t she do it?
Dead, sir.
