Comparison Kills Confidence

Does your company run a sales leader board? I think sales leader boards are a double edged sword. On one hand they can challenge your best sales performers to compete for the top spot. At the same time they can inspire new sales people to think big and climb the ladder.

However for the vast majority of your sales force it can cause them to play the comparison game. The comparison game is an ego trap whereby you compare your self-worth to the success of others. According to Brene Brown, “comparison is the thief of happiness”. I think that in the sales game, comparison is a confidence killer.

When it comes to selling, confidence is everything. Comparison can make people believe that they don’t measure up, which can cause their confidence to go on a downward spiral. If you ever have lost your mojo, you can probably appreciate how it affects your performance and how hard it is to get back.

According to Rosabeth Moss Kanter in her book, Confidence, confidence is both the cause of and the result of winning. In her research into the winning and losing streaks of top sports teams and companies, she found that confidence creates a virtuous cycle (i.e. winning is perpetuated) and lack of confidence creates a vicious cycle (i.e. losing is perpetuated).

How do you stop your people playing the comparison game and lose their mojo?

I think it comes down to coaching. Great coaches see the potential in people and get people to believe in themselves. They help people to re-frame how they see their successes and failures. Great coaches never compare. Instead, they challenge, inspire and lead.

Mark Windust is an influential Thought Leader in the areas of Sales Strategy, Sales Leadership and Sales Performance. Since launching his consulting practice in 2007, Mark has worked with 1000's of business leaders, salespeople and entrepreneurs’ to help them transform their sales results.