Do you fail to plan or plan to win?

I came across an interesting article by Zig Ziglar today in regards to the tendencies of individuals in sales organizations.  According to the findings of Mr. Ziglar the top sales people are seated at or very close to the front while the bottom-feeders tend to arrive late or at the last moment and unprepared.  In the article he notes these low-producing people are also the ones who most likely squirm in their seats, leave early or talk to the person next to them.

He goes on to mention a great point.  These bottom-feeders are typically the same people who arrive at an athletic or entertainment event wanting the best seat in the house.  Generally arriving in plenty of time and are irritated when there are distractions from anyone else.

This is my friend sounds to me like a Piker who is someone who holds back, looking forward to vacation time and giving very little effort at work.  In my line of work I have one person that comes to mind while I was reading Ziglar’s post.  In fact most recently he was talking about his recent trip to a professional sporting event, how the tailgating before the game was fun, how he was drunk 3 hours before the game, the annoying person in front of him, and then the after-game party.  All of this coming from the same person who shows up 1-3 minutes before his scheduled shift and he wonders why he is having a hard time producing.

I cannot help but chuckle out loud as to how right Zig Ziglar is on this.  The individuals at my work who are successful have two things in common.  They do whatever it takes, every time.  They are the people who sit in the front, who continuously want to learn, unlike the above-mentioned individual, they show up early to meetings and generally are the last people to leave.  I leave you with the closing comments from the article:

“In short, these people are winners because they plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win.  That’s a good approach to life.  Try it and I’LL SEE YOU AT THE TOP!”