PICK A DIRECTION AND FLY

I had the pleasure to listen to a great speaker this morning and I wanted to relay the story and message he told.

An experienced retired Navy pilot bought a plane and really enjoyed flying it. On day he decided to fly from his home in Chicago to Atlanta. He set his course but really didn’t do all his homework before he took off for his trip.

As he started to fly into Kentucky the pilot ran right into the middle of a severe thunder storm. His plane was dropping several hundred feet at a time and he would climb back up as fast as he could. The plane was being tossed by the storm and then the pilot realized that his instruments weren’t working. He tried everything he knew only to come to the realization that he had been struck by lightning and it knocked out his instrument panel.

The pilot got on his radio and called to the nearest control tower asking if they could see him on their radar. The control tower answered, “ping your transponder” the pilot simply said, “I just did”. The control tower told him to ping it again. To which he gave the same answer as before, “I just did”.

The pilot was too experienced to lose total control, but in his words, he was starting to get very concerned. He asked the control tower for a suggestion. The control tower told him to “PICK A DIRECTION AND FLY”. He asked what direction, the tower said, “It doesn’t matter, just pick a direction and fly!”

In about 5 minutes the pilot broke out of the clouds and had clear skies ahead of him. He was able to reroute his trip around the storm and fly safely to Atlanta.

Like many of the people listening to the story, I was wondering what this story had to do with anything that I may be associated with.

The speaker then asked a question. “When people get lost and are in trouble, what do they usually do?” He continued, they wander in circles. The circles may be actual circles around a location, or mental circles around a thought or problem. He then asked, “What happens when you walk or mentally go in circles?” His answer was we get deeper and deeper into trouble or more lost than before.

If we were to follow the advice of the control tower like the pilot did, and pick a direction and fly, we would find ourselves someplace other than where we are, which is in trouble. If we commit to a direction and fly, we would come out in a better place and be able to reset our course and get back on the right track to our goals and final destination.

I found the speakers speech to be a very strong and useful message. As sales reps we all, at one time or another, find ourselves lost, in trouble, or wandering in circles. If we were to simply PICK A DIRECTION AND SELL! We would end up in a better place and be back on track to our goals as well.

This story was told to a very diverse group of people, not just sales people. As I listened I knew that although everyone will benefit from hearing this story, the sales reps in the room as well as the sales reps that read this post will especially appreciate and understand how strong this message is for us.

PICK A DIRECTION, ANY DIRECTION, AND SELL!

Lorin