A Year from Now, Who Will Your Superstars Be?
One of my favorite experiences during summer at the lake is to lie on the dock at night and look up. The first glimpse of the glittering sky always takes my breath away. It is vastly more intense than the view from our backyard at home.
The stars twinkle brighter in the country than in the city because the perpetual urban "glow" reduces the contrast in light needed to see the individual stars. According to National Geographic:
Similarly, the constant and chaotic buzz of the travel industry is like the bright lights of the city. The glare of shiny objects, your never-ending to-do list, and even the brilliance of your current superstars, diminishes your ability to see potential superstars in your midst.
What also makes your job harder is that superstars hide from us under a veil of resistance, indifference, and denial.
“I sure could use some better support around here.” Resistance
“I don’t want to be a top producer – I don’t want to work that hard”. Indifference
“I don’t have what it takes.” Denial
The key to your future success doesn’t depend on a few bright lights. Success lies in finding and developing an entire team of superstar talent.
The trick is that superstars don’t just appear. You have to find them, nurture them, and help them be all they can be.
There are three essential steps in developing superstar talent.
1. Visibility: The most important first step is to put your future superstars on the radar.
A year from now, who will your superstars be? Are you putting limiting beliefs based on past behavior? We tend to put people in categories and leave them there indefinitely.
Everyone has the potential to be a superstar. It takes consistent, gentle, reminders that the path to higher achievement is within their grasp.
Great leaders see things in others they cannot see in themselves.
2. Simplicity: Create a clear and simple process to help advisors get from where they are, to where they want to be.
It is tempting to set big goals for resuming business, but small steps, done frequently, with excellence will win out over gigantic leaps, with no sustainable plan.
Keep it simple. For example, I spoke to an advisor who was putting off calling because she was worried that she would not know what to say if asked about the safety protocols.
Without ever picking up the phone she was convinced
that the conversation would lead to something she wasn't prepared for.
Reach out and ask people how they are. Don’t worry about selling anything. If they ask about safety protocols, “I don’t know but I’ll find out” is a perfectly acceptable response.”
Follow up with, “Do you mind if I ask you a few more questions?”
Staying curious lets you off the hook of needing to have all the answers.
3. Feedback: Effective feedback is critical to developing people. Yet, according to research by Fast Company:
69% of leaders struggle to communicate effectively with their team,
37% struggle with giving direct feedback,
1 in 5 leaders, struggle to give praise.
That is even though 81% of employees would rather work somewhere
there was open communication.
As a leader, you always own the next performance conversation.
It is never too soon to say, “wonderful job, yay you, or you’re amazing!”. There are 100 ways to say well done, I see you, and you matter to me. You are on my superstar radar!
If you're interested in building your superstar team, please join me at m upcoming session "On Leadership", on June 3rd. Register HERE
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Travel Advisor Basecamp
Are you looking for an added resource to help your advisors break through in their travel business?
So often the difference between success and struggle is in the approach.
Every month I host timely, relevant, webinars to help advisors get to the next level of their business. My focus is on business building "essentials".
I'm VERY excited about our next Basecamp: Your Ascent to the Luxury Summit! In this session, I will unpack the 5 essential ingredients for a successful Luxury Travel business.
Please join me! Feel free to share this link with your team. Register HERE
Here's a quick peek at last week's Basecamp Session.
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Author, Mentor, Speaker
For more tips on Selling without Selling grab a copy of my white paper HERE
JOIN ME for a one-hour session. How to Attract, Engage, and Elevate Your Team. (For Leaders Only) Register HERE
I have a limited number of Mentorship spots available this quarter. If you are interested hit reply or book an appointment on my calendly link here.
PS Where you are is where you are, and that's ok. I wish you much success on the journey back!
