Immediately after beginning my assignment leading Latin America, and after celebrating the new job and all the accolades that will come with the position……reality set in. The job was to make the noise stop, in a declining business. No funding for growth (or my ideas). Not much support. So much for building something great?!?
I remember speaking with my manager, Kelly Connery who scolded, “Be Jeff or go home!” what an amazing statement and a more powerful belief. Beliefs drive our every action, our behavior, how we show up and how we interact. Beliefs are the most powerful and controllable guide we have.
The moment you release yourself from the fear of failure, even when the probability of failure is high, you create a situation that will condone success and expose a blank canvas to paint whatever you can dream up.
Throughout our careers we all will be presented with many types of adversity. We have to decide if the voice in our head tells us to fear the probable, or believe in the possible. The power of belief is so critical in our performance.
For me, I became relentless in my pursuit. It took me 2 years, but I got the funding we needed and the results were astounding. We tripled the size of our sales team, 3 of 5 years set records and by 2015 we turned Latin America into he fastest growing business at our company.
I will never forget the advice and the belief which is now imprinted in my mind for anything that could slow me down or get in my way. Crediting Kelly with the phrase, I pass his words to you. For me, I will Be Jeff!
