What do you focus on really? Be honest, isn’t it results? After all, we all want the result, don’t we? But focusing on the result is not the best strategy. Focusing on the process is most likely to get you the result you are looking for.
The world of sports gives us many good examples of why being process-driven is better than being results-driven. One of my favorite college basketball coaches was quoted as having said that he never looked at the scoreboard during the game. This Hall of Fame coach focused on the fundamentals and the process. Turnovers, defensive efficiency, and the number of passes before a shot were just some of the statistics this coach focused on relentlessly. These were all part of the winning process that achieved record numbers of wins during a long coaching career. This coach knew that if his team executed the process, the results would take care of themselves.
Sales is a complex process. Focusing on the result has many disadvantages. For starters, if you don’t have a process that will lead to a predictable result and somehow you make a sale, you have no idea how to repeat your success. With a process, what you learn is lifelong and transferable. You can take that with you as you take on new challenges.
Focusing on the result instead of the process sets you up for disappointment and defeat. Sometimes you do the process perfectly and you still don’t get the result. However, the process always works out based on the law of averages. Instead of judging success based on results, it is much better to judge your execution of the process.
Process-driven people are always improving and growing because they can experiment and innovate on their process. Because they understand the effectiveness of their current process, when they make a tweak, they can determine if it improves the process. Those who focus only on the result lack the ability to figure out how to improve.
Control what you can control. It’s difficult to control the outcome. With a clearly defined process, you put yourself in position to control what you can control. This produces confidence which leads to growth and improvement. We can see our incremental improvements best by focusing on the process instead of the result.
Your process should include some key elements. Learning skills, product knowledge, the industry, the competition, and how to build a strong mindset. In addition to learning, your process must include work. The best process will be useless if you don’t do the work. Commit to daily activity goals and accomplish them by using your time wisely and eliminating distractions. Finally, you want to optimize your process by tracking your activity to determine patterns, finding mentors and coaches to give you advice and feedback, and continually investing in yourself by seeking the best ideas and information available.
At the 2016 Olympics, swimmer Michael Phelps was interviewed by Bob Costas. He was asked how he would feel if he was to win a silver medal instead of a gold in his final competition of his final Olympics. His response was that he could live with that because he understood the process, had put in the work and preparation, and understood that he could only control what he could control. Michael Phelps won the gold medal in his final competition of his final Olympics. He went on to be the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals, 23 of them gold. Michael Phelps focused on the process not the result.