By Daniel Harkavy

Are you striving for Championship results? My desire today is to challenge, inspire and hopefully better equip you to take your performance in business and in life to Championship levels.

Each of you has talent, some more than others, but I think we would all agree that natural God given talent plays its role. But even more critical than talent, Champions boast the following three attributes:

1. Vision- what they see
2. Time- how they invest it
3. Failure- how they think about it

1.  VISION

The fastest way to improve how we perform is to improve what we see.

Your business Vision must be in writing. Years ago, I created a process and tool called the 3B Vision Model that answers these three questions: What do we belong to? Who are we going to become? And what are we going to build? After answering these questions, we can then build our long-term strategy and immediate plans. For many of you, this is where you need to start. 
Now for those of you who have your vision in writing and you are reviewing it regularly, I have four questions for you:

• As you read it, does it stir passion in you? Passion is required.
• Are you sharing it in ways that compel those around you? It is up to you to share it often and in ways that aligns your team and compels them to work in ways that will make your vision a reality.
• Does it bring clarity to those you lead? It should bring the type of clarity that enables everyone to make the best decisions. 
• Are you building your plans from it? You must build your plans from what you see.

2. TIME

Invest your time to maximize results.

Specific Disciplines- Champions know exactly what to do when the gun goes off. They know what questions to ask, what answers to give, what products to offer, what commitments to make. In order for you to build the most productive and profitable branches, you must be crystal clear on what specific disciplines are on your calendar. (Example: Call five past clients every day between 9:00 and 10:00 AM.)

Knowledge - You must have the knowledge required to do these specific disciplines better than your competition. This means that one of your specific disciplines must be learning. If you want to increase your impact, your funding, your branch or region, you have to be committed to life-long learning. 

Repetition - Champion performers commit to doing a few Non Negotiable Disciplines day in and day out, regardless of how they feel. What disciplines need to be honed and then made non negotiable?  You figure this out and make 2-3 so specific that you schedule them daily and repeat them regardless of how you feel.

ON Time - ON Time is time in your day to stop, reflect, review, ponder and THINK. This is not time in response mode, responding to questions, emails, etc. This is time to work on yourself and your business so that you improve.

3. FAILURES

Failure happens. However, the difference between Championship performers and others is how they think about and respond to it. Here are some tips to improve your thinking about failures.

Sweaty Palms – Put yourself into a stretching situation every day, one that makes your hands sweat a bit. Don’t play it too safe. If you’re going to be your very best, then it’s important to take the right risks every day. 

Solutions Mindset - Failure does not define the Champion. Failure is never seen as terminal. It is seen as a learning experience. It becomes a problem to be solved. Managers, if you embrace this and then live by it as leaders, you will truly empower and better train those you lead and will enjoy even more success. 

Expect and Plan for Them - The best of the best are not surprised by failures. They don’t like them, but they are not surprised by them. In their thinking/ON time, they prepare for them. They plot their next move and it best positions them for future success.

Bounce Back - And finally, when they do fail (not if) Champions bounce back ready to run, ready to recreate or adjust, ready to meet, ready to risk and ready to press forward.

The past few years have been filled with change, challenge and uncertainty. Many have lost sight and heart while others have gained momentum and have picked up steam. Moving forward, who will you be? My hope is that you’ll be the Champion.

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