Work, Then Play

No doubt you can think of salespeople who spend more time not working on results-producing activities than they do on activities that will earn income. I hope that you are not paying salaries to these people!

But leaders, too, can fall into this trap. I call it the “Field of Dreams Syndrome“, or “If you build it, they will come“.

Many people believe that if they open a business, hang out their shingle, clients will come. But you have to BUILD a business, and it takes work over the long term. People won’t flock to your doors merely because you open them. Just because you built it, does not mean that they will come.

Human beings are goal-oriented creatures. We need to be working toward something worthwhile, whether we are a salesperson, a Property Manager, or a business owner.

Tony Harrington [pictured left]understands the importance of work before play. Completing the Kokoda Trail has been a long-held goal of Tony’s, but achieving this goal was not going to come ahead of his major goal, which was to build a successful business.

Tony and his wife Anita know that by helping clients achieve their goals, they and their team will be rewarded with profit.

For more than ten years they have worked on their business, putting work before play. This does not mean there wasn’t fun along the way, but to build something worthwhile takes effort, time, disappointments, failure, learning, as well as the inevitable success that comes through working on constant improvement.

As a trainer, it fills me with delight seeing leaders like Tony enjoying the fruits of their labour. Not having ever completed the Kokoda Trail, I’m guessing that the actual trek would not have been enjoyable, but the sense of achievement? We can all relate to that.

Tony’s trek, however, was a personal achievement. While personal achievements are good, most often they require money to make happen. If you own a business, to achieve your dreams you must build a PROFITABLE BUSINESS.

Personal achievements aside, Tony and Anita have a business achievement of which they can be proud. They have built something worthwhile together, a great business that will now give them profits to do many more things like Tony’s Kokoda adventure.

Work, then play. The Harringtons got this right.