Do you remember the last time that you got really competitive? I bet it wasn’t that long ago - the business world thrives on it! Working in a fast paced world like Enterprise Sales is to live in a world that is obsessed with winning. And we all know that only one team, or person, can win and therefore somebody must lose - every time.

Culturally, we have grown up to believe that the only options are to win or to lose. In the business world, we see that reinforced by frequent references to sporting analogies and admiration for ‘Type A’ sporting personalities who have completely invested themselves in their sport. We strongly identify with our sporting teams and their rivalries - it matters whether you’re a Djokovic or Federer Fan, Ronaldo or Messi, England Rugby or Celtic Rugby. And it really matters that your idols win.

What win/lose thinking really looks like

Business built on this binary win or lose approach has created a culture in which we feel the need to constantly prove that we are the best and there is little, or no, room for anything else. It's toxic. By being myopically focused on our competitors, we’re valuing rivalry over collaboration.

There’s no doubt that some of the great business rivalries have resulted in huge successes - Oracle v Microsoft/ Oracle v SAP/ Microsoft v Apple/ Bill Gates v Steve Jobs among them. These super successful businesses were born out of an outstanding individual - a real force of nature.

But… Is business built on rivalry fit for the future?

This binary approach in which there can only be one winner is no longer the best way to create a successful enterprise sales career and to win the most revenue you possibly can

We are living in times in which we can see much greater benefit from much wider spectrum thinking and where binary thinking might actually limit our success.

This is a time of change, perhaps in fact, change is the new normal. Post war, we got used to stability but, historically, we’ve faced huge highs and lows which are also characteristic of the pandemic. Historically, pandemics aren’t new. Political instability isn’t new. Economic challenges aren’t new. These things were the old normal and, perhaps, that volatility is here to stay.

And, in this time of change, we need to be drawing our focus to how we can optimise our business collaborations rather than our rivalries.

Enterprise sales club will be launched next week - If you'd like to find out more, head over to the website. www.enterprisesalesclub.com.

I let you know as soon as it is live

If you want to get yourself career ready for 2021 in this final part of 2020, contact me at [email protected]