First Step

Our professional career is a journey (this applies to our personal lives also).   While we make every effort to plan for a smooth trip, we know that change along the way is inevitable.

Every step is one that hopefully leads us forward in advancement.   It represents progress and if the step takes us in a wrong direction, we learn from it, and adjust.   We have consistently talked about this journey beginning with a first step.   While we stress the importance of the first step, there seems to be less emphasis on a second step.   The reason for that is if we do not take the first step, there won’t be a second step and so it will not matter. 

It would be wrong to tell you that my career was charmed and advanced smoothly with each step.   There were missteps along the way.   Rather than lose sight of the entire journey and destination because of it, a misstep was always viewed only as a slight disruption and a minor delay.    Mistakes are inevitable and to be successful, we look at each mistake to understand what went wrong and make improvements accordingly.   It is natural to assign blame to others or oneself, but the time taken to do so can be better used to define and execute appropriate improvements. 

My parents shared with me this Chinese proverb, “Failure is the mother of success.”

They taught me to accept mistakes along the way but learn from them to avoid a future occurrence.   In my early days as a young salesperson, I found myself disappointed when I could not close a deal.   A salesperson realizes the importance of closing a deal but accepts that not every deal will be closed.   Once I could accept this, I found myself less disappointed, less discouraged and less de-motivated if the results were negative.    The goal was to minimize the non-closures but when it happens, find out why and then move on to the next deal.  

The first step is important, but the second step is equally and perhaps even more important, because it leads to the third step……..Think about the steps you have taken and the next step you are going to take.