“All of these problems you have are self-inflicted,” he said in the nicest way possible. “You’re acting like a vendor instead of owning your role as a practitioner.”
“What’s the difference?”
My friend proceeded to teach me a lesson that changed my life:
Vendors:
- Are famous for saying “yes.”
- Believe growth means adding as many customers as possible
- Are valued according to the time it takes them to complete a task
- Conduct business as contracts, terms, and fees-for service
- Are interviewed by their prospects
- Get hired because they are the cheapest
- Have limited impact, because they’re willing to work with everyone
- Fear losing business means they’ll move backwards
Practitioners:
- Are famous for saying “no”
- View growth as becoming a sought-after expert
- Are valued by the result that they deliver, not the time it took them
- Conduct business as partnership and shared purpose
- Interview their prospects
- Get hired because they are the best
- Make a bigger impact because they only work with people who allow them to do so
- Know that losing business just means there’s a better opportunity around the corner
Do you know which one you want to be?
Stop letting people treat you like the other one.
Cheers,
BW
Recent Posts
