It’s Labour Weekend. What are you fighting for? What are you fighting against?
It’s Labour Weekend. What are you fighting for? What are you fighting against?
What are you fighting for
It’s Labor Day Weekend in the USA, and aside from the closing of swimming pools in Colorado (they open on Memorial Day and close on Labor Day 🤔), Labor Day weekend is a time to reflect on the long history of U.S. workers who fought for 8-hour workdays, weekends, and workplace safety measures.
🫵 A group of disruptors fighting for a cause.
🫵 Disrupting the status quo.
🫵 Leading a movement.
🫵 Making a ruckus, as Seth Godin would say.
🫵 Disruption is everywhere if we look close enough.
So is the status quo.
Bob Dylan may have sung
For the times they are a-changin'
But Peter Senge, strategist and American Social Scientist said it so eloquently,
"People don't resist change. People resist being changed."
Because for change to happen,
WE must change
The way we think, feel, and act can’t not change.
Think parenting.
You want your kids to do better.
What do you do?
The carrot doesn’t work.
The stick doesn’t work.
They resist you wanting to change them.
So what does work?
Think leadership.
You want your team to work harder
What do you do?
The carrot doesn’t work.
The stick doesn’t work.
They resist you wanting to change them.
So what does work?
Think sales.
You want your customer to buy more.
What do you do?
The carrot doesn’t work.
The stick doesn’t work.
They resist you wanting to change them.
So what does work?
There’s only one thing that works: a shift in identity and the rules around what must change and why.
Deliberately disrupting the way we think, feel, and act.
And the operative word is DELIBERATE.
But because we’re so addicted to our thoughts, feelings, and actions, we’re no different from any other kind of addict.
Truth!
How do you break those addictive patterns?
Cold turkey isn’t easy.
As a parent, a leader, and a seller, what is your status quo default? And what internal and external ruckus do you need to make to take you to the next level and be effectively disruptive?
I was asked this question the other day by someone I respect immensely, fellow speaker and friend 💫Jen DeVore Richter, M.A.
She asked,
"Bernadette, what are you fighting for? And what are you fighting against?"
And my answer?
It couldn’t be clearer.
As someone who’s been in the trenches of sales leadership and now takes the stage as a keynote speaker:
Here’s what I’m fighting for:
🥊 Sales leaders and teams who are impact drive, hungry for growth and need someone they can count on and trust.
🥊 New, bold ideas that challenge conventional thinking, make them dig deeper, and deliver results.
🥊 Helping leaders make decisions with confidence, using insights and best practices from within and outside the industry.
🥊 Raising the bar – ensuring they and their teams are pushing themselves to be better every day.
🥊 And it’s not just about work. It’s about creating a life where they have more choices and can truly thrive.
But, equally important, here’s what I'm fighting against:
🥊 It’s more than teams not making their numbers – it’s about sales leaders and teams stuck in gridlock, not because they don’t have what it takes – they do! it’s because they don’t have the resources or support they need from the top.
🥊 Leaders and teams bogged down by outdated rules
🥊 Colleagues who don’t pull their weight, preventing meaningful change from even starting to happen.
🥊 The frustration of those who’ve experienced empty promises that never materialize.
🥊 Leaders struggling to maintain influence as their authority is being undermined
🥊 A lack of fresh ideas and deep, strategic thinking when it’s needed most.
In the end, disruption isn’t about creating chaos for its own sake – it’s about breaking away from the status quo to unlock new levels of success, both in business and in life.
Disruption is not scary!
Whether you’re leading a sales team, raising a family, or striving to achieve personal growth, the key is to be deliberate in your actions and decisions.
So, as we reflect on Labor Day and these historic disruptors who made this change happen, I challenge you to ask yourself these same questions that Jen asked me:
“What am I fighting for ? What am I fighting against?”
And most importantly,
“What deliberate changes am I willing to make to lead myself, my team, and my life to the next level?”
Remember, true leadership starts with the courage to disrupt your own patterns and the conviction to inspire others to do the same.
Especially if you are a leader and have the responsibility of your own financial targets as well as other people’s financial targets!
On that note, I’m excited to share that I’m currently working on some new IP around the concept of Disruptive Leadership for Sales Leaders.
I’ll be diving deeper into these ideas soon, offering fresh insights and practical strategies on how to apply disruptive leadership for yourself and your team. If you’re interested, stay tuned or DM me – more details to come!
Let’s make that ruckus.
Bernadette
I’m Bernadette – founder of the Decision-Led Revenue™ Operating System and The Revenue Leader of Influence™, where I work with CEOs and sales leaders to build a sales team they can rely on to think, make the call, tell the truth about pipeline and own the result.
If any of this resonated – or if you’re staring at a revenue problem that feels like it should have been solved by now – I’d love a conversation.
BOOK A NO-OBLIGATION 20-MINUTE CALL
And if you’d rather join the discussion, you can also join me on Substack. That’s where the Revenue Leader of Influence community is starting to have these conversations in real time.
