This was my dad during his sophomore year when he became the starting center for the Maryland Terrapins in 1950. That year they won the Gator Bowl and went on to win the Orange Bowl and the Sugar Bowl for the 1953 National Championship! My dad also long snapped and played a "little" linebacker. He didn't talk much about himself so I've had to fill in a few blanks. My mom told me he had an interception  against Michigan to win the game and send them to the Gator Bowl, but I have uncovered an old photo showing him intercept another one against BU. Two interceptions, maybe more, during the season that started their run to glory was not bad for a center playing a "little" linebacker! My dad was 6' 3" 200 lbs. pretty big for his day but not huge. When he first got to Maryland the coaches thought he was too skinny to make the team. One coach confided it was true, but none of them were brave enough to tell him that to his face. He was a Marine from the war and he had this way about him. He was fearless and willing to take on anyone foolish enough to underestimate him.

His defensive philosophy was to hit them harder than they hit him. He said it to me a hundred times, "Hit them harder than they hit you!" or my favorite, "Get in front of the play and good things will happen!" I think this a good lesson for life. Be brave enough to get in front of what's comming and good things will happen, but you might get run over. This reminds me of something he would always say, "It's OK to fail, just don't be a failure!" I think I get it now. How my dad drags down this ball I haven't a clue. It looks like he's too far up and the ball will get past to that sprinting receiver who will be home free. But my dad does drag it down. Not bad for a starting center, long snapper, playing a "little linebacker!"

So what's my point in posting this in selling strong...I just read a great book, The Seventeen Lies That Are Holding You Back and the Truth That Will Set You Free, by Steve Chandler. One of the lies is that, "There is something is wrong with me!"  This has struck a nerve with me because there is a lot of things wrong with me, oops, there I go again. I was posting the above story on dumbdumbdaddyo.blogspot.com when I was struck by how skinny or little my dad looked for being the starting center for a national championship football team. That's what was wrong with him, but his strengths were so strong that it made his weaknes (his size) irrelevant. So there's my point, selling strong is about what is special about you not what's wrong with you. My dad was tough. Marine tough. What are you?

Selling Strong is all about you. Finding out who you truly are and then using that person to sell like crazy. This quote from my dad's wood box of wisdom makes me think how important it is to find our strengths and in doing so finding what is truly special about ourselves. It is not about finding who we want to be. It's about discovering what, for whatever reason, we do really well, naturally. It is incredibly powerful and important to find this "truth" inside ourselves and in doing so forget all about everything else. 
Have you every been in "the zone"? Have you ever been doing something and lost complete track of time? Have you ever surprised yourself and looked up and said OMG did I just do that? Have you seen this in other people, when they just seemed to "light up" and shine and not even notice it in themselves?

We see it in sports all the time. I remember seeing it a long time ago in a match-up of greatness. It was in Cole Field House at the University of Maryland and I had the honor of watching Len Bias of the Terrapins play Micheal Jordan of the North Carolina Tarr Heals and it was like these two guys were from a different planet. Sure they were both gifted athletes, but there was something more going on there and my dad made sure to point it out. He said look at how those two love to compete, they each want it so bad, to win, to beat the best, and they played like there was no tomorrow.

When you find yourself in the zone appreciate where your are. You are most likely utilizing you greatest strength. Remember what you were doing and how it made you feel. That is what you are good at and if you are at work do more of it. If you are away from work figure out how to incorporate that action into your livelihood and you may never work again. Find that truth and forget about everything else!

Back in 2009 I was "separated" from Pfizer. I was told that I hadn't been "placed" in the new reorganization. The severance activity began immediately and I had to return all the things Pfizer had lent me to do the job. Everything Pfizer did in letting me go was done professionally, courteously and with concern and resources to face my new uncertain future. 5,000 of us got the same news. Half the sales force was let go that day. I was shocked. Months of knowing it was a serious possibility, but shocked I was. My manager said I was an excellent candidate to enter the competitive interview process to compete for the few new, smaller, rural territories that were created but unassigned. In my state there were two, Glenwood Springs and Durango, relocation was mandatory. After 3 months the manager who let me go brought me back. He said you are number 1 for Durango and number 2 for Glenwood. If you accept you can have Durango and maybe Glenwood if the number 1 there doesn't accept. He said I'm telling you all this because if you accept you will face a pretty stiff challenge to go forward. I said, "Let's roll!" The challenge was that a new product launch would happen at the end of the month so I needed to train and certify on the new drug and disease state. As a new "Whole Portfolio Rep" I would also need to train and certify on six other new drugs (new to me at least). I would be carrying a total of 9 pharmaceuticals in my bag. My boss said, "That's 14 online Pedagogue Exams and compliance certification presentation evaluations in New York all by the launch meetings in Las Vegas in four weeks, can you do it? After a long pregnant pause I said, "YES I CAN!" I hung up the phone turned to my wife and said, "I CAN'T DO THIS!!!"
I did it. And I learned I can do hard things!

I decided not to waste this second opportunity to work for the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world.

I decided to take every advantage Pfizer offers to better myself. I've made it through a major merger, another reorganization and major layoffs since then (I am the sole survivor of my original district of twelve people) and soon will be returning to Las Vegas for the launch of a new product! It makes me think of how full circle I've come since then. It was only three years ago, but it seems like a lifetime ago since I was so sure I could not do this! Oh, it was a lifetime my little Mary is three!

Besides all the continuing training that is required with Pfizer I decided to do the impossible. I went back to school. I've been taking masters level business classes at the University of Phoenix and now I have only three classes left to get my MBA. I've taken sixty weeks of classes and have 18 to go!

Besides the required ongoing Pfizer training and MBA classes I decided to get a professional certification at the CMR Institute. I just finished a 6 credit hour course and received a Diabetes Certification. I'm only two classes away from the AMR certification (Advanced Medical Representative)! I love the disease state education from this endeavor. Recently, Pfizer started a Career Pathways program and it gives recognition for self directed training. It categorizes this training three ways; knowledge credit, skills credit and elective credits. I've registered for my first Edge Class, "Differentiating Your Product" to start gaining skill credits. You can only get points for a maximum total of 10 credit hours, this year I will earn in the neighborhood of 60 Career Pathways points and don't mind at all that only 10 will count.

Besides the Pfizer required training, MBA classes, CMR classes and Edge training I use the company TRL library (The Tape Rental) library (they are CD audio books actually) as elective training credits with Pfizer! It is here where a transformation of my abilities and confidence has been dramatic! Over the last two years here is a partial list of what I've been listening to while driving the western half of Colorado (my 1.5 year old 2011 Escape has 92,000 miles on it, making the worst part of my job my favorite). Reinventing Yourself, 17 Lies That Are Holding You  Back & The Truth That Will Set You Free, Good to Great, Power Speak, Love is the Next Killer App, Winning, Making Your Point, The Art of Woo, Blink, The Tipping Point, Outliers, Make Yourself Unforgettable, Now Go Put Your Strengths to Work, How Full Is Your Bucket? and a few more I can't think of right now. My appetite for useful knowledge and personally relevant insight continues to grow. But what I really have grown to love is sharing the knowledge garnered with my friends, so here I am, a blogger and the founder of sellingstrong.blogspot.com!

What has been the greatest lesson I've learned? I've learned a lot about myself. I've learned:

That knowledge is powerful, but self knowledge is empowering!

Good Boy Ty, good boy!

Selling Strong means many things to me. It's primarily a tribute to strength based management and my managers and teachers and coaches who have helped me make my strengths stronger. I'm almost done reading Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers. I loved Blink and Tipping Point. He is a Master of a freakanomics like interpretation of success and human achievement.

Human achievement is a combination of God given talent and abilities and the opportunities of fate. Like your birth date. It just so happens that Mary my youngest was born on the deadline date for our school district. She will have the opportunity to be the youngest in her kindergarten class or wait a year and be the oldest. Thank God we read this book before making this decision. We've also decided to send our other daughters to private school starting next year!

Since this is my blog let me log  my attempts at selling stronger. I start my next MBA class next week. 60 weeks down 18 to go. I got my diabetes certificate from CMR and signed up for a urology course. One more and I get a AMR (advanced medical representative) certification. I have to train and launch a new drug over the next three months with Pfizer. I must complete an Edge training course by Tuesday and I have an annual inventory due next week. I'm busy. But the more I do the easier it is to do more. With all this there is more of a need for time with my wife and girls and dogs. The more I do the more I relish my time with my girls. I would do anything for them. Anything.

I want to be the man my wife, children and dogs think I am.