Happiness and Sales Success. With Bridget Gleason [Episode 604]

Bridget Gleason is VP of Sales for Logz.io and my regular partner on Front Line Fridays.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Bridget is doing fantastic in Boston, enjoying the change of seasons! Andy enjoys running in Central Park.
• The topic is happiness. Bridget’s resting state is happy. There is a lot of stress she faces as a VP of Sales, and she wants to be imperturbable at work.
• Andy cites author Emma Seppälä, about making work a place of calm, centeredness, and focus, to enable us to be more successful at work and in life.
• Stress up and down the chain of sales has been ratcheted up. A recent study of stress showed 58% of people surveyed nationally report their level of stress is rising. In 2014, Gallup found employee engagement to be low.
• Seppälä says decades of research have shown that happiness is not the outcome of success but the precursor to it. This resonates with Bridget. She doesn’t want her happiness dependent on future results.
• When we feel burned out, we accept over-extension as a way of life. Then we blame ourselves for the burnout. Andy is not one of the 58% of over-stressed people. The perspective of experience helps him not to stress.
• Emma Seppälä lists six myths of success. Andy comments on each myth. Seppälä isolates the actions of success from the feelings of happiness. Happiness is a state of heightened positive emotions that prepare for success.
• Happiness leads to connections and is contagious. Bridget talks about how happy the VP of Customer Success at Logz.io always appears and how she asked him about it. She looks forward to encounters with him.
• Seppälä divides happiness into three categories of benefits. On the intellectual level, it helps us learn faster and be more creative. Psychologically, it helps us bounce back from stress. Socially, it helps build relationships.
• The turnover rate for SDRs (about a year) indicates they are not happy at work. As the prospect-facing team of the organization, it would be better for them to be happy. Can the inherent stress in their environment be reduced?
• Seppälä considers there to be six keys to happiness. Living in the moment — being present with people — is the first. Andy explains the six keys. The last is to show compassion and be of service to others.
• Andy hopes you will read the book and he invites your comments and questions about Emma Seppälä’s book, The Happiness Track, in the context of sales.