The Grand Assumption

“Trains don’t stop for barking dogs.”

~ Wesley Cunningham (1897-1977)

Founding Member of the Ontario Milk Marketing Board The Grand Assumption Humility is Serena’s most endearing quality. No doubt it’s a key to making her unstoppable at producing the results that are simply an everyday occurrence for her. (She’s still the only person to get a sales appointment with the Queen of England. Yup, no kidding, the QUEEN of England.)

Serena is a long-time client of mine. For ages she’s been in the sales field. She’s been so successful in selling to c-level executives, she recently took on teaching her approach to others.

Well, a week ago Friday was her big day. She had been hired to provide a one-day in-house training for a past employer in Ottawa. The goal was to “shatter the myths” of selling to the c-level. She prepared like crazy, anticipating just about every outcome she could think of.

There she is, in her hotel room the morning of her presentation, nervous as all heck and getting ready for her big day. She hops in the shower, gets out her shampoo and JUST as she’s at the peak of lathering her hair, the water shuts OFF. Yes, you heard me, OFF.

Nothing.

Nada.

Not even a drip.

I can imagine the heart-sinking “Oh, you’ve GOTTA be kidding me!” comment erupting from her lips. Apparently, pleading to the water gods to turn it back on went unanswered, so she fumbled for her towel squinting with stinging eyes. It turns out there was a water main break and the hotel lost their water supply. Lovely.

Can you imagine? You’re just about to “go on” and you’ve got a head full of suds!! So, what did she do? She dabbed off as much of the soap as possible with her towel and went to the presentation ANYWAY (soap flakes and all).

Instead of trying to cover up the “sud’s situation” or pretend it wasn’t there, Serena just owned it. In fact, she joked about it with participants. Think about the laughter in the room after she shared the story!

Her day with the sales group was a raving success and ended with an even more hilarious experience and example of grace.

Serena and all the reps were invited out for dinner after the training. After all the breakthroughs of the day, people were chatting, having fun, joking and laughing. A little while later, an elderly woman sadly collapsed in the restaurant from some kind of condition. The medics arrived with the ambulance, oxygen, stretcher, the whole nine yards.

As Serena and the sales group were leaving, Serena started feeling a little queasy. When they walked out the door they were greeted by the flashing ambulance lights. A couple was coming up the path to the entranceway of the restaurant as well. Serena’s nausea suddenly overcame her and she turned to the side and proceeded to throw up like she’s never done before.

Just at the same moment of the vomiting and the flashing lights, the older lady, who’d collapsed inside, was wheeled out on a stretcher. Taking in this very odd sight, the couple paused for a moment. David, from her party, looked up at the rather shocked pair and said to them in a totally dead-pan voice, “Don’t eat the quesadillas.”

The entire sales group (including Serena) just about fell to the ground with hysterical laughter.

Serena created RAVING FANS from the people she worked with that day. Not just because she delivered great content but because she simply rolled with the punches, ALL of them.

Your Fieldwork:

There is an assumption that we as a human race were born into. We inherit it from our family and the people around us. It’s rarely questioned and can consistently get us into trouble. I call it The Grand Assumption.

Basically, The Grand Assumption says this:

“There is a way that life ‘should’ be. When things turn out the way they ‘should,’ things are good. When they don’t turn out the way they ‘should’, there is something wrong with them, or me, or it.”

This assumption colours how we look at ALL the results in our life. Our results are either as they “should” be or they are not. While these “shoulds” and “should nots” are constantly changing, they represent at any moment in our lives what is right or wrong with us, or others or the world around us.

If things are as they “should” be, then we have cause to be fulfilled and proud. If they are not, then something or someone needs fixing.

The “assumption” makes it easy to get sucked onto the perpetual wheel of trying to get things to turn out as they “should.” I “should” make more money, I “should” be more appreciated at work, I “should” be VP by now. So, we work harder and harder AND HARDER to get things to turn out the way they “should.”

You can almost hear teeth grinding as people do this.

Welcome to what I believe to be one of the biggest single causes of stress on the planet: trying to get things to turn out as they “should.”

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with wanting those things – the money, the job, etc. The problem is, things rarely (if ever) turn out as we expect them to. People miss meetings, approvals aren’t always given, other people get the job you were gunning for, water in hotels shuts off at inopportune times.

Call it the “sud factor” if you like. Life happens.

The difficulty with the “sud factors” is that when they happen, most of us respond from a place of fear (What if they find out? I’ll look like a moron, etc.), not out of what could be possible DESPITE them.

Thank you, Serena, for being such a model of what’s possible.

Two questions:

1. Where in your life do you need to let go of getting things to turn out as they “should”?

2. If you let go of being attached to THAT result, what ELSE could be possible?

By Jamie Broughton of Footprint Leadership. If you're ready to build a stellar business and career without working harder than you already are, get your complimentary Leadership Springboard Workbook and tips now at www.footprintleadership.com

The Grand Assumption - To learn more about this author, visit Jamie Broughton's Website.

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