As I was rereading Bradley Sugars book, “Instant Systems" I revisited a topic that often gets pushed under the table.  You can't control what happens, but you can control how you react to it.  You can choose how you respond.  Sugars calls it "the line of decision" and you can choose to live "Above the Line" or "Below the Line."

       Ownership

     Accountability

     Responsibility
  ________________

          Blame

         Excuses

          Denial

Living "Above the Line" means taking ownership, being accountable and responsible.  Living "Below the Line" means you look elsewhere for blame, excuses and denial.

Is anyone on your team living below the line?  Do some team members complain "I never get good leads" or "my territory is harder" or "the market is down" or "we can't match the competition's pricing."  Compare them to your team members who take ownership of the issues and thrive on being accountable for the results they produce.  Who would you rather be around?

Are you living below the line?  Some sales managers complain "my team just doesn't get it."  Well, whose fault is that?  Who hired them?  Who's managing them?  What are you going to do about it?  How can you, as the manager, change the situation?

Living above the line means having a Victor's mindset.  If you're below the line, you have a Victim's mindset.  Living above the line means producing results.  Operating below the line means producing reasons.  Where do you want your sales team to be?