People who think and act like they are better than other people suck. This is true in any walk of life. I travel a lot so I see too much of this unfortunately. I see people treat flight staff like crap and act like they are the only ones who have been inconvenienced by the delay. A perfect example of this is a story I read recently about a woman who was on a flight over Thanksgiving and was flipping out because it was delayed and she needed to get home to help with the cooking. Take a minute to read this awesome story and what one of the passengers did about it while documenting it with her tweets. This woman obviously has issues but the main one is that she seems to think the world revolves around her and she is more important than everyone else.

This happens in business and in sales a lot too. You see reps in the office who walk around and just because they hit their quota this month and were top on the leader board they think they can do and say whatever they want to whoever they want. The most common example I have with what I do is when a senior sales rep comes into my training with this attitude like they are too good for training and then proceed to spend the majority of the time checking their e-mails or talking in the back. If you think you’re too good for training then get out of my class and good luck being average the rest of your life. I’ll train the reps in the class who want to learn how to smoke you next quarter and make you look like a chump.

One more example relates to leadership and management within business. Think about the managers who sit in their ivory tower/offices and bark down orders to their reps without ever really taking the time to show them how to do what they are asking them to do. Compare this to the managers who actually get on the phone and start making calls themselves with the reps. Which one would you rather work for?

The other side of this equation is just as important though. You can’t let people treat you like you’re less than they are. You have to have the confidence and attitude that no one is better than you and you bring just as much value as they do, maybe just in different areas. You bring a different approach, mentality, insight that all have value if presented the right way. I’ll be digging into the value of confidence in my next post about Guiding Principle #7: Confidence overcomes most shortcomings except an ego. But for now, let’s try to even the playing field.

Here’s a thought to walk away with. Don’t consider yourself a sales rep. Think of yourself as a Business Professional that happens to be in Sales. This evens the playing field. Now, the secretary that everyone tends to unfortunately look down on is just a Business Professional who happens to be a secretary. The CEO that everyone looks up to is just a Business Professional who happens to be a CEO. We all put our pants on the same way and all bring value in some way. Make sure you’re voice is heard. Good luck and happy selling.