Zig Ziglar - Top Performance

1986, 2003 by Zig Ziglar

Published by Revell

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.revellbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2013

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-58558-014-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Excerpt from Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World copyright 1985 by Zig Ziglar. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Excerpt reprinted by permission from Bringing Out the Best in People by Alan Loy McGinnis, copyright 1985 Augsburg Publishing House.

Quotation by Jack Falvey reprinted by permission, The Wall Street Journal, copyright Dow Jones and Company, Inc., 1982. All rights reserved.

Material from Psychology Today reprinted with permission from Psychology Today magazine. Copyright 1982 [APA].

The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.

Dedicated to P. C. Merrell,
a Top Performer
whose inspiration and leadership by example
had a lifetime impact on my performance

You can have everything in life you want
if you will just help enough other people
get what they want!

In many ways this is the most unusual and exciting book I have written. Unusual because for the first time I worked with a coauthor and, in this update, with two men whom I love and respect. Without the contribution and assistance of Jim Savage, this book would not have been written. And now, with the unique talent of Bryan Flanagan and Krish Dhanam, the content is greatly enriched. My gratitude for each of them is significant.

As always, Laurie Magers, my ever-faithful, always dependable administrative assistant, did a magnificent job. When called upon, Kay Lynn Westervelt, who worked closely with Laurie, also did a beautiful job, as did Julie Norman, my editor and daughter. I owe a particularly heavy debt of gratitude to my friend and mentor Fred Smith, whom I hold in high regard, for his willingness to contribute thoughts and ideas throughout the book. A very special thank-you to Leo Presley, president of the consulting firm Presley & Associates, who encouraged us and gave important direction on getting involved on a larger scale in corporate America. Leo is one of the brightest men I know.

I am also grateful to Ron Ezinga, the past president of the Zig Ziglar Corporation, whose steady hand at the helm and encouraging guidance while we wrote this book kept us at least partially on course in meeting our guidelines. Then, of course, theres my wife, Jean, the Redhead, whose willingness to tolerate some intolerable demands on our time together, combined with her loving support, made the book not only possible but an exciting experience. To the other members of our staff and to the numerous authors who contributed through your articles, thank you.

Fifteen percent of the reason you get a job, keep that job, and move ahead in that job is determined by your technical skills and knowledgeregardless of your profession! Thats what my late friend, human engineer Cavett Robert, said. What about the other 85 percent? Cavett quoted Stanford Research Institute, Harvard University, and the Carnegie Foundation (which spent one million dollars and five years on the research) as having proved that 85 percent of the reason you get a job, keep that job, and move ahead in that job has to do with your people skills and people knowledge!

Im completely convinced he was right. As I travel around the country sharing ideas on personal growth, sales training, and the corporate concepts we teach at Ziglar Training Systems, I become more and more aware of the critical need for specialized instruction on how we can manage ourselves and lead others for maximum effectiveness. As I visit with professionals from all walks of life, I see common problems in manyif not allof the different situations men and women are facing, and the common denominator in these problems is always the same: people.

So obviously, managing people (starting with yourself) becomes a high priority if we are to be successful. In this book, we have several primary goals relating to understanding people management skills:

1. We will identify the key factors in people management, including helping managers to identify potential sources of conflict.
2. We will offer solutions to help overcome these potential sources of conflict.
3. We will share how you can apply the principles and ideas other managers have used successfully, thereby taking this book out of the realm of theory and making it applicable in the real world.
4. We will showcase practical Top Performance through real life illustrations gathered from successful executives.
5. We will bridge the gap between training and development so as to create Top Performers who are truly performance champions.

John Naisbitt, author of Megatrends, says that retraining managers, not retraining workers, is the biggest challenge for the information-age corporation. With this in mind, the ultimate goal of Top Performance is to develop excellence in managers and to provide management with teaching procedures and inspiration to effectively develop and utilize team members.

The foundation for developing yourself and others is wrapped up in this principle:

You can have everything in life you want
if you will just help enough other people
get what they want!

I have used this statement for nearly fifty years as a foundational truth, and never is the concept more accurate than when managing yourself and others. Important! Im talking about a principle and not a tactic. As a tactic the words would be crass and ineffective. As a principle the concept works because it makes others want your leadership.

I read an interesting article in Fortune magazine about multibillionaire Li Ka-Shing from Hong Kong. He raised his two sons, Victor and Richard, in his business, requiring them to attend board meetings and conferences where they learned his philosophy.

Richard observed that his entrepreneurial genius father was involved in many joint ventures, most of which had great ideas and products but little capital. Richards father taught him that if 10 percent is a fair percentage of the business you receive as a result of your investment but you know you can get 11 percent, it is wise to take only 9 percent. Li Ka-Shing taught his boys that if they took less than they could get, many undercapitalized people would bring their good ideas and products to them first. Thats exactly what happened, because when individuals in the business world saw that these people were genuinely interested in them, they brought good deals to them, proving the philosophy completely. Its true! The great managers from all fields know that when they put people first, their effectiveness and efficiency improve.

One basic definition of management is getting things done through people. Successful managers recognize, develop, and use all their strength by recognizing, developing, and utilizing the talents of their subordinates. They learn what makes people tick and transfer their own feelings of excitement and enthusiasm to those who follow their leadership.