A few years ago, some Olympic athletes were asked in an interview:
“Are you nervous?”
The interviews were done one by one, but each athlete responded to the question the same way:
“No, I’m excited!”
Now wait for a second… how does it feel to be nervous? You get “butterflies” in your stomach, your heart races, your palms get sweaty…
How does it feel to be excited? You get “butterflies” in your stomach, your heart races, your palms get sweaty…
Interesting. Being nervous and being excited feel exactly the same. So what’s the difference between them?
PERCEPTION.
Olympic athletes feel exactly the same as those of us who say “I’m so nervous!” The only difference is that they don’t interpret those feelings as nervousness, they interpret them as excited-ness .
When we coach CSRs, they often start by saying “I’m so nervous!” They’re nervous because we’re going to play their recorded phone calls with them. We’re going to offer feedback on what they’re doing well and what they need to get better at. But what’s amazing is watching them shift from nervous to excited as time goes on, as their skills improve, and they become more confident .
Nothing is more profitable for your business than a team that is confident, self-reliant, service-minded, and EXCITED to get better.
