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I had a conversation with an employee the other day concerning self-development. He believed it was vital at this stage in his career to get to the next level and asked me for my advice. My suggestion was for him to have an intense student mentality right now and to ask for and follow suggestions from his mentors, whether he agrees with the advice or not, as long as he feels the advice is ethical.
Why follow advice that you disagree with? A well known and respected CEO, and friend of mine, has been coaching me for about four years now and is often giving me suggestions that I feel will lead to a bad result. I will give him reasons why I feel his advice is bad but after a conversation if he still believes I should follow his suggestion, I will.
The reason I follow his advice is because I want to learn to grow. If I always do what I think is best or what I feel comfortable with then I will not grow. I will just be doing the same thing over and over, like a hamster on a wheel. The key is not the result I get from following his suggestion, but what I learned in the process.
If I follow my coach's suggestion and get a positive result, that is great and I will have learned new skills that will last me a lifetime. However, if I follow his suggestion and get a bad result, not all is lost. I will first review the process and results with my coach to see if I executed properly, but if I find that in the end the suggestion just doesn't work, then I learned a valuable lesson in what not to do in the future.
A good or a bad result is not important. What is important is what is learned along the way. Getting a good result, but not learning from the process, won't serve you as well long-term as getting a bad result, but learning the lessons from it.
The San Fernando Valley Business Journal recently sat down with our very own Gary Polson to discuss his role as CEO of Cydcor for nearly a decade now, what he thinks has contributed to Cydcor's success as one of the best sales outsourcing companies in the world and what opportunities he sees in growing Cydcor.
We kicked off our Cydcor Cares program at the Boys and Girls Club in Thousand Oaks, California this month. The event was designed to help kids become more interested in reading. Cydcor office team members dressed up as their favorite fictional characters and read to children in kindergarten through fourth grade.
The Bookaneer, a local used bookstore in Thousand Oaks, donated dozens of children’s fiction titles to help support the event. Owner, Tracy Benedict, was thrilled with the results and thanked Cydcor for making it a priority to give back to their local community and for providing such a great program for children to participate in.
Read more about Cydcor Cares and this event at The Daily Tell.
Cydcor is proud that its Neighborhood Leader Program has reached significant milestones. To date, more than 500 team members from the various independent Cydcor offices throughout the United States and Canada have dedicated almost 300 hours to their local communities through charity and volunteer work – helping more than 28 organizations.
Organizations helped in various local communities through the Neighborhood Leader Program include the Lupus Alliance of America, Feed the Children, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Make-a-Wish, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Project Bread, the Boys & Girls Club, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the American Cancer Society, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the March of Dimes, and a number of food banks and animal rescues and sanctuaries.
To further demonstrate dedication to the Cydcor Community, the company recently formed a new program, Cydcor Cares, which will enable internal employees to band together and use their eight allotted volunteer hours that Cydcor offers on a yearly basis. The Cydcor Cares first event will take place at the Thousand Oaks Boys and Girls Club, where Cydcor team members will read to children from kindergarten to fourth-grade age.
Click here to read more.
One of the best books written by sports greats is When the Game was Ours by Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson, with Jackie MacMullan.
Larry Bird and Magic Johnson will always be linked as two competitors. They are linked like Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier and Wilt Chamberlain versus Bill Russell. They first competed against each other in the NCAA basketball championship, which has the highest ratings of viewers of any game in history. They then competed against each other in the NBA and in three NBA finals. One was white and one was black; one from a city and one from the country; one was quiet and shy and one outgoing and loved being around people. The one thing that they had in common is that neither was a great athlete. They were considered slow, with poor jumping ability. They were great because of their work ethic and their deep desire to be great. They out-worked and out-competed their competition.
They did not like each other at first, yet there was respect. They each practiced hard, motivated to beat the other. Then because of a television commercial they became friends. This book tells about each of their lives, how hard they worked and practiced and how they became friends.
This is a must read for people who want to be successful. It does help if you have a slight interest in basketball, but it may not be necessary. This is a compelling story of what it takes to win. We often think these great stars are born great. Not the case with most and especially Bird and Magic. They did it by will and effort.
One of the best quotes from the book, summarizes what I am referring to about why this book is a must read for those who want to know what it takes to be successul: “[Magic] worked tirelessly on his ball-handling and his rebounding with the advice [Coach] Fox gave him imprinted on his mind: when you think you have done enough, do a little more, because someone out there is working harder than you. Bird was told the same thing by coach Jim Jones. As he advanced from high school to the college game, he wasn’t sure that “other person” truly existed. ‘Not until I met Magic,’ Bird said.”
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Cydcor, the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams, has announced that the company's internal program available to its network of independent Cydcor sales offices, the Neighborhood Leader Program, has reached significant milestones. To date, more than 500 team members from the various sales offices throughout the United States have dedicated almost 300 hours to their local communities through charity and volunteer work – helping more than 28 organizations.
Through the Neighborhood Leader Program, the network of nearly 200 independent Cydcor sales offices located across the United States and Canada are given financial sponsorships and encouraged to donate their time and talent to non-profit, charitable organizations in their communities. Cydcor provides a contribution match to help support the volunteer effort. Each independent Cydcor office is eligible to take advantage of the Neighborhood Leader Program once annually.
"It's amazing to see how so many of our independently-owned sales offices have donated their time and energy to working with local organizations and providing them with much-needed support," said Gary Polson, CEO of Cydcor. "These mid-year results are astounding and pacing faster with even more momentum compared to last year. This truly showcases determination, drive, and dedication – characteristics that Cydcor prides itself on."
Organizations helped in various local communities through the Neighborhood Leader Program include the Lupus Alliance of America, Feed the Children, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Make-a-Wish, Special Olympics, Habitat for Humanity, Project Bread, the Boys & Girls Club, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the American Cancer Society, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, the March of Dimes, and a number of food banks and animal rescues and sanctuaries.
To further demonstrate dedication to the Cydcor Community, the company recently formed a new program, Cydcor Cares, which will enable internal employees to band together and use their eight allotted volunteer hours that Cydcor offers on a yearly basis. The Cydcor Cares first event will take place at the Thousand Oaks Boys and Girls Club, where Cydcor team members will read to children from kindergarten to fourth-grade age.
About Cydcor, Inc.
Cydcor, Inc. is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail energy, and financial services. Cydcor works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee (ICL) Cydcor sales offices providing clients with access to more than 2,700 sales professionals and nearly 200 offices in North America. The privately held company is based in Westlake Village, California. For more information about Cydcor, log on to www.cydcor.com.
SOURCE Cydcor
Sales & Marketing Management Magazine published a case study on Cydcor earlier this year that we wanted to share with you. Here's a snippet from the article:
Some 26,000 C-level officers and senior executives ranked Cydcor No. 1 in several key areas, including sales team outsourcing and sales support service, client satisfaction, and numerous performance categories (including vendor overall preference, training, trust, and reliability).
Clearly, Cydcor is doing something right. The company's sales network marshals approximately 200 offices in North America and nearly 3,000 representatives.
Three key factors account for this success: a company mission that meets a growing need, a collaborative culture that cultivates and rewards excellence, and a proven business model that drives results.
At the company's core is what Chief Executive Officer Gary Polson describes as a singular "focus to be the best outsourced sales solution for [Cydcor's] clients." Cydcor's mission anticipates and fulfills an escalating market need, as organizations seek more scalable solutions to achieve top-line growth and bottom-line value in the post-recession environment.
To read the full article visit: Case Study: Cydcor's Outsourced Sales Solution
No matter much you struggle, you cannot lose faith in yourself. The great ones don’t. Lakers commentator Mychal Thompson during Kobe Bryant’s struggles in Game 7 of the NBA Championship.
The Lakers fought and clawed in Game 7 to become the 2010 NBA Champions. It was a big win for all the Lakers, but no one wanted it more than Kobe Bryant. Kobe wants to win for his teammates and for his legacy to become one of basketball all-time greats. He wanted his fifth championship ring to tie him with Magic Johnson and become only one ring behind Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (and one ahead of Shaq).
It was also Kobe’s first Game 7 Finals and it would be his biggest stage, his opportunity with the biggest viewership of a NBA basketball game since the 1980s. No player prepares harder by watching film and practicing than Kobe. He was prepared. Yet, for three quarters he had probably his worst shooting game of his career. Partly because of the tough Celtic defense and partly because of nerves and too much adrenaline, he missed nearly every shot.
Kobe struggled for three quarters. His frustration showed as he cried out to the gods wondering why they were against him. I was thinking at the end of the third quarter that the next quarter would define Kobe’s legacy. Could he forget about the past- the three quarters of hell? Could he stay composed and only focus on the next twelve minutes and will his team to victory?
He did, scoring ten points, playing tenacious defense and getting many tough rebounds in the fourth quarter. He willed his team to victory.
Kobe’s struggles and subsequent success is analogous to most successes. Years of struggles and frustration; questioning why it is not working; yet, not losing faith in yourself. It is having faith despite the struggles that if you keep at it, you will succeed. It is what the great ones do.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., July 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cydcor today announced the promotion of Vera Quinn to Chief Operations Officer.
In her role, Quinn will work closely with Cydcor's clients, field leadership and business development teams while overseeing daily operations at Cydcor's headquarters. Quinn will also head the tactical leadership team responsible for developing and executing initiatives to grow Cydcor's business. Quinn was previously the company's Senior Vice President of Sales Operations.
"We are very proud to promote Vera Quinn to Chief Operations Officer of Cydcor," said Gary Polson, Chief Executive Officer. "Vera's dedication to the Cydcor team and her relentless pursuit of excellence are a motivation for all of us. Vera leads by example, inspiring those around her to hold themselves to the highest standards and achieve the best results possible for our clients. We are confident that our business and our team members will continue to grow through her leadership."
In addition to leading the majority of Cydcor's operations, Quinn will manage several departments including field solutions, field training, data management, quality assurance and vendor management. She will be responsible for supporting Cydcor's network of more than 200 sales offices and leading nearly 95% of Cydcor team members.
"Cydcor is the leading provider of outsourced face-to-face sales because we are driven to achieve results for our clients and are dedicated to the growth of our team members," said Quinn. "I am proud of the achievements I have made within Cydcor to-date and I look forward to continuing my contributions to the growth of our company, our clients, and our team members."
Quinn began her career with Cydcor more than 10 years ago as a manager, based out of the company's former headquarters inToronto. Quinn's responsibilities within the company have consistently evolved, propelling her to hold a senior leadership position at the age of 37. She is credited with leading the development of Cydcor's current operational system and playing a vital role in the expansion of Cydcor's client roster.
About Cydcor, Inc.
Cydcor, Inc., is the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face Cydcor sales teams to a diverse client base of companies in a range of industries, including telecommunications, office products, retail energy, and financial services. Serving Fortune 500 and emerging market clients in the business-to-business, residential, and retail channels through in-store marketing initiatives, Cydcor works with a network of independently owned corporate licensee (ICL) Cydcor sales offices providing clients with access to approximately 3,000 sales professionals and nearly 200 offices in North America. The privately held company is based in Westlake Village, California. For more information about Cydcor, log on to www.cydcor.com.
SOURCE Cydcor, Inc.
Team members from Cydcor, the leading provider of outsourced, face-to-face sales teams, reigned victorious during the 21st annual Ventura Corporate Games, taking home four gold medals and one bronze. The six-week competition featured 66 companies from Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, divided into four divisions, that battled it out in a series of sporting events.
Cydcor team members were up for the challenge, competing in 15 different games including basketball, table tennis, lazertag, kick ball, and dominoes. The flag football team beat out some tough competition during a three game tournament, scoring 34-28 in the final game overtime victory that saw them take home the gold.
Click here to read more about the competition and results.
See the teams in action on YouTube
Coach Wooden is one of the great men of modern time who exemplified the balance of family, success and contribution. If you read any Coach Wooden book, this is the one I recommend.
This easy-to-read book begins at his foundation: family, values and virtues and then discusses and offers wisdom on the topics of success, achievement, competition and leadership.
I've pulled some of my favorite quotes from the book to share with you: