Children’s Stories Teach Pitfalls

of Self-Management

By Barbara Mangini

Self-management is a skill that can help home based agents be happy and productive. I am especially fond of three children’s stories that warn of the pitfalls of managing ourselves. The pitfalls are: instant gratification, excessive desire and hasty reaction. These stories have a strong emotional pull because we can identify with the characters, are intrigued by how they overcome each pitfall and sigh with relief when they live happily every after.

“The Magic Thread” is a prime example of instant gratification. Peter was an impatient boy who was always bored with the present and daydreaming about the future. An old woman handed him a ball from which flowed the string of life. Any time Peter wanted to leapfrog into the future, all he had to do was pull the thread — and he did. He married, had children and soon reached old age. Peter realized he had missed his life’s journey. The stranger reappeared and Peter became a child again, only this time with a virtue called patience.

In our business lives, as in our personal lives, we lose control and staying power when we demand results now. We create a Web site and if it doesn’t bring sales immediately, we deem it worthless. We join a consortium and don’t invest the time to learn how to use the tools it provides. Yet, because we paid our membership, we want an instant increase in sales. We make one sales call to a prospective customer. We don’t close the sale so we don’t call again. When success isn’t immediate, we stop trying. Ask any successful business owner and he will tell you what Peter learned: The best part of success is getting there.

The story of King Midas is a tale of excessive desire. Though already wealthy, King Midas wished for everything he touched to turn to gold. A stranger granted him a wish and even his daughter, Marigold, turned to gold after hugging her father. Midas realized all the gold in the world wasn’t worth losing his daughter. Lesson learned, the stranger took away the King’s golden touch and returned Marigold.

How many times do we tell the kids we’re too busy and we can’t talk now? Of course we want our businesses to work, but excessive desire leads to failed personal relationships. When that happens, the joy of work often disappears. We need the balance of love, work and play to enjoy good mental health. Success at the exclusion of everything else isn’t success at all.

“Genghis Khan and His Trained Hawk” teaches us a lesson in hasty reaction. Genghis liked to hunt with his beloved hawk. One day, when the Emperor filled his cup with water from a mountain spring and was ready to take a sip, his hawk knocked the cup from his hand. Angry, he killed the bird only to immediately discover his mistake. He saw that a dead snake had poisoned the well. He had killed the hawk he loved, after it had saved his life.

Hasty reaction leads us both to regret and to experience lessons learned. A customer criticizes our service so we vow never to book him again. We get one complaint on a supplier’s product so we immediately stop selling it. Hasty reaction is a result of a short temper and we often lose the business partners who are the lifeblood of our agencies.

Why not write your own story as a guideline for your business and personal life? It could go like this: “Once upon a time ago there was a home based agent who was patient, had his priorities straight and appreciated all those who helped his business grow.” You see where this is going — straight to a happy ending.

Barbara Mangini is director of training for Travel Trade. For information on ordering her book, “Andy Agent And His Group Sales Adventures,” E-mail Mangini@nb.net