Member-only story
Attention deficit
Check out ADHD is not an urban myth by my wife Robin McCoy Brooks, which provides further background on my piece below.
It was my first opportunity to win a truly global client. One headquartered outside Seattle. A very big deal for our small firm.
In my initial conversation with the client, he described their needs and we set a date to meet. During the call, I learned that they had been going through a period of significant change. They were particularly concerned that shareholders and their own sales force understand the transformation and how it was preparing the company for the future.
I had a couple of weeks to prepare. And as usual for me I found my attention taken by everything but the need to focus on this amazing opportunity.
Part of my lack of focus was my fear of the competition. During my call, I’d also learned that my competitors were two major players. Both of which held global reputations. Both with considerably more status than we had.
I now know that procrastination, when the odds seem against me, is a bit of a pattern. One I’ve struggled with my whole life. And one that has derailed me more than once. (My chicken ranch story holds another take on this pattern.)
Despite my procrastination, I did manage to gather several current business articles about the company…
