In sales, where the stakes are high, it’s tempting to get swept away by wins and celebrate only the good news. We idolize breakthroughs and bold moves, but this approach is deeply flawed. True greatness isn't found in fleeting successes; it’s built in the quiet, repeatable systems that help a team learn faster than the competition. This isn’t about ignoring problems; it’s about making them your strategy’s core. My book, The Standard of Consistency, outlines its framework with three pillars: Standards, Structure, and Sharpening.
The first two establish consistent performance. But it’s Sharpening that keeps a team dynamic. It’s the critical, ongoing pulse of learning that prevents staleness. And at the heart of this pillar is the surprising idea that you should learn to celebrate bad news.
The Power of Learning from Failure
Bad news—a lost deal, a failed campaign, a stalled project—is not a setback; it’s a revelation. It’s an unveiling of flaws others might overlook. A learning organization absorbs discomfort, weaving it into a fabric of anticipation and adaptability. Silence around bad news is what breeds the true decline—an unseen catastrophe growing in the dark. But when the air hums with openness, when admitting ignorance is not a sin but a virtue, the culture transforms. Take the case of a team who lost a major client not as a failure but as a map to every weak link they needed to fix. They learned faster than their rivals and took back the market. In this way, mistakes become momentum. You stay sharp—together.
This is the very essence of Sharpening:
Mistakes are like ink stains; you touch them, search your hands, and learn from the imprint. It's not just about pinpointing errors; it's about why they occurred and how to shift your approach, improve coaching, or close gaps in skills.
Feedback crackles like a radio—constant, dynamic, alive. It demands that feedback becomes a regular and safe ritual, ensuring it's never soft, but never cold.
You assess performance with clarity, not ego, and this allows a team to address issues without blame.
When you lean into bad news, you build a team that is resilient, adaptable, and always evolving. You're not merely correcting errors; you're crafting a strategic edge that lets you win in a fast-changing world.
Putting it into Practice
Build habits that make this mindset real.
Shadow for Learning: Be present, not to inspect, but to witness. Walk the sales floor, sit in on calls, take notes like an observer at a play. This normalizes your presence and turns coaching into a fluid, unforced conversation.
Celebrate Learning Moments: Reward effort and insight, not just wins. Share stories of lessons learned, like the team who lost a client but found their weakness. This turns learning into a shared narrative.
Focus on Skill Gaps—Together: Use one-on-ones and retrospectives to find growth edges. Turn development into a rhythm, like a weekly practice, not a remedial fix.
Think of the startup obsessed with speed over quality. They embraced coaching as ritual, and every stumble became a step forward. It’s not about being perfect; it's about being brave enough to admit gaps and bold enough to fill them.
By doing this, you’re not just building a team that performs; you’re creating a legacy of rhythm, resilience, and the quiet power of consistency.
Life is lived.
-Willy