Work Ethic by Will Smith

“I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. I’ve viewed myself as slightly above average in talent. And where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping? I’m working. While the other guy’s eatin’? I’m working.” – Will Smith on 60 Minutes December 2, 2007.

Even though we have written about the lessons of some of the most profound leaders of our time, our sales recruiters were hard pressed to find somebody with better insight as to work ethic than Will Smith. At a young age, Will Smith became quite engaged with rapping and met what would become a long time friend and colleague, Jeff Townes, who goes by the stage name of DJ Jazzy Jeff. Will Smith’s ambition to succeed in the music business became so strong that he turned down a scholarship to MIT. Partly due to this and a charming personality, the students at his Philadelphia high school nicknamed him “Prince.” This would become the basis for a hit television show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Through hard work and perseverance, Will Smith is now one of the most sought after film actors as he never has a flop which results in the investors not making a profit from his movies.

Another Famous Example Regarding Work Ethic

In 1980 at the Olympics in Lake Placid, the Russian Olympic Hockey Team was considered the best in the world. The Soviet and American teams were natural rivals due to the decades-old Cold War. In addition, President Jimmy Carter was considering a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, which was to take place in Moscow, in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which had begun less than a month prior to the U.S. Russian hockey game.

The make-up of the Soviet and United States team was quite different. Many of the players on the Soviet team were quoted as military personnel so they could practice for a living. The United States Olympic Hockey Team was made up of college kids and amateur hockey players who never made it to the NHL. They were scrappy. The big difference between the teams is that while the Soviets rested, U.S. coach Herb Brooks, would work his team arguably more than any other U.S. Olympic team (hockey or not) in history.

Our Take on Work Ethic

Our recruiters figure a few things. First, we firmly believe that if we are not working, somebody else is and that makes us work harder. The sales recruiters and marketing headhunters at our firm all partake in a revenue sharing plan. I don’t want employees, I want business owners. Business is too competitive to only work 8 – 10 hour days. At least one sales recruiter at our staffing agency is available nearly 16 hours a day. We work as if this is all we have; this is our life and we are a team who is competing with other teams. The winning factors, in the opinion of our sales headhunters, is intelligence, creativity and hardware.

Author Bio: Ken Sundheim runs a sales recruitment agencysales placement sales recruitment agencies and marketing staffing agency marketing staffing marketing recruiting new york The firms sales headhunters sales recruiting firms sales staffing are in NYC.

Category: Advice
Keywords: sales, consultative selling, business advice, career advice