As the summer winds down (all too short), I would like to recommend “Making Modern Toughness” to you, a short article by David Brooks in this week’s New York Times. Its serious intention is to provoke thoughts on what makes people resilient in life (it is not what you think). But, as I read it, I realized it has parallels to what makes us resilient (and successful) in business as well.
Brooks is an excellent writer and after a very engaging consideration of this topic, his bottom-line is that “People are really tough only after they have taken a leap of faith for some truth or mission or love. Once they’ve done that they can withstand a lot.”
He ends with, “We live in an age when it’s considered sophisticated to be disenchanted. But people who are enchanted are the real tough cookies.” 
Carried into the world of presenting and selling, I would suggest the “real tough cookies” are not the slick swaggering salespeople who boast they could sell ice cubes to Eskimos. The “real tough cookies” are the people whose mission, truth, or love is a genuine desire to help other people solve their problems. The first group is generally distrusted by buyers. The second because of their felt authentic commitment to clients create better outcomes for everyone.
Have a lovely Labor Day Holiday!
Anne Miller
Make What You Say Pay!