When approached by a salesman, it is easy to think of the million annoyances that he or she is going to bring. It could be pushy questions, or lack of manners, and they probably won’t pick up any clues that you are sending them to get away. Or at least they won’t listen to those clues.
An added difficulty that my peers and I have to face entering the workforce is the stereotype of age. We are now facing an uphill battle of the expectations that we have no experience, (which we don’t), no knowledge, no wisdom, and will simply not be taken seriously. It is our job to combat those stereotypes with humble confidence, professionalism, and an open mind.
One thing that I have found to be the most key in any businessman or woman is the idea of humble confidence. Confidence in that you are willing and capable to do what needs to be done by the grace and power which is given to us by Jesus Christ, yet having the humility to be honest when we don’t know what we are doing or where to go next. Such a common mistake made among the youth of today, is an over confidence that we know better than those around us. We should take every opportunity to learn as much as we can from those around us, even if it may seem like there is nothing to learn.
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I’m sure you were inspired by Jon’s lecture Monday night, but this sounds very familiar to his idea of being an ambitious Christian businessperson. Jon talked about how Christian business people might have this stereotype behind them of being too timid or unambitious but he very much said it’s possible to be a Christian and ambitious all at the same time! The confidence and humility that Christ gives us is how we can be those ambitious Christian business people who are successful in moving people in what we do.
I definitely do see some difficulty in this area as well. This is why it is important as a younger less experienced salesperson to always be honest and working hard. We may be looked at as less inexperienced and maybe even a bit of a burden, but I think the only way to fix that is by showing that we can handle ourselves, while also being sure to learn as much as we can from our older counterparts.