Speeding up the Success Process

Does it seem like time is passing more quickly? It may be that the normal cause and effect timeline has been altered by today's social media technology. I'm not the only one to notice that "what goes around comes around faster, sinking takers and propelling givers to the top."

That quote was taken from the subhead of an article that appeared recently in strategy+business. Adam Grant (no relation, that I know of) penned the piece entitled Turning the Tables on Success. He writes:

"In a wide range of fields that span manufacturing, service, and knowledge work, recent research has shown that employees with the highest rates of promotion to supervisory and leadership roles exhibit the characteristics of givers—helping colleagues solve problems and manage heavy workloads. Takers, who put their own agenda first, are far less likely to climb the corporate ladder."

What's this? Nice guys finish first? Well, the article doesn't say much about the finish line, but it does talk about what it takes to get ahead. Increasingly, those that understand how to empower others are gaining the upper hand.

The article is worth a read. Grant says the phenomenon is due to the shifting nature of work, with matrix structures and project-based jobs increasing worldwide increasing workforce interdependencies. But I think that's just part of it. The other part has to do with how easily and quickly information moves around in an age where everyone is always connected.

How will this impact the sales process in the world of mortgage technology? I suspect it will further shorten the sales cycle as vendor clients use social media to tell stories about their experience, starting with the integration/implementation teams.

Implementation has always been a high-touch process, but in a world where stories about your performance can zip around your target market as the speed of social media, being seen as the nice guy will become a competitive advantage.