The Importance of Tenacity, Courtesy, & Humour

We often talk about tenacity, courtesy and humour in The Silver Sales Bullet.

How & why is it so effective?

Tenacity, courtesy and humour are very useful qualities to have, but they’re perhaps the most difficult to master if you don’t have them naturally.

I’m a great believer in genetical make up of human beings.

You often hear people say, “you can’t teach people to teach”.

Teaching is about communication.

I actually think you can, and The Silver Sales Bullet is a training programme where people can improve themselves.

But if you have the genetical make-up which enables you to communicate then you can be a far better teacher than those who perhaps don’t have that genetical make-up.

Tenacity, I often discuss alongside the phenomenon of resourcefulness.

Quite often in life and especially in difficult times, you can have a lack of resources…

e.g., financial resources or equipment.

But there should never be a lack of resourcefulness.

Resourcefulness comes down to tenacity.

Quite often we talk about the influential decision makers and individuals across the globe like CEOs, Billionaires, Politicians, & members of Royal Families that we’ve engaged with for ourselves and on behalf of our clients.

We’ve been told these are the ‘untouchables’…

Well, I think the ‘untouchables’ are touchable.

I’m automatically programmed so that when someone says, “I don’t suppose you could get me a meeting with the Pope” for example, that my stock answer is always “yes, absolutely”.

I would then add that it won’t be this afternoon.

It’s highly unlikely to be tomorrow.

It probably won’t be next week.

But can it happen?

Absolutely, of course it can happen.

The Pope meets people all day every day.

The President of the United States meets people all day every day.

Her Majesty the Queen is the same.

So, clearly, it’s possible.

There are some high-profile individuals around the world that are more difficult to engage with than others, and there are various barriers you have to go through.

But by being tenacious, there will always be a route and I think tenacity is closely associated with perseverance. 

The routes that I took when I was in the corporate world, before I started my own interests, taught me that you don’t succeed all the time, but you learn.

There is always an answer and there is always an avenue along which you can progress to arrive at the destination you want.

We’ve mentioned courtesy before and about apologising as soon as you ring someone.

It often takes the wind out of their sails and can serve you extremely well when trying to contact someone.

Humour is also important.

Like many comedians that have the ability to stand up to hecklers very quickly, it’s about being quick on your feet.

But sometimes I might be engaging with executives in corporations in America or Australia and there will be issues of the day, in Politics for example, that can be a good basis upon which to engage.

In my experience, those that I’m talking to from different cultures often appreciate people enquiring about their own affairs.

So, humour is important, but I don’t think it should be a structured part of any approach.

If any humour comes into any process of dialogue then great, but it shouldn’t be manufactured, it should be natural.

So tenacity, courtesy & humour are key, but they’re probably the most difficult to master if those particular qualities don’t come naturally.