Katie Francis, a 12-year-old from Oklahoma, recently broke the world record for most Girl Scout cookies ever sold with a whopping 21,477 boxes and counting.
When asked how she accomplished this world record she said that her original goal was 18,100 (which would have broken the previous record by 100 boxes) but the plan that she had allowed to far exceed that goal.
What was her plan? It was essentially three things
- Time
- Commitment
- Going For The Ask
Time
As Michael Lindenmeyer wrote in Forbes magazine “Time is money. You have only so many hours in the day, so make the most of them. For this twelve year old she crushed the record while having a full time job, aka school. So she made every selling hour count”.
When you are looking to move your career forward you will need to find the appropriate amount of time to get the job done. This may require evenings, weekends or lost lunch hours.
Commitment
If you really want to advance your career you need to be successful in advancing your career is to set an objective and then relentlessly drive yourself to achievement. In Katie’s case she also enlisted her family and friends in helping her. The lesson here for those in job search is that there is great power in commitment and that power can help you effectively leverage your network
Michael Lindenmeyer wrote
Having lofty goals is nice, but to achieve them you need commitment. Katie is one driven twelve year old. On her way to beating the national record, she had committed to and realized her goal of being the best in her state. What is important here is the consistency of her commitment. She also demonstrates that she has the ability to enlist others into her mission and activate their commitment.
Most families cheer on their daughters and ask their circle of friends to buy a few boxes of cookies. Katie was able to inspire her family to help her reach the broader community. They even transformed their car into the cookie caravan, fully stocked and ready to sell on a moment’s notice. In effect she developed a committed team.
Going For The Ask
The Forbes article wrote the following “Katie said that her third ingredient for breaking the record was going for the ask to everyone. The key here is she went for the ask. This is one of the most powerful life skills one can acquire. It is what enables you to gather resources and fuel your growth.
The challenge is that most people are uncomfortable going for the ask. They think it is about asking for money and that if someone says no it puts them in an awkward position. This is the wrong way to view it. Going for the ask is about creating value. It is giving someone the chance to buy into that value proposition. And everyone knows from the happy faces and the repeat buyers that Girls Scout’s cookies create tons of value. They give buyers a chance to empower life lessons for young girls and the bonus is a sweet treat”.
How this applies to career advancement is obvious. One of the biggest challenges facing people have in career search is being reluctant to ask – for help - a referral - advice – a job. You need to find a way to harness those reservations much like the Girl Scout role model.
At The Frontier Group we provide career coaching to both individuals and organizations and have helped advance the careers of thousands of professionals in our 27 year in practice. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help you. Contact us at (779) 455 -1244 of Melissa@frontiergroupusa.com
