Stop Reciting Your Greatest Hits: The Real Reason High Achievers Get Passed Over

Amy Evans: Hey, welcome back to Women in Sales Leadership. I'm Amy Evans. I'm your host and executive leadership coach. I help high performing women and men in B2B tech get hired for roles, promoted and hired into roles that they actually want and make real moves into executive leadership.

I'm so glad you're here today. Okay, this is what we're getting into today. I want you. all to stay to the end because I'm going to give you these three things.

Number one, a really clear picture about your resume. Ooh, the resume. know. A really clear picture about why your resume could actually be working against you.

And you might be thinking, Amy, resume, what resume? I haven't thought about dealt with my resume in years. Don't worry about it. I got you.

We are going to cover this. Number two, the difference between a resume and your story and why that difference is everything now and always, especially in this market, whether you are gunning for a promotion, whether you are getting ready to go look externally, because you've realized there's not a path for you inside of your current company. This is what's important. And number three, I'm going to give you something that will help you start to think about it in a totally different way in this conversation.

Here's what I keep seeing in the conversation that I've had, and I have had more than 50 conversations with sales leaders over the past year. Of course, we all know the market's changed. It's tighter than it was a couple years ago. Any opportunity that you are wanting, whether that is...

moving up into a new role inside your current company, getting promoted, taking on additional leadership, or getting an opportunity to even go outside of your current place, wherever you are. And some of you are in the middle of a job search and I get you. So you're gonna get something out of here. So this is what I keep seeing is that these companies are getting so, so more deliberate.

The processes are taking longer and There's a big choice of qualified leaders to choose from. And the leaders that are making progress, the ones that are landing the roles, are doing something totally different. And it's something that you can absolutely do. The ones that are getting hired, it's not because they have more experience than you do.

It's not because they're better than you are. It's because of this one thing. Your resume is not your story. And if you don't know the difference, that's exactly what we're getting into today.

And before we get into it, I wanna ask a quick favor. Think of somebody who you know absolutely needs to hear about this today and forward it to her. That is the way that this show gets more traction and it gets more support. So send this conversation on to someone, give them a little gift today and let them have the benefit of this info.

It takes 10 seconds. And I'm going to give you a gift too. Listen, I offer this every conversation. I'm going to offer it again.

And if you've been thinking about thinking about it, this is your message from me to you that it's time. Go check out my website. Grab some time with me, amyevanscoaching.com forward slash work with me.

It's so easy. Grab an hour with me. We're going to talk about you. We're going to talk all about where your career is, where you currently are, where you want to go, and you'll leave that conversation uplifted.

You'll leave that conversation with a sense of what needs to happen next, and you'll have clarity about what is going on. So getting straight into it, the problem that I'm seeing today, this is what's showing up on every single call. Folks have great track records. Really, you do.

Because you wouldn't be listening to this conversation if you weren't a high achiever, right? And so when you show up, into these conversations where you're with someone who can promote you, you're with someone who can sponsor you, you're with someone who could potentially even hire you and they ask you these questions about, me about yourself, right? And then almost always it's like you can feel the quarter goes into the jukebox and you start replaying this old song called Your Greatest Hits.

And The Greatest Hits is a story that begins with I don't know, some point early in your career. And then you talk about other stops along the way, roles that you had, companies that you were at, right? And I'm sure all of that is awesome, but the person who's receiving that conversation from you, they are hitting this news button. They are sitting there politely, pretending to listen or pay attention.

Meanwhile, they're really becoming frustrated because all you're doing is reading off a history of where you've worked and it doesn't really represent you. So this is what you're gonna get to have, you'll get access to. And remember, this is all going down in like the first two to three minutes on the conversation, which is right when you're getting immediately judged. And the question they're asking themselves is, do I wanna work with this person?

Do I wanna hear more? Do I believe they can do this job? Are they the person for my team? Am I gonna take a risk on them?

Am I gonna bet on them? And this is what happens with high achievers especially is that we are trained to say, all right, I'm gonna go out there and smash it. I've got a track record of years and years and quarters and quarters of hitting amazing growth and numbers. And just take a look at my beautiful amount of times that I've hit all these amazing numbers and it's over 100%, 98 % of the time or whatever percent of the time is, right?

So there's this belief that if I just have the stats on there, if I just show them how many times I was over plan, that is a version of results speaking for themselves. Your results don't speak, you do, you do and you will get to tell your story. So there is a total difference between your resume and that historical journey and the story. The resume is your title.

It's where you worked. It's how long you worked there, your quota attainant. That's resume stuff. Story is the problem that you solved, the proof that you did it and that you are built, that you are so prepared for what's next.

You are the perfect person to come in and solve this current problem that whoever is talking to you has, and trust me, they have a problem or else they wouldn't be trying to hire someone or promote someone, right? So one, your resume is like a list. The story is your case. It's what makes it come alive.

It's what gets you remembered. And it has them talking about you after you wrap up the conversation that you're having. These all come in terms of context. A story is all in the context.

What's the context? I'll give it to you. So I'm gonna give you an example of a story. I exceeded quota for four years, okay?

That's a statement, that's more like a resume situation. Like, look at me, I was over 100%. I went to President's Club or achievers or whatever. I achieved X.

Okay, cool, that's great. Instead of the I achieved or whatever number you hit, put the context around it. I rebuilt a team that was at 62 % of quota when I joined them or took them over. And I turned them into a team that was hitting over 118 % and I did that in 18 months.

And I did it by changing how we hired, how we onboarded and how we coached. And that's exactly what I do when I work with teens. Can you hear the difference? One is this like, hey, I achieved a number.

That's great. Tell the story what happened along the way. What did it look like when you got there? What were the challenges that you faced?

How did you overcome them? And this has to be a little short, sweet, like perfect little chocolate truffle of a. bite-sized snack that has someone say, ⁓ that's so delicious. I really want more.

I'm thinking about chocolate today, so you're welcome for that. So you can hear the difference in giving that context. The person who is landing these roles, they might not have the most qualifications, but they know how to make it clear that they know how to solve problems because they showcase and you will be able to showcase, we can showcase it because you've got these stories I know you do. You may say, Amy, I don't know.

I don't have any stories. Come on now. I know you know better. Think about it.

Think about it. I'm going to give you a minute. I'm so excited. I'm going to give you the keys to doing this in just a minute.

So let's talk about what it is. And this is so straight up, like easy to remember because it's so It's so easy and clear. Okay, so what's your framework? What happened?

Right? What was the specific problem that you have solved over and over again? I'm not talking about your job description. I'm talking about the actual thing that you solve for and that you're really excellent at fixing.

And the way to get access to that is kind of thinking about, you know, what was broken or missing when you arrived. Okay? Then we get, so that's the what, then we go to the why. Why solving this problem matters?

Like who cares, who cares? And don't over assume that growing revenue is so obvious. Growing revenue is the problem that every business ever is always trying to solve. And they're trying to grow revenue at a consistent pace, at a forecastable pace that allows them to accurately hit their numbers.

for all their stakeholders and shareholders and to do all the downstream operational planning that it takes to actually service those customers, right? So it's the growth, don't take for granted that growth is part of it. And you can always quantify what that growth was. So why is critical?

Now who, who, who, who? You're the who, you are the who, your leadership philosophy. And what's interesting about this is that what you do as a leader feels so natural to you that it would be someone when someone asks like, what's your leadership style? What's your leadership philosophy?

You can probably come up with some words that sound right or, you know, everybody uses like I'm a servant leader. I'm a heart led leader. I'm a results focused leader. I'm a fill in the blank, right?

⁓ that's fine. ⁓ I think when you really think about a leadership philosophy, it needs to be coming straight from your heart, not some other business book freaking definition of what kind of a leader you are. Because the reality is you are multiple flavors of leader depending on what the situation is and what's needed. But there are some general guiding principles, some values that guide you and your leadership.

And it's worth it to take some time to think about it. I bet. Right now, you can think of three words or four words that describe you as a leader. Whatever first pops into your mind is the right answer because your body knows.

Don't overthink it, right? What kind of leader are you? And you might be saying, Amy, I don't lead people right now. I'm not a people leader.

That's not true. You are a leader. You lead yourself. I guarantee you aren't out there selling all by yourself.

There is a team of people around you, supporting you, who make your work possible, and you're likely having to get those folks rallied behind you, get them to do things for you, to support you. That's leadership. That's leadership. It's not always a title.

So there are three elements. The what, right, what's the specific problem? The why, why solving it mattered, like who cares, little context. And then the who.

Who are you? What kind of leadership values, what's your leadership philosophy that you bring to the table? Your three words, right? And I'm gonna give you my three words, because these are my three values in case you wanna borrow them or steal them or build on them.

Mine are, I lead with integrity, I lead with joy, and I lead with growth, right? And I can explain what all those things mean if someone asks me like, what does it mean to me? Not the, not the. AI definition or what someone else says those words mean.

What do they mean to me? For me, integrity is doing what I say I'm gonna do when I say I'm gonna do it. And I hold other people to learn how to honor their own integrity. Joy, pretty self-explanatory.

If we aren't having fun, baby, why? Why can't we have fun? It's a fun job for the most part and we can make it as fun as possible. And when we are that way, and our team is that way and our customers feel as being that way, guess what everybody wants more of?

Joy, baby, joy. So that's for me. And then the third one for me is growth, growth, growth, always growing, curiosity. We're gonna try things, we're gonna see if they work or not, we're gonna grow, we're gonna learn.

We are innovating over here, baby. We aren't just standing still. That's the leadership philosophy I bring to my team. And feel free to borrow those, take them.

I didn't invent them. I got them from a list of big page values and those are the big, those are the three that like, when I bring it all down to those three things and then Brene Brown will say, Amy, you really only supposed to have one word. And I'll say back to Brene in my imaginary conversation with Brene that I don't really have, but in my mind, she and I do have talks and she's a good friend. Anyway, the one word is integrity because If you got integrity, you do what you say you're gonna do.

You're gonna honor yourself. You're gonna honor your commitments. Those are the things that like make it all run. All right.

I got excited there about values. How would you tell the story? Let me tell you, this is what we're gonna do. You are going to right now do this.

I don't care if you're folding laundry, you're out for a walk with the dog. We're gonna build a narrative story for you right now about you and your career. And all you have to do is sit here and think about it. And.

you know, pretend that you're answering these questions back to me. So here we go. So make a mental note, like think back, go back in your career library of all the things that you've done, you've probably forgotten some of the crazy things that you've had to do, right? But write down if you have the ability to sit down and write something, if you can't write safely because you're driving or folding laundry, like that's obvious, don't do that.

But make a mental note, what's one of the biggest problems that you've solved? A problem, not an accomplishment, a legit problem. You showed up, there was a problem. What's a problem?

Just go with the first one that comes to mind. First problem that you've solved in your career. What was broken or missing when you got on the scene? When you took on the role, when you took over the department, when the company got completely restructured.

what happened, what was broken or missing when you arrived. What did you specifically do? And like think through it. Think through it.

What did you specifically do? and what changed because of you. I'm going to give you them again because it's a chance to like get it into the brain. So what was, so think of a problem that you solved, what was broken or missing, when you got on the scene, when you arrived, what specifically did you do?

and what changed because of you and the actions that you took. And it's the way that you can really get access to it if you start to refine this. Because your first pass at this is going to be a little long, it's going to be a little wordy, and that's cool. Don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it, babe. We're just figuring it out. We're growing right now. We don't have to be perfect right in a second.

But we're going to get your problem figured out, the problem that you solved, and figure out what was broken or missing when you arrived. Think about what did you actually do, and think about what changed because of you. And the sew that, this is a sew that test. So I did X so that Y could happen.

start to think about it. And after you've thought about it, if you really want to go bonus points, like go write it down somewhere, even just like the bullets. And I invite you to kind of start testing it out and get into a micro moment. You could get into what happened in a month, what you can look at a time period of a quarter.

You can look at a time period of a year or two years. Just over a time period, like zoom out a little bit and think about problems that you solved. You could have problems that were smaller time-bound based, like, you know, one month or a quarter or a year or two years. Inevitably, you are going to start seeing the problems that you solved.

And I want to invite you to be audacious and give yourself credit, like be bold and say, I did do that because it's true. Okay, we're not making, we're not here to make the stories up. We're having integrity. But look at the things that you really did do and make note of it.

And these become the bones of your story. And this time period, I walked into a situation that was a complete and total duty show. I don't know, it just happened. Okay, so we're going with duty.

So I walked into a duty show. And, you know, I fixed it. And this is how I did it. Even maybe you don't want to curse, but you think of a way to tell the story.

⁓ But that's the kind of stuff that like makes someone remember you. And it helps you get really more confident how you're talking about it. This isn't just for job searches. For those of you are job searching, it'll absolutely work.

For those of you who are like, I want to get a promotion here, baby. I want to stay. I want to move up. It's time.

It's time. I'm ready. Start telling these stories. Start giving yourself some ammo to go to battle with and tell these in your skip level meetings.

If you have an opportunity to present in front of a group, Speaking opportunities. These leaders, they need to hear from you. They need to hear your story and you not telling your story is like you robbing them. of knowing what an amazing leader you are.

Here's what I want to leave you with today. You have done all the work. You have an amazing track record. I promise you, you do.

The things you think that weren't a big deal, if you would have looked at yourself when you were in your early 20s and said that you accomplished that, you would be blown away, right? So you have this experience that someone is genuinely looking for right now. And the opportunity is for you to Start to learn how to tell your story in a way that lands, in a way that represents you, that honors you, and help someone see what you are capable of. This is what fills me with so much joy about this work.

Your story already exists and you aren't making any of this stuff, because it's so true. We're not creating someone that you're not. You are being you. We're just gonna clean out some of the stuff in the closet so we can get to the gold.

that's right there in your career story. And if you do practice saying it out loud, like tell somebody, tell your kid, tell your spouse, tell a work bestie, like practice telling this story so that when you start to do it, it feels so natural and normal. And I wanna support you. And if you want support in doing this work and you've been thinking about it, but not taking any action, come find me at amyevanscoaching.

com, share the love, share this episode with someone you know. who is out there working hard to get to the next level and has dreams and aspirations to do that. And if this episode landed really hard for you today and you know someone that it would resonate with as well, forward it to her. I will see you next time in Women in Sales Leadership.

Stay well.