The Maladaptive, Irrational, Cognitions of the Super Sales Producer

Matt is a $1.5 million producer. He has a new Porsche 911, Maserati, and a 5000 square foot house overlooking a valley. He has 2 beautiful kids, a gorgeous wife and no debt. He has it made except for the happiness part. He is frustrated about paperwork, staff, compliance regulations and parent company edicts. But many top producers are frustrated. The difference is that Matt isn’t happy. But he likes his career and freedom. He loves his income. Why can’t he just count his blessings? 35% of the US population have mental problems. Some are more severe than others. In graduate school, a professor jokingly told me the difference between Neurotics and Psychotics. Neurotics build sand castles in the sky, Psychotics move into them and Psychologists collect the rent. I have always thought about the differences more concretely. If you ask a Psychotic what 2+2 equals, the will say 36, 98 112, with no sense of reality. But if you ask a Neurotic the same question, they will always say 4. But follow up with, “Why does it always have to be 4? It makes me nuts it can’t be 5 once in a while.” The Register | September-October 2017

The drive that causes one to be super successful can also the psychological disease that causes dissatisfaction. A US postal worker does an 8-5 day with no pressure. They know their job, show up for work and get paid. They rarely get fired, sometimes get promoted, but have no motivation to work hard and make more money. The super sales producer is unemployed until his next sale, and always under stress. When I was 26 and a new stock broker, my manager encouraged me to buy a new BMW 535. His attitude was a producer with financial stress was a harder worker than a financially comfortable one. But the stress super producers feel is self-inflicted. Why? There is a hole in their ego constantly in need of filling. They are super competitive and struggle to reach the next level. Managers love these producers but also find them challenging. These super producers complain constantly, sometimes think things are unfair, and are generally headaches to those who work with or supervise them. John had a good year. He grew his business to $2 million in income and is really irritated

it wasn’t more. His goal was to increase income by 25%. It only rose 10% and he isn’t happy. The average household income in the US is $54K. Only 1% of Americans earn more than $500K, and have a net worth of more than $1 million. But that doesn’t matter to maladaptive irrational super producers. Why aren’t they happy? It could be a non-approving father or a critical mother. It could be a poverty stricken upbringing. But these folks are constantly trying to fill the void, struggling to be good enough. I renewed my driver’s license at the DMV a while ago. The last step was a photo. Third in line, the photographer told each before me to put their feet in the yellow outline, look at the camera, wait for the flash and walk to checkout counter. When it was my turn, I handed him my paperwork and said, “Won’t you be glad when you can rotate out of this job to another DMV station.” He said, “I have been here doing the same job taking driver’s license photos for 25 years. He then said, “Put your feet in the outline, look at the camera………” This is not a super sales producer. They get easily bored, Page 9