Guts and grit are learnable

On this day in 1912, American aviator Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, guiding her monoplane through heavy overcast from Dover, England, to Hardelot, France.

So why is this important to you, high-flying sales star?

Courage. Flying a rickety plane built in 1912 across the English Channel took immense courage.

Getting out of bed each morning, smiling and pushing your customers toward "yes," takes courage, too.

Neither is easy, but both are exhilarating!

Pick that one thing you’ve been avoiding and summon the courage to do it today.

Is it a tough call you need to make to a client?

Is it a challenging convo you need to have with your manager?

Without courage, you’re an account executive, not a sales professional.

What’s the alternative? Procrastination is just such a…yeah, go ahead and finish the sentence.

Channel Harriet’s channel courage.

When Harriet made her historic flight, she was basically flying in a lawn chair screwed into wood slats wrapped in canvas.

Re-read that.

This three-minute vignette on Harriet’s life might be the shot-in-the-arm you need today.

Born into poverty, Harriet became the first woman to earn her pilot’s license in the U.S. only a few years after the Wright brothers created human flight.