Adrian Anania nearly got fired in finance when he tried copying his top performer's tactics without understanding why they worked. The shift came when he stopped imitating and started asking customers why they made decisions. That focus on understanding their motivations transformed his results.
Chapters
What I wish someone told me earlier in my career in the finance world, I think, in automotive, is just to stop mimicking the top performer. It was just a really bad impersonating act. Like, when I tried to do it, I realized I just wasn't being myself. And so I was having a really hard time connecting with the customers because ultimately I didn't understand why they were doing what they were doing. If you don't understand the why something exists, you can never do the what. And so when I figured out why they were doing it, then I understood the system they had in place to deliver that. Then I connected with customers every single time, and I got to levels I never could have really dreamed of in my career. Because right before that, I was on the cusp of getting fired, probably replaced because of my performance. And as soon as I understood the system I needed to do and why I needed to do it, I was able to deliver it.