Protecting the Pocket: The “#1” Most Important Thing
September 30th, 2015 // 1:29 pm @ Scott Manning
Well it’s no secret here in this place, my pocket, where you’ve been reading my thoughts, ideas, and invigorating messages for over a decade, you know Ryan and I are big Peyton Manning fans for more reasons than just the last name.
There is no more important thing for any Quarterback than having an offensive line protect them, or what is often referred to as “protecting the pocket”.
Today marks week 3 of 4 in my multi part session for building the most amazing and profitable playbook for your guaranteed business success.
And if there is one thing that will lead to success more than anything else you ever do it’s making darn sure your “pocket” is protected. The pocket you work in, think in, strategize in, build your business in.
Protecting the pocket means two things predominantly and these two things are the one-two punch that makes up the single most important individual trait and ultimate characteristic of all successful people.
In order to be successful you must give yourself time for the play to develop and you must give yourself room to work. That is what a good offense line does for the quarterback. For football we are talking about 3-7 seconds, thank goodness in business we are talking about minutes, hours, days, even weeks.
Your pocket is where the magic happens. It’s also the thing that most business owners, entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and doctors seldom ever think about.
If I were to give you some examples of protecting your pocket, since not all of you have an offensive line of human beings defending you, it’s essential you grasp all the ways you are able to protect your pocket.
I break it down into 5 key elements.
Environmental Control
Communication Structure
Team Utilization
Information Access
And finally and perhaps above all others which fit into this –
Time Discipline
Because you are most likely doing and working many different tasks and “jobs” and responsible for more than anyone else in your organization, you have many pockets.
You could have sales pockets, marketing pockets, planning pockets, training pockets, relaxing pockets, exercise pockets, execution pockets, administrative pockets, family pockets, and so on and so forth.
Each of these, every you time you do anything you are “in the zone” like being in the red zone to score points and you must be protected and you must always be in the sweet spot where you want to be to make the most of every opportunity.
As I have continually pointed out – we have it easy – all of us, because we have no opponents other than ourselves, we control the plays other people use against us and we ultimately have full responsibility for all 5 areas we have to manage and learn to execute and build the perfect pocket for.
Environmental Control
Is about your surroundings, about what you let distract you, it’s about making sure you have everything you need available and in position and everything you don’t need out of the way. This is so critical for you to perform at maximum efficiency.
You know immediately what I’m talking about. Slow computers, ringing phones, incompetent people, lack of clarity or focus destroys everything. Don’t allow it to happen.
It’s plain amateurish and there is no excuse. Take your job seriously. It is a job and responsibility even if it’s to yourself, do it all out and set the structure of your environment up for success.
My Dentists have rooms specifically set up for specific type of patients or procedures, they do not perform dentistry out in the lobby or parking lot and they would never present a case at the grocery story and they don’t practice dentistry over the phone.
One of the major problems they do completely screw up every day is trying to present treatment and money while a patient is sitting in a dental chair, a place they already do not want to be, a place their subconscious mind is already telling them to be skeptical of and they are in a totally inferior position at which their more obvious response and natural instinct is to want to avoid anything else that keeps them their longer.
This is about environmental structure to allow you to do whatever it is you must do to the best of your ability and YOU MUST CONTROL all aspects and facets of it.
Period.
Communication Structure
This is an easy one, stop wasting communication and technology, stop allowing access to you unless your job is to be accessible, do what you are suppose to be doing not what others want or tell or think you should be doing.
You’re the professional, you know best – do that.
I always tell my Clients I’m going to practice what I preach and if I’m telling you to control dialogue, your schedule, your flow of communication with everyone in your life then you should expect and appreciate that I’m going to do that too.
It’s a very simple concept, be where you are with whom you are, even and especially if that’s yourself, when you are suppose to be. Be present and that requires controlling communication.
What a revelation to allow your thoughts to control your actions instead of other people’s actions controlling your thoughts. There is so much more I could say about communication – it is EVERYTHING – and you need to and must respect the communication with yourself as much if not more than you do your communication with everyone else.
Actually, I think that’s more than enough for this week. Why not go to work on these two first as they are the foundation for everything else you do.
Remember this, everything you do, you are doing in your version of a Quarterback’s pocket. You are your own Quarterback. Make it the best for you in all types of plays and situations you find yourself in and you will be amazed at how more often than not things go your way, you score more points, win more games, and all because you set yourself up for success before you ever get out on the field.
Next week we’ll tackle the rest of the areas of pocket protection only veteran QBs with great experience and a diverse arsenal know how to exploit. Get ready!
Category : Blog
