Lazy is a Disease

Lazy is not a normal state of a person but one that is educated, encouraged and allowed. Walk into any company with lazy staff and I assure you someone in the organization has educated, encouraged or allowed the behavior.

I just wrote an article on this topic at Huffington Post- Lazy is the New Entitlement. You can''t find a 2 year old on this planet that is lazy unless of course there is something wrong with the child. It is not natural to be lazy! It's not hard to walk into a dealership and see signs of lazy everywhere. The sales person that doesn't approach a customer. The manager that won't take a turn and spends his day hiding at the desk. The finance manager that won't see the deal back into the lender that turned the customer down.

Why is this tolerated? Why is it allowed? Great question. The only reason the criminal allows others to commit crimes is because he himself is committing them. Any honest person with a backbone will stand up and say enough. Lazy has become a contagion of epic proportions. Like an insidious disease that can't be seen, more dangerous than terrorism. Lazy will break any team, a marriage, a company and even a country. The Chinese are not lazy!

If your company doesn't have a policy against lazy then laziness exist! Snap and pop when you wait on a customer. Attack a phone call with urgency and intention and enthusiasm. If you aren't hitting your targets don't take your day off that you feel so entitled to.

Lazy is the opposite of industrious. Which do you choose to be?

Grant Cardone, NY Times Best Selling Author

16 members like this

Comment

You need to be a member of DealerELITE.net to add comments!

Join DealerELITE.net

Comment by Clifford Patterson on March 30, 2014 at 11:35am: Grant you are on point! Motivation or a lack of starts with the people in charge. The employees mirror their leaders. Basic minimum standards must be in place everyone must know what they are and they must have some stretch in them. To be employed here you must hit these minimum standards. To be fair everyone has a bad month for what ever reason. First month is a warning, second month is a written warning, third month we separate.Pay plans, bonus's must be performance based. They must also have a ton of support; daily training, one on one time with their manager, save a deal meetings daily. And tell them when they are doing a good job!

Comment by Pat Kirley on February 12, 2012 at 1:50pm: Grant
Are Sears staff lazy?
I can't agree with your comment, don't take your day off if you not hitting your target. I would suggest that is when you really need to take a day out and enjoy some quality time and then hit the dealership fresh and hungry the next day.

Comment by Terrell Parker on October 12, 2011 at 9:52am: Great Topic! When your market driven you never really know when your being lazy cause its just a state of mind! It becomes very difficult to cure when what was always mental becomes physical because 70% of selling yourself gets heard through your body language! Motivation is a great way to cure and stay out the realm of LAZINESS!!

Comment by Tobias Sedillos on August 30, 2011 at 8:50pm: Such an important topic, that it is addressed twice in the book of Proverbs:

Proverbs 6: 10-11

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man."

and

Proverbs 24: 33-34

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man."

Comment by edward l whiteman iii on August 30, 2011 at 1:51pm: Activity breeds activity. Starting the day with a plan and then working the plan, constantly asking yourself am I doing the most productive thing possible right now makes winners. Cell phones, facebook, twitter, etc are great sales tools if you use them to make sales but not if spend your day playing games and keeping up with friends.Managers need to manage not worry about making friends. Lead your team not hang with them. I agree lazy comes from the top. If you're afraid to ask your people to come to work to work maybe you shouldn't come to work

Comment by Michael Brown on August 30, 2011 at 12:24pm: Agree that many lack a sense of urgency and need to look at their day and ask,"Is what I am doing right now the most productive thing I can be doing." (Tip: print up small cards with that on it and hand 'em out). BUT, disagree with the working through until you hit your targets. That can be a contributor to "laziness." "I'm on day 10 and can't get the right ups." I'd rather we get people trained and focused working hard and productively for 5-6 days and getting refreshed and ready with time off that they need, not entitled to.

Comment by Thomas A. Kelly on August 30, 2011 at 11:20am: @ Sheri...long before the best people "burn out" as you say, a bull seye is painted on their back by the non-doers to all take shots at. Unfortunately the old saying is often true and we tend to lower ourselves to the lowest common denominator.

Comment by Sheri Hamilton on August 30, 2011 at 11:03am: Agree totally, Grant! Frankly, it's exhausting and draining on the excellent performers who push others who are dragging their feet to do their jobs. Go getters who are there to get results end up going around the lazy guys and doing things themselves so that time frames and targets are met. So your best people end up burning out. It's maddening!

Comment by Jim Kristoff on August 30, 2011 at 10:55am: Per usual....Grant hits it right on the head!!

Comment by Thomas A. Kelly on August 30, 2011 at 10:40am: Personal cybersnacking has become an entitlement that I just do not understand. Personal, never ending texting, personal cell conversations, and constant web browsing.....starting with the GM who can't criticize his department managers because he/she does it who in turn can't criticize the salesperson or lube rack tech because he/she does it. The newest form of laziness (loss of productivity) is the new entitlement for every employee in every department to not be expected to perform any meaningful task if his or her hand held is asking for their attention. A long time ago a proprietor said: "Check your guns at the door cowboy, I don't want any trouble here"

We need to wake up and say: "Check your phone at the door cowboy, I'd like to get some work done here"

Great topic Grant!