lit·er·a·cy [lit-er-uh-see]
–noun1. The quality or state of being literate, esp. the ability to read and write
2. possession of education: to question someone's sales literacy
3. A person's knowledge of a particular subject or field: to acquire sales literacy
Great businesspeople are great readers. Independent research conducted by Perpetual Development dealing with the motivational characteristics of 250 superior executives revealed that the desire for knowledge ranks as one of the top three characteristics for success in their career.
Furthermore, it was discovered that this same group of salespeople indicates that they achieved higher levels of sales skill application and were able to shorten their sales cycle consistently as a direct result of reading.
This is where you can find the “best of the best" in resources for business and sales professionals.
“One of the most crippling factors that our country faces is not that of disease or natural disaster, but rather the systematic reduction of intelligence as a result of a conscious desire, on the part of certain people, to stop learning. We must continue to equip anyone who wants to read and is illiterate with the opportunities and resources to learn how. We must recognize and positively affirm individuals within our companies and organizations who have made literacy a benchmark of their development. Likewise, we must challenge or remove those people within our companies and organizations whose “illiteracy" is a choice. It's this group that continues to stagnate, stall and reduce results and effectiveness because they have no ‘expanding view.' Incompetence should never be rewarded nor should it be tolerated in companies who understand the value of development and growth. When the average American, who is literate, reads less than one complete book after completing their last year of formal education it's easy to understand where performance problems and a lack of results can be found "
- Brent Patmos at a recent business conference speaking on the topic of improved results and performance within companies.
Citing References:
American Psychological Association (APA):
perpetual. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved March 20, 2007, from Dictionary.comhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perpetual
Chicago Manual Style (CMS):
perpetual. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perpetual (accessed: March 20, 2007).
Modern Language Association (MLA):
"perpetual." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 20 Mar. 2007. <Dictionary.comhttp://dictionary.reference.com/browse/perpetual
