In a Western world that has organized stability and prosperity for years, excellence has become a foreign concept. It lives in social exile. Mediocrity stabilizes itself. And it leads to below-average performance.

The statement “I didn’t have time” is surprisingly stable. It works in both professional and private life, is socially accepted and is rarely seriously questioned. Yet it describes something very precisely, just not what it claims to.

Look, if you had one shot or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted in one moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

— Eminem, Lose Yourself

Personal responsibility, motivation, self-determination: as a member of the late 1960s generation, the question of a good work-life balance has been with me from the very beginning.

The silent second side of a business decision: A customer’s decision in favor of a provider is far more than a simple acceptance of a bid – it is also a conscious decision to abandon alternative options.

The game begins. In the context of far-reaching business decisions, a decision-making body is formed in companies that commissions a project team to prepare the decision.

The champion, a human being. The guiding principle “No champion, no deal” is one of the basic principles of sales and essentially states that no success (contract conclusion, commitment) is possible without the support of a strong “friend” on the customer side. But is that really true?

Closing is no substitute for negotiating skills. In the English-speaking world, people like to talk about the legendary closing. Many colleagues regard closing as a master discipline that particularly distinguishes the management or sales personality.