Are You Referral Ready?

A win against the New York Jets this weekend means another trip to the Super Bowl for the Indianapolis Colts. Led by four-time MVP quarterback Peyton Manning, the Colts remember losing to the Jets just a few weeks ago in a game that featured a second-string cast of Colts and ended their bid for an undefeated season.

In an AP story today, Manning was quoted as saying “I think everybody realizes the opportunity and what’s at stake. That’s why I think everybody wants to have a good week of preparation, to put ourselves in the best position on Sunday.”

Imagine that. Putting all those hours of preparation into a game that will last only 60 minutes this Sunday. Film study, strategy sessions, on-field drills, play selection meetings, more drills. When the average fan watches his/her beloved Colts on Sunday, the execution (or lack thereof) is all they will see.

But should the favored Colts move on to the Super Bowl, the players will use cliches and sports jargon and fancy phrases to describe between the lines the relationship between their preparation and the final score. Joe Q. Fan will marvel at the highlights on ESPN, but the players will know the real reward came from the work they put in long before the game ever started, the plays they practiced 25 times on Tuesday and 25 more on Thursday, the extra reps in the weight room, the extra hour of film study that revealed how one player always leaned to the left when they ran to the right.

And should the businessman significantly increase his referral business in 2010, he knows it will be the natural result of preparation that put him in the best position to be successful. Opportunity + the right preparation = winning results.  And it should come as no surprise that that formula applies to sports, education, referrals, or life.

Are you Referral Ready?