 YOU
GOTTA WANNA
by Dave Preston
The first time I was dragged (kicking and screaming) into a sales
training session, the initial concept surprised me by making perfect
sense. “You gotta wanna.”
A great salesperson is someone who wants the sale more than the
paycheck – someone who derives great satisfaction from helping a
customer find the right product for that customer, and following
through to the conclusion of the sale. Such salespeople tend to be
extremely successful and to make a good living – but that is not the
motivator. They purely WANT to sell. I did not, and still do not,
which is why my work is to be considered, at best, tangential to
sales, and we are all the better for it.
You can motivate a sales staff, whether the product be
motorcycles, shoes or anything else, in various ways. Offer more or
less money, provide pressure with sales goals reasonable or
impossible, add positive or negative reinforcement, or pervade your
staff with terror – all have been tried somewhere and worked to some
degree – but none of them can produce the results of the “gotta
wanna” salesperson.
That is probably true in your line of work as well, no matter
what it is. I know I REALLY wanted to be an excellent junior and
senior high school English teacher. We can leave it to others to
assess if I measured up to my own aspirations, but I know how hard I
tried. Why did I want it so? Don’t know. There was no history in my
family of teaching. Both my parents were mechanical engineers, one
brother a chemical engineer, and the other a physicist who meandered
into professional classical music and then computers. Where did I
get the notion to teach English to teens, and to coach sports that
nobody in my family played, understood, or found at all interesting?
Dunno.
At work, don’t you find that the people who really get things
done are the people with the “Gotta Wanna?” Their desire to do what
needs to be done far outweighs their salary level, age, experience
or educational background. Saul Alinsky, who pretty much wrote the
book (literally) on community and protest organizing, felt that in
any organization, 10% of the people do 90% of the work. If you need
more done you might as well start with that 10%, because they will
end up doing it anyway. This is not fair, perhaps, but I have found
it to be true. What Mr. Alinsky did not add (or maybe he did – I did
not read the entire book) was that the 10% doing 90% of the work
were also having 90% of the fun!
What if we apply that to riding motorcycles? What is it with
motorsports that you personally “gotta wanna”? The first time I sat
on a motorcycle – as a passenger – at the age of 15, remains the
closest thing to a religious experience I’ve ever experienced, and I
state that with no sarcasm. I was transported and transfixed. It
became extremely important – immediately – that I ride a motorcycle.
I recently had the opportunity to take Puget Sound Safety’s
Adventure Camp, with the intent to learn to ride dual sport bikes.
The concept of “gotta wanna” was present for me the entire weekend.
I pondered this as I mowed my lawn in reflection after I returned
home. The fact of the matter is that I did not succeed at the camp,
by my own standards. I learned an enormous amount, and my riding
improved exponentially. The instruction was fantastic and I was
surrounded by supportive people and terrific equipment. The weakness
in the school experience was… me. Simply put, I do not have the
“gotta wanna” when it comes to riding dual sport bikes.
I do not know why this is so, but there is no denying it. If you
truly do not wish to do something that is difficult, you will not,
or you will not do so with the success you would like. The reasons
why you lack the desire may be obscure to you, or totally
inexplicable, but what is, is what is.
Since I began messing around with the motorsports business as a
paid employee some dozen years ago, first with cars and then
motorcycles, I have done all sorts of improbable things: a pass down
a drag strip in a pretty serious car I had never seen before and got
to drive from the pits to the starting line as a ‘warm up,” a night
rally on forest service roads in a Hummer, drag racing events in a
Miata and a pickup, and a whole host of motorcycle adventures
including photo shoots that came very close to stunt work. For all
of these things, I had not the slightest doubt that I could hop into
a car I had never seen or a bike I had never ridden and do what
needed to be done – because I REALLY wanted to, and had convinced
myself that I could.
With off-road bikes – for reasons that totally elude me – I
simply do not have that passion, and it showed immediately, at least
to me. There are lots of excuses to be made – like 43 years of
experience sitting down on street bikes compared to being asked to
stand up on a dual sport bike while riding over obstacles using
techniques not only different to those I use normally, but at times
opposite. In the end, those would just be excuses. None of the
obstacles were that daunting, and the instruction was excellent, and
most of the students did extremely well. I did well – but not
extremely well – because I knew in my heart I did not really want
to. Even though my head REALLY wanted to – the heart is stronger.
The Puget Sound Safety Adventure Camp is a fine program and I
recommend it strongly to you. I may not be about to blossom into an
enthusiastic and competent dual sport rider, but I gained a wealth
of information from the experience. Sometimes learning what you
really do not want to do is as important as learning what you can do
– possibly more important. Further, I learned a lot about what a
motorcycle is actually doing in many situations, and it has improved
my understanding of what a street bike is doing.
It also strengthened by resolve to do what is right for me – with
the encouragement of the instructors. Motorcycles offer us a wealth
of opportunities, but we must summon the self-knowledge and judgment
to pick and choose the opportunities that work for us.
A strong contrast would be a recent trek to Utah and back by those
from this area who spectated at the SBK race at Miller Motorsports
Park. The ride in both directions featured weather that ranged from
not so good to extremely dangerous. Heavy rain, unseasonable cold,
and high wind in various combinations and at times, all three. I
was aware of the conditions, and aware that my chosen gear for the
trip was lacking in warmth and waterproofing – my error. I failed to
account for conditions that in some cases were record setting. But I
was never in a place where I did not want to do what we were doing,
and I never doubted my ability to do it. With street bikes I
definitely have the “gotta wanna,” – dual sports not so much, even
though I would like to.
A second point of comparison arose when I took the Puget Sound
Safety Advanced Street Skills class at Pacific Raceways. This class
was presented by the same company, with pretty much the same
instructors as the Adventure Camp, but for me the results were
dramatically different. I was in my comfort zone the entire day –
learned a tremendous amount and rode the wheels off a BMW R1200R
(to the degree that I choose to “ride the wheels off,” which is a
brisk but far less than race pace) and I was never once surprised or
in trouble or at much risk. The differences were primarily in my
head.
A friend of a couple of decades ago maintained that anyone who
likes motorcycles had to like small planes. I did not, which he
found inexplicable. Why? Because I did not. Rational analysis can
take you only so far. If you do not want to – you do not want to.
Why do I not do track days (as opposed to schools)? Because I do not
want to.
We are especially blessed here in the Northwest to be surrounded
by the best instruction on all manner of motorcycle topics that
exists anywhere. To mention just a few, probably the finest author
on proficient riding techniques is local guru David Hough. 2Fast
puts on outstanding track days, and Mike Sullivan presents track
days and race schools – which are not the same. We have at least
three MSF course providers that present a menu of all sorts of
basic, intermediate and advanced riding skills programs on both
street and dirt, and on two and three wheels. Whatever you think you
might like to learn about, it is all available in our area.
So then…Do you really want to road race? You’ve always had the
passion, but never the time or money? But now…maybe…take a class
and find out! Or, all your buddies are positive you will like it and
you should do it, and you simply do not want to? Don’t!
Your riding group consistently leaves you behind and people
tease you about being “Captain Slow?” First of all, you need a new
riding group. Anyone who teases you about going too slow is almost
always not a better rider, but merely a fool willing to accept a
higher level of risk. Sooner or later – karma bites. If the pace is
not what you find comfortable, overcome that junior high
testosterone desire to fit in, and slow down! If anyone refers to
you as “Captain Slow,” just nod sagely and say “That’s correct” with
a whimsical smile that indicates you know a secret. Actually, you
do. It works for me!
You’ve always wanted to cross the entire country on a bike, and
you have 6 weeks and a motorcycle? Get out the maps, make your
plans and do it. Your buddy wants you to go on such a trip and you
have never been away from home for more than two days and think you
will not like it? You probably won’t.
How far do you want to go out of your way to validate opinions
others have about your likes and dislikes?
When it comes to motorcycle choices – think of Polonius’ advice
to his son Laertes in Hamlet (I know you were thinking of just this)
- “To thine own self be true.”
Ride safe, ride well, and ride often!
Dave Preston is the author of the common sense riding guide,
Motorcycle 101 and has been contributing to Sound RIDER! like
Clockwork since the year 2000 (if anyone can remember back that
far.) |
