About the Author: Zachary Gleason works as a strategy and execution consultant to independent agencies. As a part of this, he works with countless sales professionals and sales leaders in helping them take themselves and their teams to levels of sales strategy and performance.
On Work Ethic and Discipline
I was recently asked by a sales manager why some sales professionals complain about how difficult it is to sell and say they want help but then resist the very ideas and principles that would make the difference for them. He wondered, "they say they want help, but when they get the help they can’t embrace it.” Why? We’ll come back to this question.
First, let's talk about work ethic and discipline. Work ethic is literally an "ethic" or principle related to working. It implies that work has a moral value. Do we see the moral value in work? More importantly, do we see the moral value in the work we specifically do?
Discipline is a deep commitment to an area of focus or a way of doing something. A disciplined athlete picks a process, sticks to it, and improves upon it in a systematic way. They are constantly refining their craft, i.e. their discipline. Discipline isn't natural talent or blind effort; it's deliberate, consistent improvement.
The combination of work ethic and discipline drives great performance. Work ethic without discipline is unsustainable – lots of work with little to ever show for it. Having discipline without work ethic is a good idea with no results. Both are different than the oft allusive willpower. Willpower suggests an innate ability to muscle through something. But in a world governed by work ethic and discipline, success comes from a commitment, it is a choice, a choice to show up (work ethic) and a choice to be methodical (discipline).
Bringing this back to the sales manager’s question – why some people want help but do nothing with it? What they actually want, what they need, is a way to keep their jobs. So, they show interest but it’s never followed up with the work or the discipline. “Working hard” is not the same as “work ethic” – I may work hard digging ditches, but if I don’t have work ethic, and discipline, then digging ditches is what I’ll do for the rest of my life. To be clear, this kind of work ethic doesn’t require superhuman effort or special intelligence, it requires something much more fragile and elusive, it requires a choice: a choice to see ourselves as people who can show up and do new things, hard things, consistently.
Discipline isn’t about perfection or extraordinary talent. It’s about diligently applying what we already know. Those who want to improve will try, fail, and try again with what they’ve learned. They don’t make the same predictable mistakes – they get better. Those who don’t want to improve simply don’t show up. The truth is work ethic and discipline lead to progress, no matter where someone starts.
So where does the "want" or desire come from? This is where things get murky. Maybe it's nature or maybe it’s nurture – in the end, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the decision to bring work ethic and discipline to what we do every day.
As sales professionals, we have a choice to make, and remake each day. A sales leader can’t make this choice for anyone else, their job is to remove obstacles and that’s it. Obstacles of people, obstacles of knowledge, maybe even obstacles of technology. In all cases, the choice to engage, to improve, and to commit remains with the individual. Work ethic and discipline are available to everyone. The question is, will you choose them?
A Case Study in Work Ethic and Discipline
A sales leader once worked with two sales professionals. The first was polished, spoke well, dressed sharp, and had an extensive network. He had charisma and natural sales ability, but he lacked work ethic and discipline. He was slow to improve, resistant to structured processes, and relied on flashes of effort and his charm rather than methodical steady progress and improvement.
The second salesperson lacked polish. He had little experience, a weak network, and didn’t command attention in a room. But he showed up to work 30 minutes early every day, often stayed late, and was relentless in his commitment to following a defined sales process. He tracked his failures, analyzed them, and constantly refined his approach.
For the first 18 months, the first salesperson outperformed the second. His natural skills and existing relationships gave him an advantage. However, the second salesperson kept grinding, improving incrementally. He stayed committed to his process and focused on continuous learning.
By the end of year three, the second salesperson had surpassed the first. His results were consistent, his approach was structured and repeatable, and he had built a foundation of skill that was independent of raw talent. Soon, he was selling double what the first salesperson did. Ultimately, he was promoted—not because of innate ability, but because his method was teachable, scalable, and built on work ethic and discipline.
The lesson? Talent and charm can give someone a head start, but long-term success belongs to those who embrace discipline and work ethic.
Three Questions To Ask Your Producers:
Do they regularly show up early and/or stay late?
Do they have a clear strategy or system for working, and are they working to make it better?
How do they respond when they lose a client, or lose a proposal? Do they respond with trying and working harder, or are they good at explaining the reasons why it didn’t work out this time?
The answers to these questions may tell you what you need to know about whether or not to invest more time and energy into their success.
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