Iain Swanston

Three Secrets of Success

A World Skiing Champion was being interviewed on a radio programme and the interviewer asked

“Have you always been a champion?”

No he hadn’t, he said.  Although when he’d been young he had been picked as a potential future prospect.  But other boys had been better than him, more naturally gifted.  And he had often had to ski with younger kids who were a better match for him than the more naturally talented boys his own age.

“So where are they now, these boys?” asked the interviewer.  “What happened to them?”

“Well,” said the champion, “they just didn’t make it.  For all their talent they didn’t have what it takes.”

“So what does it take?” asked the interviewer.

“You have to want it enough.”  “Is that the secret?”  “There’s another.  It takes discipline. No matter how much talent you have you’ve got to have the discipline to nurture and develop it.  You’ve got to prioritise and give up a lot of things that can seem very attractive at the time.”

“Is that the secret?”

“There’s another,” said the champion, “and it’s harder and more demanding than the first two put together.   

You need humility, no matter how good you are.   

You need humility to listen to your coaches, to take advice, to test new ideas, and to admit you don’t know everything.  

Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions. 

These are my three secrets of success.”

Franz Klammer

• 25 World Cup Victories 
• 9 Consecutive World Cup Victories - Each one producing a new course record 
• 5 Time Overall World Cup Down Hill Champion - With four back to back Championship wins 
• In 1972 he posted an average speed of 111kph -This record stood for 25 years

We  Coach Business Champions

Iain Swanston previously worked for US training giant Sandler during which he set up and ran the Microsoft Scotland Sales Academy which was created to deliver Sales Excellence throughout Microsoft & the Microsoft Partner Network.  Iain was responsible for implementation of Sales Process, Sales Methodology and Best Practice in Business Development and Account Management.  In financial year 2012/2013 the Microsoft Scotland Business team achieved 90% over their sales target and set new records within Microsoft UK, for the highest value single telephone sale and the highest value daily sales figure - six & seven figure deals respectively.

Iain’s client list has included companies selling a diverse range of products in diverse markets, from baby clothes in the west end of Glasgow to Missile Defense Systems in Israel. 

Prior to this Iain lived and worked in Annapolis, MD as North American Sales Manager for the Platform Rentals Group where Iain set up and ran a machinery distribution network consisting of 31 sales people and 17 dealers from Alaska in the North, down through Canada, mainland USA and Mexico. 

Iain lives in North Berwick with his wife and two daughters.  Iain’s hobbies include Motorcycling, Skiing and Heart of Midlothian.