I recently caught up with a friend of mine, someone who has held senior sales leadership roles and has extensive knowledge of business development. He told me he enjoys reading my BD articles, but then he admitted something that made me smile. “Doug, I like the ideas, but sometimes I just don’t know how to put them into action.”

If a seasoned BD pro can feel that way, no wonder the rest of us do too. We all fall into the gap between knowing what to do and knowing how to do it. And in business development, that gap is where momentum often gets lost.
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It’s a little like football—you don’t score points just by drawing up clever plays on the whiteboard. You’ve got to execute the plays. As a big American football fan, this time of year always gets me fired up. Preseason is over; it’s time to kick off the season. And just like on the field, in business development, it’s not the playbook that wins the game; it’s running the plays.

Last week at the park, my 4-year-old daughter, Macie, was carrying a brand-new pink plastic cup from the ice cream store.

Out of nowhere she said, “Daddy, I want to fill this with special things—like diamonds.”

I told her, “If you fill it with diamonds, you’ll be a rich princess.”

She looked at me and said, “Daddy, it’s not about being rich. It’s about being special.”

Of course, my adult brain immediately thought, Well, being both would be nice… But she’s right—special beats rich.
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I had to chuckle at Macie’s comment because it applies to most things in life—and especially to having the right mindset in business development. Many firms make revenue targets the primary measure of success, so it’s no surprise professionals get caught up in the dollars. But when money becomes the goal instead of the outcome, it pushes you toward short-sighted decisions that kill trust, erode relationships, and burn bridges you might need later.

’m writing this from Costa Brava, Spain, where my family and I are spending ten days exploring the coast, soaking in the culture, and getting our fill of castles, beaches, and Mediterranean food.

One thing that’s hard to miss here: the pace. Everything moves slower—and it’s by design. Shops and restaurants shut down in the afternoon for siesta. People take their time. There’s less urgency, yet everything still gets done.

My wife and I have also been getting in some beautiful bike rides through the hills and along the coast. The theme is the same: slow, steady, and intentional often beats fast and reactive.

It’s a good reminder that slowing down often leads to better outcomes—in life, and in business development.​