Sometimes it's hard to look at yourself in the mirror. You might not like what you see. But usually we don't do that when it comes to our skills and abilities.
Instead, as some psychology studies have pointed out, we all have a cognitive bias to overestimate our own qualities and abilities relative to other people.
In fact, in Minnesota where I live, we have the “Lake Wobegon effect,” which was named after Garrison Keillor's fictional town where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average.”
|So what does this have to do with sales?
Basically, most of us think we're better than we are. We're not brutally honest with ourselves — and, because of that, we don't do things that could actually help us improve.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
