Breathing the Fresh Air
Monday, September 13, 2004
When I have really good experiences in my work, I find that I feel like writing about them. Over the past four days, I’ve had the great fortune of having preliminary meetings with potential clients. Not just any clients, but big, successful, profitable clients who are both at the tops of their respective industries.
What made these meetings so good – aside from the fact that everyone on their own in business wants new clients – was the engagement that both of these companies have with supporting the growth and development of their organizations – and the people who work there. They are both looking to tap into the resources that they currently have on the payroll and figure out what these dedicated, talented people need to excel to higher levels –levels of greater responsibility, greater productivity, and greater success.
On the airplane trip to this meeting, I was sitting next to a regional sales rep with a major specialty clothing company – a company whose name you would recognize right away. After talking about what I did, he started telling me about all that has started going wrong within his company. He told me how managers have made it pretty clear that when the reps are hearing presentations from the product development group, the reps should keep their mouths shut. He went on to explain the ways this has eroded the quality of these meetings, as well as compromised the finished products coming from development because there is no space for debate, dissention, and eventually, better products that will be easier for the reps to sell.
Blending these three experiences together – my two potential client meetings and my airplane conversation with my sales rep friend – I see a picture of stark contrast. I see a picture of organizations moving in two different directions.
It is so much work to confront, to engage, to challenge ourselves and each other to really ask the hard questions of what we can be doing to make our work and our companies better? It is much easier to pretend that nothing is wrong, to stay quiet, and to bottle our opinions and ideas up inside? This is a question that needs be asked of every leader in every organization, big or small.
What made these meetings so good – aside from the fact that everyone on their own in business wants new clients – was the engagement that both of these companies have with supporting the growth and development of their organizations – and the people who work there. They are both looking to tap into the resources that they currently have on the payroll and figure out what these dedicated, talented people need to excel to higher levels –levels of greater responsibility, greater productivity, and greater success.
On the airplane trip to this meeting, I was sitting next to a regional sales rep with a major specialty clothing company – a company whose name you would recognize right away. After talking about what I did, he started telling me about all that has started going wrong within his company. He told me how managers have made it pretty clear that when the reps are hearing presentations from the product development group, the reps should keep their mouths shut. He went on to explain the ways this has eroded the quality of these meetings, as well as compromised the finished products coming from development because there is no space for debate, dissention, and eventually, better products that will be easier for the reps to sell.
Blending these three experiences together – my two potential client meetings and my airplane conversation with my sales rep friend – I see a picture of stark contrast. I see a picture of organizations moving in two different directions.
It is so much work to confront, to engage, to challenge ourselves and each other to really ask the hard questions of what we can be doing to make our work and our companies better? It is much easier to pretend that nothing is wrong, to stay quiet, and to bottle our opinions and ideas up inside? This is a question that needs be asked of every leader in every organization, big or small.
