How You Start is Not How You Finish
Going into High School, I knew way too little about what experiences I'd be getting into. If I did, I probably would have opted out immediately. At that point in time in my life, I would ask myself, "why is school so useless"? Why is School so boring? And what is the point of school?
This narrative would stay with me throughout my high school and college graduation. I would eventually get my answer later in my business career, but let's start at the beginning.
I had an opportunity in 8th grade to select my Freshman year classes, and I remember listening to my friends' suggestions about the curriculum I should take. Now keep in mind, my friends and I were not A students in grade school, so we focused on classes like Industrial Education (woodworking, metal shop, auto body repair, and graphic arts). And the other courses I reviewed were "blow-offs" like home economics and typing. One of the interesting things that I found out was these classes were filled with a specific type of student, and I was now identified with them. We were called low academic students and would be encouraged to take certain classes like these throughout our four-year career.
I didn't like being classified as low academic, and this status did not sit well with me.
I had an opportunity in 8th grade to select my Freshman year classes, and I remember listening to my friends' suggestions about the curriculum I should take. Now keep in mind, my friends and I were not A students in grade school, so we focused on classes like Industrial Education (woodworking, metal shop, auto body repair, and graphic arts). And the other courses I reviewed were "blow-offs" like home economics and typing. One of the interesting things that I found out was these classes were filled with a specific type of student, and I was now identified with them. We were called low academic students and would be encouraged to take certain classes like these throughout our four-year career.
I didn't like being classified as low academic, and this status did not sit well with me.
I knew I had to deal with my dyslexia, which was challenging my ability to read and write, but I had support during my grade school years, so I knew I was capable of a more challenging academic career.
I remember going to my guidance counselor in my Sophomore year to request Spanish 101 be added to my Jr. Year. He sat back and looked at my school record to date and suggested I try another industrial ed course. I looked at him in all seriousness and stated that I would still like to take the class even though he thought it was inadvisable. It wasn't that I had no concern for his opinion, but I trusted that I could indeed handle the course load. I had also been thinking about my future, and college was something I was starting to consider.
Globalization and Its Effects
You have to understand that this was 1982, and blue-collar jobs were getting hit hard and had been since the early 1970s. More and more manufacturing jobs were being affected by more globalization and the emergence of cheaper labor in Taiwan and Japan.
Plus, I had my grandparents and father in my ear telling me a college education would save me from this kind of job loss. Little did I know how things would go for white-collar middle managers in the future.
Naturally, I had a lot more questions like, how do I learn what those unconscious thoughts are? Are those thoughts considered wrong? Is my unconscious mind running the show? Am I the only one going through this? If I am mostly energy, what does that mean for my perceived reality? Who invented liquid soap and why?
Why is School so Useless?
As I moved my way through Jr. year of High School I started to understand that I could indeed read a chapter or lesson and pull relevant information and do well on a test. I know this sounds rudimentary, but it was the beginning of my understanding of how the "system" worked. If you want to integrate into the factory school system you must realize they're not looking for your thoughts on any given subject, but instead, they are looking to see if you can recite what the book outlined as an identifiable fact. So, I changed my approach to participating in classes, and I placed more of an emphasis on memorizing keywords and facts. This approach helped me get my grades up and prepared me for college, but it did little for my ability to create and be a free thinker.
As I looked back on the classes I took in High School, I've found that I really enjoyed the industrial education block. I got A's or B's in those classes, and I put less emphasis on those grades than I did on Algebra or Spanish. I find it interesting that this was my thinking at the time. I discounted my talent in building and developing furniture or graphic art projects. I also put pressure on myself to perform at a high level in math, which I was not great at, and consequently felt a sensation of not being enough.
Let me know if this sounds familiar to you. Do you look at the things you are good at as less valuable? Do you feel inadequate when you look at the things society tells you are important?
It is my belief if we all start to embrace the talents we have and cultivate them with respect and care, we will have a more fulfilling relationship with ourselves and ultimately, the people in our lives.
Let me know if this sounds familiar to you. Do you look at the things you are good at as less valuable? Do you feel inadequate when you look at the things society tells you are important?
It is my belief if we all start to embrace the talents we have and cultivate them with respect and care, we will have a more fulfilling relationship with ourselves and ultimately, the people in our lives.
How Do I Actually Have Fun?
Back in 2016, my wife told me to have fun with my career, and that is when I started to learn how to respect what I had to offer at my current employer. I had been selling digital marketing services for about three years, and I was doing well. I had sold the majority of our services to several multi-million dollar companies as well as a multi-national billion-dollar company, which at the time was the largest organization my organization had sold to. But at the time I was feeling less secure in my job and plenty of the people I worked for didn't think I was doing enough. I had started to doubt myself and listen to some of the critical people in my company. I also didn't care for the way my job responsibilities were migrating and the emphasis on more cold calling and desperate ways of trying to win business. It is not that I think that management was wrong, it was that none of it felt right for me and my approach to sales. At this point, I knew I needed to make a stand for myself and chose the way I wanted to work and not submit to a process that wasn't agreeable to me. So I made up my mind two days prior to a big sales pitch I had coming up, and everything changed from there.
What Was Your Approach? How Did You Change?
The key for me was not engaging in the typical death by PowerPoint sales approach. The teams I worked with would spend hours pouring over every detail they could to make the slides as good as they could be. I too appreciated this eye for detail, but I felt that this approach was limiting. Also, the sales support teams liked doing multiple walkthroughs to make sure they wouldn't get hit with any surprises at the client meeting. I thought this was another area I could do without.
So, how did I have fun with this opportunity? Oh, and one more thing. This company had requested an RFP (request for proposal) response twice, and we declined twice due to a specific request they had around a graphic design feature my company didn't offer.
So, back to the fun. I dusted off an old PowerPoint and sent it to the team and stated this was the presentation I would show the client. I also said I would meet everyone at the client site 10 minutes before the meeting started. Within 10 minutes of sending out the email, almost everyone supporting this sales meeting emailed me back with a request to go back to the old format and pre-meeting work. I declined and said I'd meet with them at a restaurant an hour before the call to go over my approach. They reluctantly agreed.
I showed up late to the designated pre-lunch meeting (on purpose) and sat with my team, and told them that I had great confidence in all of their knowledge. I also told them I would only ask them questions in their specific areas of expertise, no surprises. I told them if they get stumped, throw it back to me, and I'll take the heat of looking unprepared.
This approach did two things for me. First, I let my team know that I considered them smart and capable, which I did believe. Second, I took the pressure off of them. They didn't need to be experts and feel like they might make a mistake in front of a prospective client. (more on this later).
I started the meeting off by letting the prospective client know that my company did many digital marketing processes extremely well and that there were a couple of things we didn't do perfectly. I also let them know that we were not a "silver" bullet solution, but that we had great support and technical staff that focused on our customer's satisfaction. I made these statements so that the client knew we were not all things to all people, and that we were very good at what we focused on. The other reason I did this was to make sure that the lack of a graphic design feature wasn't as big a concern as my team was led to believe. Later on, I found out from the client that this was one of the larger determining factors for choosing my company. They liked our honesty and our customer service approach to solving problems that normally come up with a new marketing service.
The third and last thing I did was I made sure everyone at the table on my team addressed questions about their specific expertise so my clients could see just how capable our company was. All of the team members did exactly as I expected. They had the insight, and I would guide them to give real-life examples they had, to emphasize their experience.
After I had closed the meeting and asked the CMO, Chief Marketing Officer, what she expected next steps were, I left the building and got in my car. About 2 minutes had passed, and my boss called me to congratulate me on doing a fantastic job. Apparently, a team member and senior manager who had come to support the meeting was so impressed he called her right away to tell her how impressed he was with me.
We ended up winning the entire project plus a host of additional incremental business. It was a signature win from a company we turned down twice before.
So, how did I have fun with this opportunity? Oh, and one more thing. This company had requested an RFP (request for proposal) response twice, and we declined twice due to a specific request they had around a graphic design feature my company didn't offer.
So, back to the fun. I dusted off an old PowerPoint and sent it to the team and stated this was the presentation I would show the client. I also said I would meet everyone at the client site 10 minutes before the meeting started. Within 10 minutes of sending out the email, almost everyone supporting this sales meeting emailed me back with a request to go back to the old format and pre-meeting work. I declined and said I'd meet with them at a restaurant an hour before the call to go over my approach. They reluctantly agreed.
I showed up late to the designated pre-lunch meeting (on purpose) and sat with my team, and told them that I had great confidence in all of their knowledge. I also told them I would only ask them questions in their specific areas of expertise, no surprises. I told them if they get stumped, throw it back to me, and I'll take the heat of looking unprepared.
This approach did two things for me. First, I let my team know that I considered them smart and capable, which I did believe. Second, I took the pressure off of them. They didn't need to be experts and feel like they might make a mistake in front of a prospective client. (more on this later).
I started the meeting off by letting the prospective client know that my company did many digital marketing processes extremely well and that there were a couple of things we didn't do perfectly. I also let them know that we were not a "silver" bullet solution, but that we had great support and technical staff that focused on our customer's satisfaction. I made these statements so that the client knew we were not all things to all people, and that we were very good at what we focused on. The other reason I did this was to make sure that the lack of a graphic design feature wasn't as big a concern as my team was led to believe. Later on, I found out from the client that this was one of the larger determining factors for choosing my company. They liked our honesty and our customer service approach to solving problems that normally come up with a new marketing service.
The third and last thing I did was I made sure everyone at the table on my team addressed questions about their specific expertise so my clients could see just how capable our company was. All of the team members did exactly as I expected. They had the insight, and I would guide them to give real-life examples they had, to emphasize their experience.
After I had closed the meeting and asked the CMO, Chief Marketing Officer, what she expected next steps were, I left the building and got in my car. About 2 minutes had passed, and my boss called me to congratulate me on doing a fantastic job. Apparently, a team member and senior manager who had come to support the meeting was so impressed he called her right away to tell her how impressed he was with me.
We ended up winning the entire project plus a host of additional incremental business. It was a signature win from a company we turned down twice before.
Ask Yourself The Hard Question
If you're not having fun at life or your job, I suggest you stop and ask yourself a question. Why am I doing this? With that answer, you can choose to either continue doing what you have always done or you can decide to have fun!
Remember those questions I had as a young adult? Why is school so useless? It turns out it wasn't a waste of time. I learned what I liked and what I didn't like. I also understood that there were things I needed to do to prove to myself that I was worthy. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have obtained over the years. I share this with you now in the hope that it assists you on your journey. You are worthy, and you are responsible for your actions. Make your choices with the knowledge that all things work out for you.
Remember those questions I had as a young adult? Why is school so useless? It turns out it wasn't a waste of time. I learned what I liked and what I didn't like. I also understood that there were things I needed to do to prove to myself that I was worthy. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have obtained over the years. I share this with you now in the hope that it assists you on your journey. You are worthy, and you are responsible for your actions. Make your choices with the knowledge that all things work out for you.
