Selling.2.YES

February 2022

My calendar is void of white space

It was hard at first, but I eventually could admit that I loved feeling needed at my job. Unfortunately, "feeling needed" was defined by the chaos of the work: endless appointments and the communication crush from a laptop that wouldn't let go of its choke-hold.

I was willing to sacrifice the lack of control and the ability to eat lunch when I needed nourishment, all in the name of doing good work and being a high performer. Thirteen meetings and four fire drills a day? No problem. Just let me knock off Friday at 7pm and I’ll be fine.

But then I started noticing friends dropping on the curb. No…not literally…they weren’t suffering heart attacks, but I could see their lifestyle wasn’t healthy. That’s when I looked hard in the mirror and concluded I wasn’t either.

So I started asking the questions that prompted the additional sleeplessness: how would I be able to keep up this pace and continue to do high-quality work? And, what path did I see towards a fulfilling job…this one, and the next? (Or did I just have to “buck up,” as they say?)

I did not have answers.

Hmmmmm…..

So I quit, sold my futon, bought a ticket to the Caribbean where I write to you now. Screw it. I'm poor, but I'm tan.

End of Act One.

Isn’t it rather irresponsible that we ask certain workers to give us 14 hours a day (IN FRONT OF A MONITOR, for Pete’s sake), and we DON’T provide a career path for them? "

Okay, Part Two, Scene One…action:

I have taught more time management workshops in the last three months than I have during the previous three years. Coincidence? Not at all. By the way, all this action was just in time as I was losing faith in marketability of the words “time management” – I was gonna push ‘em out of my workshop titles in exchange for something more modern sounding. How do you like, “Boundary Control Mechanics” oh, wait wait… “Boundary Control AI”!!!! YES. Or, “Autonomy Leverage Strategic Planning Playbook”? I dunno, just playin’.

Point is, companies are getting wise to address this issue - mostly because their recruiters are getting marred like lions in Roman gladiator pits.

Teaching time management to field-level workers – sellers, AMs, CSMs, PMs – is tricky ‘cuz there is zero light in the tunnel. They all simply say, “Those are nice ideas to help me manage my calendar, Michael…who’s gonna do all the work that needs to be done?”

Fair.

Managers? Different story. They are the ones who must put pressure on their senior leadership by telling the real story about productivity. And btw, If our tech is so good, why can’t we use some to help make our sausage faster and better? Again, fair question.

Listen, I am pretty damn good at TML (Time Management Logic…hey….new workshop title??), after all, I'm an expert at mis-managing my calendar, but I can’t solve the bigger issues. Right now, our industry needs these…

1. Better job training.
2. Better skill training (so that every client request is NOT a fire drill….if I hear “fire drill” one more time….).
3. Better internal examination and discussion on how to improve the way business gets done.
4. Better CAREER PATH vision and coaching. Isn’t it rather irresponsible that we ask many of our foundational workers to give us 14 hours a day (IN FRONT OF A MONITOR, for Pete’s sake), and we DON’T provide a career path for them?

C’mon folks, we can do better. We have to, or else folks won’t be craving to break in to our exciting, rewarding, stimulating, "fun" industry!

Selling.2.YES newsletter

Selling.2.YES is the monthly newsletter published by Core 6 Management Advisors to enlighten, motivate and stimulate all of us sellers and sales managers on topics that need our attention.

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Selling.2.YES

February 2022

My calendar is void of white space

Selling.2.YES newsletter

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