Thursday I had a store visit from a team of executives. Their mission was to visit all 11 stores in our market to determine who was "ready" for what appears will be a tumultuous 4th quarter. In order to add structure to such a vague concept, they created a checklist of items they would be looking for. It noted items like cleanliness, merchandising, replenishment, and the like. Nothing special, just regular stuff. They sent it out weeks in advance and included information regarding the point system they would be using. Nothing special, just regular stuff.
Despite their smiles, they presented themselves in a manner that said they were the kind of people who are important enough to be lied to on a regular basis. I'm sure they hate that. They had an aura that meant business and title indicative of the same thing. I'm sure they love that. I tucked away my notes in my pocket then went to extend my hand to greet one of the guys and immediately noticed the graffiti all over it.
"What's that?" he asked. "Oh, just my to do list" I replied sheepishly, "I ran out of paper."
And led by either nervousness or embarrassment, I continued to babble on about my bad habit. I stopped myself right after I droned on about the types of pens I use and how that new-age foamy soap in our bathrooms doesn't get it off so I have to bring my own.
I stared at him as he laughed at me. All by himself.
He must've felt my eye contact because then he told me that he used to do the same thing in college. I didn't know if he meant write on his hand or babble in front of important people and I kept right on staring.
"But back then I used a BIC, and we all shared the same soap." Then I knew. And this time we laughed togetherr.
I asked him, "well why'd you stop?"
"Because as I got older, the tests changed. Now I don't need to do all that to pass 'em"
Yep. And just like that, he smirked as if he had just now realized how accomplished he was and began walking my checklist. I'm so proud to say that my department and the entire store received top honors. However, when all was said and done and I asked my boss how we did, his response threw me off.
"We did well" he said, "but I'm not going to focus on the scoring because that'll mess with people's minds".
I already knew how we ranked, but I struggled with him not being able to say it. I challenged his logic and wondered aloud why the powers that be would develop a point system if they were not planning to share the individual results. I explained the difference between healthy competition and the other kind. Then I told him that not sharing the results would prove to mess with my mind more than sharing them ever could. Hence, this paragraph.
So he told me. "Ok. You were number one in the district "
"I already knew that. Thank you."
Fast forward to today. I had a great conversation with someone about a position where the pay is 100% commission. It's a product I believe in, a reputable company, and a growing market. All day I've been juggling with the idea of working in a position where the only guaranteed income is directly related to the amount of time and energy you put into it.
I'm confident that my skill sets are transferable and that I can make money, but I worry that my lifestyle choices are not as transferable and that it won't be enough money. I suppose this is the same anxiety that's found in dusty business plans and woulda coulda shoulda's.
Then Monnie said that "Having the confidence is a great thing, but having confidence without being able to follow through signifies a lack of something."
Then Sean and Lauren reminded me that I work hard every single day, and if I continue to work hard every single day this could be a huge opportunity. Then my Daddy said even if I don't make a whole lot of money, I have what the old folks call 'goodwill'. He says I could live a year off goodwill alone.
"I already knew that. Thank you."
I love the people in my life who think I'm capable of any and everything. But the fact of the matter is that we can convince ourselves all day long that we can do whatever we want to do because we haven't tried it yet. Monnie says it's easy to feel smug when you haven't taken a chance. As many chances as I've taken in my career, I've never taken one of this magnitude.
I once read that you should never let a good crisis go to waste. Seemingly tough situations are often used as a gauge for how you will handle yourself in other aspects of your life. Take New York for instance, apparently if you can make it there in business, you can make it anywhere. The same could be said for law school (Hey Ciji!), real estate, and in this case, commission based sales during a recession.
I can't help but get giddy about the amount of learning that could take place in an environment where pre-established checklists and point systems don't dictate my success or "readiness" for increased business.
Perhaps this is just me romanticizing work again, or perhaps this is just me getting tired of lugging bottles of soap to work. Cheers to graffiti-free hands.
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