Living for a purpose

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What happened to me at IBM is a case study of how a change in attitude can change your life.

I'd been a marketing representative in the IBM product center Store in Seattle for nearly three years when my regional manager told me that it was time I moved into another position. He was right,I was burned out. It was just a job to me, a safe amd secure job,but hardly one I could get excited about. I was doing well enough to hold onto the job and not badly enough to be fired,which isn't saying much,since at the point IBM still prided itself on retaining it's people.

I was in a rut and had no idea of what else I was qualified to do within the company. My self confidence was at an all time low. Fortunately,there were few people within the company that who sae more than me in myself. Since I'd won a marketing excellence award for my sales presentation skills,my regional manager thought I might make a good training instructor for the company.

Training instructors conduct classes for new IBM employees, teaching them sales and marketing techniques as well as the basics of IBM product. I had been through most of the training programs. I had some great instructors who could make the most mundane class interesting,and I had others whose class were like watching paint dry. So I had a fair idea of what worked and didn't work for a trainer. A friend of mine,Ervin Smith,an instructor,thought I would be a good instructor too. He had recommended me to his boss,who talked with my regional manager and invited me to fill in for two weeks as a guest instructor in Atlanta.

My negative inner dialogue kicked in as soon as they told me about it. Will I be able to master the technical material in such a short time? I won't be able to answer questions from all of those smart trainees. Comfort zones can be treacherous,I wasn't even comfortable as a marketing rep. I just didn't want to leave the familiar to the unfamiliar,no matter how frustrated I was,it was not where I wanted to be,but I didn't see any particularly enticing options anywhere else.

I wasn't happy where I was,but I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was angry about standing still but afraid to move. A great many people are in the same situation,they hang onto dis satisfying,dead end jobs because they are afraid to make a move. Here is a news flash for them,if you don't make a move,sooner or later,life makes a move on you.

That is exactly what happened to me. My regional manager took me to lunch one day to break it to me gently. "You have got to go see if you can make it as a trainer in Atlanta." That is an order".

Once the boss kicked me out of the comfort zone and made it clear that I was going to Atlanta whether I liked it or not,I woke up and changed my approach. I became Mr. Positive attitude. " If I go down there,I won't let you down",I told him." I will be my best. I will do the job better than any one has ever done it".

By the time I got to Atlanta training school,I was pumped up. I was determined that no one was going to nod off,complete a cross word puzzle,or write a doctoral thesis during the class. I wanted their full attention,and I was going to earn it. It was show time,and I was the headliner. Strange things happen when you leave a comfort zone and turn your attitude into action.

Once I got up in front of those raw IBM recruits,I knew that I had found my passion.

There was one problem, IBM didn't need a trainer in Atlanta at that moment. When I told my bosses I had found my purpose and passion,I ran right through a wall of bureaucratic brick." There are no openings in that position right now,and besides,you know the IBM promotes people based on performance. Your sales numbers aren't that great. You are not even the top sales person in your store!.

I'd been ready to pack my bags for Georgia. Instead, the old bad attitude baggage was handed back to me. Even worse, a new manager was sent to our store. He suggested I might be out on a probation if my sales numbers didn't get better. This new manager hadn't read my personnel file so he didn't know about my stint as a trainer. He didn't know that I was dejected because i had found my purpose and passion only to run into a roadblock.

Before I could convince the boss I wasn't a deadbeat,another bomb dropped. IBM sold it's stores,it was getting out of the retail business. If I wanted to stay with the company,I had to go back forty weeks of intense training in mainframe sales. Basically,they were asking me to start from scratch. If I didn't do well in my classes,I would probably be tossed out the door.

I was discouraged as I began the training classes,but there was something about the training environment that stirred up the fire in me again. I was fascinated by the techniques of the instructor. Some were not at all good,but I learned a bit from each of them. Working in the retail stores was challenging,but being in the classroom lifted my spirits. It gave me a new focus and purpose- to become an IBM training instructor.

Have you heard the saying"When the student is ready,the teacher will appear"? My new boss was a young guy, Craig Kairos,who had trained under me as a new IBM hire. We'd established a rapport and remained friends. His first words to me when he came to work as my boss were " this company doesn't recognize your talent. I am going to help you show them !".

Throughout my career at IBM,I had a support team. Craig had been part of the team since his first years with the company. From the minute Craig became my manager,we sat down and mapped out a strategic plan to realize my goal of becoming a training instructor. He was in charge of a major IBM product announcement that all of the employees in the region were to attend. Craig arranged for me to be a presenter,to showcase my speaking skills. During my brief twenty presentation,I raised the level of enthusiasm in the room. If you had been standing outside the meeting room,you would have sworn there was a spiritual revival going on . I had those sales person on their feet, shouting Halleluyah!.

The one person who didn't make the meeting was the branch manager who had been blocking my attempt to become an IBM sales school instructor. When he returned from vacation,there was an email message from his boss wanting to know who Keith Harrel was and why he wasn't conducting every product introduction meeting and teaching others how to do it.

In the weeks that followed, I got calls after call from managers around the region wanting me to do program events for them. Meanwhile,back in my sales territory,my numbers were up because Craig was giving me support like I had never had before.

I had purpose,I had passion. I was on a roll. At the end of the year,my name came up for promotion,but the branch manager again stepped in my path. He insisted that I complete one year on a large account team in mainframe computer sales because he thought he would enhance my career. But Criag had been working behind the scenes,promoting my talents to the other members of the management team. When the branch manager balked at letting me go,the other managers outvoted him. The rest of the management team stood up for me. They saw that I had a purpose and a passion,and they brought into my vision.

Thanks for reading!