The Perfect Storm

While part of my intention here is to tell stories, inspire, guide and connect, another part is to document my career journey for future reflection.  Over the last twelve years of writing, I have belabored the my-job-sucks point.  I take the entire blame for being in this position.  So that when I am pointing the blame to the person in the mirror, not only are three fingers on each hand pointing at me, the two in the mirror are as well. 

Why did my job suck?  Because I could never channel close to what I learned into my work.  It is true, I pursued education to escape from my work.  I would revel, fantasize and dream of an organization (or manager) that took Marcus Buckingham's twelve point question survey on workplace strength serious.  I would melt if they actually deployed it.  This is where I was at... here is me.  Here is me with education on the brain:

I am a steam-fired train setting on a wide open set of tracks.  Fuel is constantly being packed into my firebox but my boiler cannot produce one more ounce of steam.  You see, I am not allowed to move forward on the tracks.

Fortunately things have changed for me...before the train exploded.  A set of circumstances have allowed my throttle to open and I am moving forward.  These are the influences behind this perfect storm.

• I came aboard my present company in 2006
• At that same time, a much larger international company purchased my international company
• We are now the second largest manufacturer of its kind in the world
• Ownership possess a healthy obsession to be number one and I do mean obsession
• Resources are being infused into our national division
• Our Tampa office lost the country's # 1 salesman, an extremely talented inside support person and three senior level field personnel in the last year and a half
• We have now assembled the right team in Tampa to move forward with
• Our team is painfully inexperienced; but passionate to learn
• We are receiving unprecedented resources at the local level
• We have a regional trainer based in my office
• We have the overall best supervisor that I've ever worked with
• Our sales personnel are the right people to move forward with
• A recent restructuring of our national division
• A recent senior field personnel hire
• Off the chart leadership from our most inexperienced technician
• Special connections to every corporate tentacle
• A very motivated Dave

A Motivated Dave

In 2006, my office won the most prestigious award given within our national company.  It's based on growth and profitability.   Although I accepted the award, it was earned prior to my coming on board .  There are many routes to winning an award of this magnitude.  In this case, the method did not include laying a foundation for the future.  Our office lost about six senior level technicians during this period.

I do not want to go into detail as to what has transpired since we won this award, but we've lost significant revenue, gone through tumultuous turmoil and are now on the uppermost brass's radar as a problem location to keep an eye on.

As a by-product of our recent national restructuring, seven-eights of the folks in my position were given an elevation in title.  I wasn't.  Heck, I probably am lucky to even have a title at all, considering my office's performance.  But the regional executive who is my handler, knows the true story.

The bottom line here is that no one at this company knows the real Dave.  Dave does.  And he knows that his name doesn't belong under its present title.  Given all of the coordinates above, Dave is steaming towards the perfect storm along with his crew, and more than anything else, grateful to be at the helm.

Up Next - Dave unveils his vision to the team.