Saturday, June 09, 2007

What I learned from Working at a Larger Company

Middle Zone Musings proposed a group writing project. The topic was something you learned from work. So here it is.

What I have learned from working in a larger company…

When I sold my company, EMJ, to SYNNEX close to three years ago, I was thrust into a company that was many times larger than the company that I was previously running. My company (EMJ) had sales of about $375 million and SYNNEX had sales in the billions.

Because I had started EMJ from nothing, I generally spend my time selling to customers and vendors and speaking to people inside EMJ who supported any initiatives that I put forward.

The first few months that I was at SYNNEX, I found it to be extremely difficult. All of a sudden, people inside SYNNEX did not automatically take my direction. I had not earned their respect. I was the new guy. Working in this situation weighed heavily on me.

So I sought the counsel of one of my mentors. He suggested that I needed to treat it like a sale. When I accepted this, a huge weight was lifted. I was accustomed to selling, getting rejected, persisting, changing tactics etc and for some reason I do not find struggle in a selling situation to be depressing.

And that is one learning. There are lots more. Constant learning is one thing that keeps me inspired.

2 Comments:

At 9:05 PM, Blogger Robert Hruzek said...

Howdy, Jim! Sounds like you had a pretty good mentor, there. I can just imagine the adjustments that had to be made; not always the most fun thing, but wow! what a lesson in personal growth!

Great illustration, and thanks for chipping in. Oh, and welcome to the Middle Zone!

 
At 9:36 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Jim

Isn't it great we have mentors around to make things simple? Change the mind-set - problem half solved.

Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

 

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