Those were during the rocky days of mergers and acquisitions in the broadcast industry. Little did I know that in my first few years at the station, I'd be managing up to a revolving cast of characters! They included 3 different Owners and with new owners came 3 new General Managers. Each brought in their own team, which meant I got another new boss. As the Local Sales Manager, my only peer on the sales team was the National Sales Manager. During those few short years, I worked with 7 different NSMs! I was beginning to wonder if they tasted like chicken!
Managing up was exhausting and it became a challenge to look at myself in the mirror with any level of self respect. I had sold out. I'd done and said things that I didn't believe all in the name of self promotion and survival. And while I was one of the fortunate few to survive all the changes, it didn't feel good.
When the 3rd regime checked in, I decided to check out of the managing up program. After all, where had that gotten me? Instead, I decided to commit myself to the group of people who were the most important people to me, day in and day out...my young, talented, stressed and overworked sales staff.
The problem was, I'd spent so much time focused on the higher ups, I didn't really know them. Coming face to face with that embarrassing reality is what made me redefine my job description and with that decision, my career changed.
I spent more time with each of my salespeople to learn about their families, where they grew up, how they were raised and most importantly, what their passion was outside the office. I found I had an avid (actually rabid) golfer, a few antique buffs, new moms needing flexibility in their schedules.
After a few months, they came to trust me enough to admit that the grind of the job was causing them to miss out on things that were important to them. It was then that I made a commitment to do all I could to allow them the time to connect with their passion as often as possible. Once I did that, the flood gates of success opened wide!
For example, on many Fridays, J.D. signed out for an afternoon appointment....with his 4-some. When I could sense Cindy was having a tough day, she took an extra long lunch hour to leisurely stroll through local antique shops. Andrews wanted to visit his Mom several times after his Dad passed. Rather than use precious vacation time, I would jot on my calendar that next Friday, "Andrews - calling in sick". That one still makes me giggle when I think about it. When Karen asked if I would help her get upper management to approve flex hours so she and her husband could balance work with family responsibilities, I said, "Heck no! If we ask, they may say no. I'd prefer to beg for forgiveness if anyone finds out."
OK I know, you're reeling back in your chair and asking yourself, "Why in the world would she do that? She's just asking to get fired." And you're right. Had my higher ups known, I may have been fired, but it was worth the risk. We had been squeaking by and meeting our sales goals now and then, but at best it was spotty. I thought, "What the heck, if my boss is going to fire me, I might as well go down in flames with happy salespeople around me!"
And for those of you still rolling your eyes, I need to point out that allowances came with two caveats; # 1 that our agreement was between the two of us was not to be disclosed or discussed with any other staff member. # 2, if I ever felt the opportunities given to them were taken for granted, they would come to a screeching halt. Period.
For the first time in management career, I believed I was taking care of the real needs of the television station; the people responsible for generating more than $100 million in annual revenue. And believe me, in a competitive environment faced with daily changes in programming and ratings, they were without question our most stable and valuable resource.
The bottom line was that my new management style was paying big dividends both personally and professionally and they developed into a kick ass sales staff! Yes, I had put my job on the line but the result was unbelievably incredible.
It wasn't a magical formula. It just came down to taking care of people. Paying attention to what mattered to them. And developing a mutual level of trust that was invaluable. Here are the three things I committed to do differently and my reasoning behind each...
# 1 Trust them. You must trust your salesperson before they'll begin to trust you. If they don't trust you, they won't show you who they really are. You won't know what really motivates them and you'll never be completely effective in managing that person.
# 2 Learn from them. Your sales people will know you value them when you ask for their opinion and advice. As sales managers we don't have all the answers, so why not go to the source? The ones who are in the trenches are the folks to rely on for the best information...again, they must trust you to do this.
# 3 Acknowledge and thank them. Openly and often. I can't impress upon you enough how critically important it is to thank your staff for their contribution to the common goal. And, don't make the mistake of just thanking those who had a huge success that day. Sometimes it is the ones that didn't have a great day that need to be thanked. Thanked for their sincere effort, even if the results aren't readily evident.
The last 3 years as their sales manager were the best years of my career. We never missed a another revenue goal...monthly, quarterly or annually! In fact as a team, we achieved our common goal to make our annual budget 3 months early for each of those last 3 years!
After that 3rd amazing year, I left the station. No I didn't get fired, instead I like to think of it as retiring at the top of my game. I had achieved a level of success and professional satisfaction that I had always hoped for. I wasn't the world's best sales manager, but I had developed into a pretty good one and that was good enough for me.
When I think back about how I managed vs. how other successful sales managers did, it made me think. Since my management style was full of secrets bonds and promises, how would we ever know that they didn't do the same thing I did? Kind of funny to think about that now. All I know is that I tried to manage the person. The whole person. Not just the one who showed up from 8 to 5.
As for the higher ups? I'm happy to report that once my new style resulted in consistently strong revenue for the station and limited turnover, the heavens opened up and I was welcomed once again into the inner sanctum. Only this time, I was invited to join them for all the right reasons.
