Wake-Up Call

I don't remember the exact day, in fact it actually happened over two days, but I do know that it was in July of 2011 when I received my wake-up call. The wake-up call came from my regional manager, shortly after I had been told that I was not selected to back-fill my boss (who had transferred to a different position within the company). And it came in the form of two face to face meetings.

The background: I had been told that I was the "preferred candidate" for the position I thought that I wanted. Being with the company for over thirteen years, history had taught me that the "preferred candidate" was the person selected ninety-nine out of one hundred times. My regional manager said that it would be tough and that there were other candidates; so “it’s not a done deal yet, but you are my preferred candidate.”

As it turned out, the company decided to go with someone with “more experience”. I assumed more experience meant five more years with the company, several different management positions in different divisions, etc. In this case “more experience” means two more years with the company, no MBA, no experience in our division and only one previous management job (supervising one person).

I was not just bitter, quite frankly, I was mad as hell. So I met with my regional manager to discuss what had happened and why. We met for about half an hour and he highlighted the merits of the selected person – his enthusiasm and his “experience.” I, of course, defended my position – eight different positions in the company over thirteen years, five years of retail experience in the same industry, MBA, etc. The regional manager finally told me “Warren, I didn’t have a choice, this was Detroit’s decision. And besides, {our company} doesn’t promote within the same region and have you supervise your previous peers; it just doesn’t happen” For a split second it made me feel better, but it faded quickly because I figured out who was back-filling my new boss in his old position. It was his direct report. Ah, so the company does allow you to back-fill your supervisor, it just depends on which region you work in and who you know.

In a separate meeting with my regional manager, as we were discussing some of our franchisees and how some of them had tremendous entrepreneurial spirit and others didn’t. The regional manager actually said, and I paraphrase, “he’s like guys like us, who are happy and secure collecting a good paycheck and putting in their twenty-five or thirty years, you do a good job and live a good life. That's how our company breeds them.”

WOW! It didn’t hit me at first. But wow! I kept hitting the snooze button for a few months after this meeting, but now I realized that my regional manager thought (or at least was projecting his feelings on me) that I was not entrepreneurial, not creative, not willing to take a risk … not going anywhere?

If I have given him the impression that I don’t want more, that I don’t want to grow, that I don’t want to prosper … then shame on me. If I’ve allowed this to be how my life has played out … then shame on me.

I will not settle for this ... stay tuned!