Built to leave…

A dear friend, Grumdelagrum (dude in the center of the pic) is writing a book. It’s scheduled to be finished around Christmas. Available to you sometime in 2027. It will be worth your time. Grumdelagrum is the best sales dude in CompuServe history. Was our top producer three years in a row and so much more. Born without an arm, he played without excuses. His story will STOP you from whining. He’s 70 and has the energy of a 50 year old. He’s had more adversity than I’ll ever know. Beyond humbled that he wrote a chapter about me. I’m sharing it because it made me smile. He sees me at my best. We can all use someone beside us who sees our best and encourages us to keep working.

And, I want the reader to see me as a young leader. BTL stands for Built to Lead. It also means built to leave. When you hire BTL to build into you and your team you create souls on fire. A few will light up your team. A few will get lit and decide to leave. The first is sweet. Second is bitter and sweet. As a leader I believe it’s all bittersweet, just like life. We teach our clients to embrace both sides of the coin. Celebrate those who leave to pursue their OPUS. There is nothing better than seeing teammates catch fire. You, leader, have to swallow hard when top performers choose to leave. When a labor of love leads them out the door. Prepare for this. It’s coming. It’s meant for your good, for your and their growth. Embrace it. Damn.

Here’s a peek back. Hope this is helpful. Hard to believe it’s been almost thirty years in the rear view mirror…

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I needed a career move and so My plan was to fly from Chicago to Columbus. I would meet with Chet, my VP of Sales, and present my self-directed career shift.  It was December of 1998, some 3 months after my unplanned hospitalization.  I was feeling better and my depression was back in her cage.  Not cured, but I was coping.

I was feeling semi anxious about my visit to see Chet. I had proposed an agenda, but Chet doesn’t do agendas. I had proposed a time, but Chet doesn’t wear a watch.  I would have sent him an email explaining my idea, but, Chet doesn’t do email.  And so we talked on the phone for one minute. His reply was, ‘just fly down and we can talk’.  Pure Chet.  No agenda, no timeframes, and no appointment needed. Just show up and we can talk. That was the extent of my phone conversation with Chet, he does do phones.

Same as ten years prior, let’s just talk.  Here’s the thing … when he says ‘let’s talk’, it means he listens. I’ve tried not talking, and just listening, but it seldom works. I talk, because Chet is a very scary listener.  Again, it’s impossible to describe Chet.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

The flight from Chicago Midway Airport to the Columbus Airport is 55 minutes, if the ‘stars align’.  The stars never align.  It can  take an entire day to get to Columbus, if there is weather,  and Columbus always has unpleasant weather.  It was a cold, cloudy and dreary day when I landed. I realize that to those who know Columbus, the previous sentence is redundant.   Actually, everyone knows this.  Columbus has weather.  Northern California has climate.  Big Difference.

The other important detail is, I have a real ‘fear of flying’.  I would have typically taken a Xanax and a Budweiser prior to ‘lift off’, but I needed my A game. I landed at the airport, in Columbus, and kissed the ground.  It was a ‘nightmare’ flight.  The seatbelt sign was illuminated the entire trip. Bad Weather.  And the return back to Chicago Midway is the always the same damn thing, but for different reasons.  Midway Airport has the shortest runway in the country, and then there’s always Chicago weather.

Anytime I would fly to Columbus, I’d become a meteorologist the prior day. I needed to check the weather, winds and clouds for any warning signs.  I’ve deplaned before departure.  I have been known to walk off, just get a bad vibe. But my meeting with Chet would decide my future career path, so damn the weather.  I strapped in.  It was a miserable flight.

Earlier in 98, Chet had brought on a sales consultant from Dale Carnegie. An insightful guy, by the name of Ed Eppley. Ed was a Unicorn.  He was funny, honest, great presenter, good sales guy, and an exceptional storyteller.  He was real, he was a performer and he never ‘pulled a punch’.  He had carried a ‘sales bag’ and had instant credibly with me.  No BS. Ed was an easy person to admire.  Within minutes, I wanted to be Ed.

Chet is a special man, and I confess there are no words to capture the Spirit of him. Touched by God to be certain. Raised right..

Chet is like a sunrise, but it’s hard to put a ‘sunrise’ into words.  It’s best to experience Chet,  just as you would want to experience a sunrise.  Chet is my friend, and my encouragement for this book.  Chet will deny this statement, but he’s just Chet, doing his ‘Chet Thing”.

He’s been doing this ‘Chet thing’, since we sat in his office on a cold and rainy December Day.  (I do realize that saying cold and rainy in Columbus continues to be redundant) If there is a ‘sunny’ Columbus, I have not experienced it.  I should also mention Chet loves the weather. I love the weather. Together, we are weather junkies. It’s not unusual that we discuss weather more then sales, but then Chet is unusual.  He’s playful, for Chet is a verb and an adjective.

So Chet does his ‘Chet thing’.  The ‘Chet thing’ is even harder to explain than a sunshine.  Two things are certain, he’s read and responded to every chapter in this book, the second is his ability to redirect any attention to himself, back to the person who is sending the praise. It doesn’t matter what I write, he will have me talking about myself before the end of any paragraph. Ask him a question, and you’ll wind up doing all the talking.  If you start talking, he does all the listening. And when you try and ‘listen’ to Chet, you still wind up talking.  He’s a scary good listener.   Again, best to experience the Chet thing.  He’s special.

When I talk with Chet in person, he is ‘fully present’,  before the term, ‘fully present “ was popular.  He listens as if there isn’t another soul on the planet. Time is frozen when I’m with him. He was this way in December of 1989 as I sat on the opportunity couch’.  The same man in so many ways, yet he has grown. Same, but different.  For me, the only noticeable change is he had a new couch.  His magic is the depth of the ‘inner man’.

We sat in his office as I presented my idea. He just smiled as I rambled on.  I wanted to train our CNS sales team for one year, go on CNS staff, get a base salary, and then launch my own company.  I needed Chet to ‘bless’ my plan.

I remember Chet saying only two important statements. He delivered each one with his patented smile.  “So you want me to take our ‘highest producing salesperson’ over the last 7 years and remove him from the field’?  Yes, I said.  He grinned. He mentioned that my earnings would drop by 80% and was I OK with that?  He grinned again. Yes, I said again.

He smiled, and said, ‘yup, we can do that’.

That was it… ‘yup, we can do that’.  The entire exchange maybe lasted two minutes. My eyes filled with tears. Chet knew it was time for a change.  At that moment, I could feel my Spirit soaring.  I was back, my new path lay ahead.  One 2 minute exchange and my entire life turned.  Change was coming and I embraced it.  Chet’s decision would allow me to pursue my dreams, and I was dreaming big.  My success in sales training within CNS would lead to even more success and even bigger dreams.

Chet has many gifts, he reminds me of my Dad, in so many ways.  My Dad saw the world through the eyes of others.  Chet does too.   What a gift.  I hope my readers have a ‘Chet’ in their lives.  I can’t imagine my Life without him.  Damn.

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Sometimes a leader tells their high performer to take one for the team. Sometimes the leader takes one so the high performer realizes their dream. Both represent BTL leadership when OPUS is the focus. Damn.

Thanks, Grumdelagrum, for the kind words. You were built to leave. You are built to lead. Your book is going to STOP a lot of whining and change lives. It’s already changed mine. You are my friend. Together we transform. Always together. Keep writing. Amen.

Live hard. Love ❤️ harder…