When I was 25 years old, I was hired as the National Sales Manager for a small outdoor sports company…that had no sales people.  “Big gun, no ammo.”

The first thing that I was tasked with was to present a sales and marketing development plan.  Both things that I had never done before.  I was to present this to the board of this company, who also happened to be the owners.  These men ranged in age from 30 to 60 and the chairman was legendary in this market space.  

So I dove in with energy, researching how certain small companies achieving great success in their space motivated and compensated their people.  I read Harvey Mackay’s book, ‘Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive,’ and attacked this project with energy and caution to deliver what was expected.  Did I mention this was 1989 and the thing called the Internet did not exist and computers in their infancy.  So I researched, wrote my presentation, hired (at my expense) a graphic designer to put my thoughts into a professional looking presentation of 26 pages.  I paid to have each presentation spiral bound and was ready to go.  

‘P-Day’ (Presentation Day) arrived and I was nervous, but ready.  We were seated around a large table in the Chairman’s summer home located in Lac du Flambeau, WI and I was allotted one hour to present my thoughts.  As I began my presentation, I was aggravated to see that most of the board members were scanning ahead.  So I began and made it through exactly 10% of the presentation (3 pages), when the Chairman loudly slammed the presentation shut and declared, “this is the most stupid thing that I have ever read!”  Ever.  Really?  He then went on a 45 minute viral rant about me, my role and the company’s need!  I was devastated.  I knew that I was certainly terminated before I got started and in truth, just wanted to get on a plane and fly home.

As quickly as he was verbally eviscerating me, the Chairman looked at his watch and said, ‘oh gentlemen, we have a dinner reservation to get to.’  And off we went to dinner, with normal conversation and pleasantries.  I was a scalded dog!  At dinner I decided to sit at the other end of the table, ‘knowing’ the Chairman did not want anything to do with me and feeling very much the same way about him.  Then he called out and said, “Myron, come sit next to me.”  Sheesh, really?  I can’t even relax at dinner and lick my wounds.

As I sat beside him and table conversation began amongst these men that I reported to, the Chairman reached over and placed his hand on my arm and called me close.  He then said, “I hired you because of your talent that I see in you and the abilities that I know are in you.  My job is to help you see and believe what is there.”  He then went on, “Your job is to never, ever tell me what you think I want to hear but what I need to hear.”  Cue the tears here.  Real men do cry by the way!

In 15 seconds, this man that I knew of through legend and common professional associates, affirmed everything that I had heard about him.  Tough.  Hyper intelligent.  Demanding.  Expecting.  Blunt.  (I think the term ‘blunt force trauma’ may have originated with his evaluation style.). Kind.  Encouraging.  Developing.  Educating.  Empowering.  Entrusting.  Leading from the only place that matters, the front, born of decades of failing and incredible professional success.  In 15 seconds he set the professional trajectory of a young man who never again told him anything but what he needed to hear.  (Eight years later and many, many screw-ups later, he would assign me the position of president and partner in this business.)

I plan to write much more about my professional experiences and the lasting impact of this seasoned man who saw something in me that I had yet to discover.  

The lesson here was and is, you are capable.  Energy and effort do not equal success, but are highly prized and always recognized by those leading you.  Everyone does not get an award, but success is there for anyone willing to pursue it.  Failing where best effort was expended, is success waiting in the future.  Hard critiques mean you are capable of so much more.  Words of encouragement are exponentially life changing.

“I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.”  Marcus Aurelius