I just returned from spending a week at Staples HQ campus in Boston (seriously, the most amazing work place on the planet - WOW). I am overwhelmed (in a super good way), overjoyed and over-the-moon in love with my company.
As the rookie Area Sales Manager in the Chicago office, I was honored to have
accompanied 15 new hires from Chicago for their final week of onboarding called Proweek. I also needed a brush up on the new membership sales process and to reacquaint myself with all things mid-market having spent the last year as a Strategic Account Leader in Commercial & Enterprise.
I was thrilled to have met some Staples rockstars while there this week. Erich Komenda, RSD of the #1 region in the country, Erin Mara, Director of Learning & Development and Neil Ringel, President of North America Delivery (I first met him in a swim-up bar in Cancun but that's another Staples story)
I love new hires. I love their excitement. I love their dedication to learning and their aggressive listening skills as they hang on every word I say as I guide their training. I love their perspectives and questions. I love their sense of hope.
One of my sayings is "when you're green you're growing and when you're ripe, you rot."
Your trajectory for growth only happens when you stay coachable, trainable and teachable. It's when you are defensive in receiving feedback on performance, or have an attitude of a know-it-all, or are unwilling to see different perspectives that you die on the vine. You rot. And that is scary, lonely place to be.
When was the last time you learned something anew? Asked a super achiever how you too may increase your success, or read a book (I constantly read 3-4 books simultaneously...don't ask) Staying green requires a removal of ego and pride and demands a vulnerability to staying open to growth which is the only way to avoid decay.
The rockstars imparted wisdom. Simplicity, strategy and synergy. They shared from their experiences, individually and collectively. They shared successes and failures. They shared generously from their passion. Their sharing refocused, refreshed and reignited me and I left Boston with confidence and courage to continue in my exceedingly abundantly above year.
When was the last time you taught what you knew? (Extra points if it was to a competitor) Mentored someone? Gave back your expertise to someone who could never pay you back? To whom much is given, much is expected and I am incredibly blessed to work for a company that has ingrained in its culture a generosity of knowledge sharing and an expectation of being approachable and kind.
We rise by lifting others.
The rookies lifted my heart and the rockstars raised my expectations of myself and because of both - I will never be the same