I can still remember the day, many years ago, when I was provided the opportunity to ‘officially’ become a leader – my General Manager phoned me late one afternoon to offer me the position of Sales Manager. I can recall as if it was yesterday the excitement of the role and the anticipation of what lay ahead. I had been working towards this role for the previous 18 months and was so grateful that the opportunity had been provided to me – I was determined to do my very best to not only impress and earn the respect of my General Manager, I was also determined to earn the trust and respect of my team. I could not wait to get started.
The first 12 months in the role was anything but smooth sailing – in fact it was filled with challenge after challenge. As I look back now, I think I was somewhat naive, particularly with regards to the role and the expectations that I placed on myself to perform, especially at the beginning. Whilst I had been a successful sales person and had been preparing myself for the leadership role, I hadn’t as yet actually performed the role of Sales Manager, and I was expecting everything to roll smoothly. When it didn’t, especially early on, I found it quite challenging to overcome, and to keep moving forward. Continue Reading