Interlude: Peddling Away a Career

 2023 Reflection: My process of dealing with the trauma of being a diminished whistle-blower at the U of M, included (as I have noted) a sort of groping along in my career. I did a lot of bouncing around. Between 1985 and 1988, despite all of my efforts, all I could manage were three or more jobs in sales. I did all the workshops, read all the books. I studied very hard, to become a marketable professional in the corporate world. But for whatever reason, everybody seemed to think I would be good in Sales. But I didn't want to be good in Sales. In hindsight, I had become very good at job interviews (as long as it was a Sales job. If there were openings requiring fish to work where there is no water, I would be the top prospect). While I was in the middle of it, I kept a positive demeanor. I seemed to love situations where I could not, or would not, perform well. When I look back, from the purview of a recovering Anderson survivor, it all makes a lot more sense. Deep, deep down, I did not recognize my own value. 

I took jobs that demonstrated just that. I found niches where I could do one thing very well: be average, at best.

A small group of us were gathered around the open door to the office of Gary DeLuca, the VP of Sales for PC Technologies, a startup company in Ann Arbor, that manufactured and sold add-on boards for PCs. In that particular moment, the group included Scott Fosbender, a Sales Director reporting to Gary, one or two of my colleagues in the direct sales group, and me. Immediately across the hall from Gary's office, was an open recess in the hall, where the lead executive administrator of the company, Carol, worked. Her desk was there, and on the other side was the door to the CEO of the company, to whom Carol reported. We were joshing around, telling some stories, having some laughs. 

Suddenly, Carol stormed directly into the middle of us.

"I'm taking a call from <fill in the blank. Someone "important"> and I can't hear because of the noise you're making!" Many of us kept our distance from Carol, most of the time, because of her abrupt, belittling style. 

Gary kept his smile, and with something of a chortle between sentences, said "Carol, you're absolutely right. But . . . that happens!"

This was one of the things I always liked about Gary, and why he figures as one of my favorite bosses in my career. Gary was the prototype of a successful Sales Professional. He loved Sales. He excelled in it. He went straight from a bachelor's degree, to a job in Sales, and never looked back. He enjoyed sharing with us, how he lived in a neighborhood with Doctors, Lawyers, Professors . . . all of whom required ten years, or more, of college, to make their salaries; while he made as much, or more, as they did, simply because he was a good salesman. 

He said, once, "If you're good in Sales, you'll never be unemployed."

He was a very intense figure in our organization - a dominant presence. He had a sort of Robert DeNiro look, except that Gary's about five inches taller than the Oscar winner. Gary expected great results from his team . . . and when it didn't happen, he would do it himself. 

Having said all of that . . . I never quite gelled in a Gary team. I simply do not like Sales . . . unless it's something that I utterly believe in. I always knew our products weren't the best, and the rapid evolution of the PC industry was making our cards obsolete. 

But I continued to respect and even admire Gary. I have stayed in touch with him throughout the years. 

The PC Technologies experience taught me my limitations. It was 1986, and I was two years out of an MBA program. What was I doing making this pittance of a salary, doing what I don't like? One of the reasons I got an MBA, or so I thought, was so that I would never have to work in Sales. 

But Gary showed me the value of Sales, and the importance of surrounding yourself with people that wanted to sell. He said that one of his frustrations in recruiting new sales people, is that when asked "Why do you want this job?" too many of them would say "Because I love working with people and solving problems." Gary said, "I want someone to say 'Because I want to make a lot of money.'"

That, too, I came to respect as a valid element in the business world. 

I had a lot of negative impulses when it came to working in business, in management, in Sales. I had an MBA I did not enjoy getting. I went straight into three short-term jobs in Sales. But I worked for some very good professionals, and excellent role models. 

Even when you know you don't want a career in Sales, the experience of trying it out is very humbling. And that in itself made it all worthwhile. 

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