So I just changed employers. Really, a big step after 5 years with the same company. But a necessary one. With the “right-sizing” taking place, I was not going to stick around to see how many rounds of cuts I could survive at the old gig.
The change of work venues has been refreshing to say the least. Frankly, its a joy to be in a work environment where everyone knows who the leader is, and everyone follows.
Let me illustrate that point. Have you ever been with an organization of any kind that tried to lead by committee? Did you ever get anything of real substance done? Of course not. Without a clearly articulated vision and sound leadership, its like a rudderless ship adrift at sea.
Here’s the delightful scene that I stepped into last week.
My new employer has recently completed several mergers and acquisitions. Now that the ink has dried, its time to get down to the business of settling all the dust.
Part of my job requires me to develop workflow plans for each of our platforms that use our Siebel CRM solution. While I understand business processes and workflows, I don’t know all the details of this industry. So, on my first week with this company, I was thrust into a meeting with all the affected application administrators, report and metrics managers, departmental directors, and the managing VP.
Some of my past experience tells me that when you get all the directors and managers in the same room, there is going to be some infighting over territory.
This was not the case at all. The leader of this group of managers is clearly the VP. He knows his business very well. He also knows the Siebel application adequately well enough to accept sound advise from his developer and business advisors. But most importantly, he is able to articulate the vision and provide the leadership this group needs.
As a result, there was no squabbling over turf, no back-biting and no grand standing. Just a group of managers doing their best to provide valuable insight and meaningful dialog.
As you might expect, I was completely done after a day and half of grueling process analysis. I’ve now got a to-do list a mile long (job security, right?). But the primary take-away from this meeting is that we have a leader worth following.