Sugar and spur…

Recently, I was in my weekly 1-on-1 with my manager.  She joined the company earlier in the year; from Canada; a horsewoman; I liked her from the get-go.  I was told we hired her because of her industry knowledge and experience with sales programs like the one I’m part of.  I suspect she did not suspect it would be her equestrian skills that would make the biggest impact on our professional relationship. 

When she was hired, I was the senior member of her team; in fact, I was the only member of her team!  I was also the senior member of our entire department.  In today’s technology sales field tenure can be as much of a liability as an asset.  Technology companies often look at someone with my years of experience the way the Bureau of Land Management of the US Government looks at wild horses roaming government land.  

In the west the BLM manages herds of wild horses with the verb “manage” being a bit of a stretch.  The American Mustang is a proud symbol of our country’s beauty, heritage, and power.  Mustangs have no natural predators.  After they reach the age of five, the “wild” in their name cannot be gentled. 

My wife and son adopted three, two-year old mustangs from the BLM many years ago and gentled them.  The last is meandering the pasture outside our back door; thirty-one years old and still majestic:  

With great skill and patience they trained our mustangs to perform in parades and shows across the western states.  Me?  Well let’s say I make a good stable hand.  I love the smell of horse manure in the corral.  In the office?  Not so much. 

When working with our mustangs day in and day out, my wife and son employed unending patience maintaining their calm temperament even in the face of their horse “blowing up” from time to time; readily offering the “sugar”.  However, horses as herd animals constantly test the pecking order; even with their owners.  So occasionally my wife or my son would show their horse the “spur” just to ensure everyone knew who was the top of the pecking order in our little, family herd. 

When my manager first joined the company, she was generous with the “sugar” during our interactions. Her style was such that I told my wife if my new manager was not the nicest person I had ever met, she was in the top five.  I on the other hand?  Tested the pecking order. 

I wasn’t deliberately trying to buck the initiatives my department was pursuing but my demeanor wasn’t something to be proud of.  Perhaps pride was the source of my poop-in-the-face attitude.  None of my “issues” were significant; nothing material; nothing that couldn’t be easily addressed.  I suppose I was simply a little “wild”. 

The other day was another day with a bit of an undercurrent in our 1-to-1 meeting.  That’s when she showed me the “spur”.  It wasn’t much; never has to be with a skillful equestrian.  But it was enough to remind me that horse and rider are best as one; best when in sync; best when working together as a team.  Later that very afternoon she noticed and commented on my 180º change to a positive contributor during a team meeting.  

Yes, mustangs and tenured sales professionals can develop an occasional stubborn streak.  When they do, just show them a little “spur”.  It’s OK. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.