Joe Wordsworth
Logician
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2004
- Posts
- 4,085
EL has been listening to me talk about my job for a long time, offsite. I'm a middle-manager to the auto retail industry (what I do is fairly experimental and I don't actually have a boss because I invent what I do)... mostly national and international clients, hgih end and hard to find things. I never had an interest in cars growing up, but my personality and social skillset was well suited for high pressure and fast paced business environments.
So, between the economy tanking and banks freezing up credit (a huge crushing obstacle for any high-end consumer shopping like real estate or automotives), the election (Presidential elections tend to cause the auto sales industry to hibernate out of fear), sales being down across the board by about 40%, and this Big Three bailout situation (which has caused one in five domestic retail dealerships to close shop this year)... it has been a rough time for people in my line of work.
To top it all off, my company has been undergoing a corporate takeover kind of thing. A systematic refactioning and elimination of political opponents to a new philosophy of business for the four stores we own in four states... very ideological and there have been serious casualities. Most managers in all sorts of departments keep their heads down.
'Cept me.
I played chicken with the train this month and won. I feel great. I told our CEO that its love me or leave me--give me a raise or I walk. And if I walk, I become the competition.
And they just kicked me a huge raise and made me promise I'd stay. And I insisted that I get a hug, they call me Mr. Gary this week (being called Mr. just seemed very posh and British), and print new business cards for me declaring me "King of the Sea".
There is something to be said, even in economically hard times, for doing what you do... doing it well... doing it consistently... and not being afraid to make it clear that you're an asset and how. Perspective is important, we cannot allow ourselves to forget (certainly in this coming year, which will be hard) that this IS a land of opportunity, and excellence is a daily goal.
So, between the economy tanking and banks freezing up credit (a huge crushing obstacle for any high-end consumer shopping like real estate or automotives), the election (Presidential elections tend to cause the auto sales industry to hibernate out of fear), sales being down across the board by about 40%, and this Big Three bailout situation (which has caused one in five domestic retail dealerships to close shop this year)... it has been a rough time for people in my line of work.
To top it all off, my company has been undergoing a corporate takeover kind of thing. A systematic refactioning and elimination of political opponents to a new philosophy of business for the four stores we own in four states... very ideological and there have been serious casualities. Most managers in all sorts of departments keep their heads down.
'Cept me.
I played chicken with the train this month and won. I feel great. I told our CEO that its love me or leave me--give me a raise or I walk. And if I walk, I become the competition.
And they just kicked me a huge raise and made me promise I'd stay. And I insisted that I get a hug, they call me Mr. Gary this week (being called Mr. just seemed very posh and British), and print new business cards for me declaring me "King of the Sea".
There is something to be said, even in economically hard times, for doing what you do... doing it well... doing it consistently... and not being afraid to make it clear that you're an asset and how. Perspective is important, we cannot allow ourselves to forget (certainly in this coming year, which will be hard) that this IS a land of opportunity, and excellence is a daily goal.
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