I help lead our Global Impact Council for ServiceNow’s remote US employees. It seemed like a natural compliment to my role as an AE on the ServiceNow.org team, and it also feels fantastic to connect my peers with opportunities to engage in their community. This week, we gathered as a team of global leaders and did an exercise that asked us to identify the moment we were inspired to give back.
This is a difficult thing to pin down. On reflection, I realize it was because it built over time. What I stumbled across that made me think about this was this photo. It’s a glimpse into an early experience that helped create a foundation for my why. It’s also an interesting analysis of what was going on in my life in 2012 and how that added to that why.
Left to right, these gentlemen all had different impacts on my career and why. Jeff is the reason we are all standing together in front of the Department of Protective Services. This is the SC team that supported Texas at EMC, and we took this photo on a wednesday a few days before my birthday and Christmas in 2012. He found an opportunity for us to make a donation for a toy drive and give back as a team. I remember him asking us to look nice so we could take this picture, and I’m sure, if I dig deep enough into my archives, I could find which meeting we had come together for, since we were spread across Texas. It’s also one of the first times I remember doing something nice for others as part of a work function. Jeff was one of the first real sales managers I worked for, and he understood how important it was to be well rounded and balance work in with our lives. I met my match in Nick. He showed me how demonstrations worked, and how to communicate not just features and functions, but operational workflow. It matters. Stories tell someone what they are investing in…a list of features does not. David, Chris, and Scott all developed relationships with their customers in different ways. If you have the opportunity to watch three different approaches to the same outcome, take it. I have absorbed and melded the best of every person I have worked with into the approach I use to manage an account today.
Finally, look at me in the middle. Goofy faux-hawk that I was certain was the pinnacle of men’s hair fashion. I’m in a hand-me-down suit that is made for someone 50lbs heavier and 3 inches taller. I didn’t know about tailors. I didn’t even realize it was ill-fitting. I was still very early in my “grown-up” career, and I had to get by with what I had since I entered this world through a non-traditional path. It’s ironic now to spend time supporting customers who operate thrift stores and connecting that many of their constituents are doing the same. I thought I had made it when we took this picture. In reality, all I had done was take one small step forward towards something more fulfilling. It was one of the sources of my why.
Digital IRL 