As I was setting there thinking about how lucky I was to be working as an intern while still in engineering school; it happened!
A salesman walked into the office.
He was a respectable gentleman, nothing of note in regards to his appearance.
Obviously he had made an appointment to speak with my boss, otherwise he would not have been allowed on the property.
It was when he sat down on the other side of my boss’s desk and began his sales presentation that my ears perked up.
I began to listen in, not necessarily on what he was trying to sell, or the methods which he was utilizing.
No, I was listening to the fact that he was selling!
I looked down on him. Filled with my smug “smarter than thou” “I am an engineer” complex, I looked down on the man for selling.
It wasn’t in a cruel way. I remember vividly thinking “Gosh, I sure am glad I don’t have to do that for a living. I couldn’t stand having to do what that guy does! Just look at how he got rejected.”
Those are the thoughts of a young man who knew much, but was lacking in wisdom.
Here is the thing. I know for a fact I was not along in casting judgments upon the humble salesman. Looking back, it is clear to me now that my thoughts about the man and the sales pitch he gave was an adequate declaration of my fear and cowardice. My judgments about him had nothing to do with him…they were a reflection of me.
I was scared to do what he did. I would not want to have to feed myself that way. I would not want to be rejected…Yet, I looked down on him?
That event colored my view of salesman for many years. Unfortunately, I didn’t become wise about sales until much later.
Engineering is a bewitching profession.
One gets to build what they desire, others admire and praise you for it, all the while receiving just a little more compensation than your other counterparts who work with you.
The accolades and your own ego blind you to the fact you are on the cost side of the ledger. There is little which can be done to expand your contribution to an organization. You are an Engineer…you are an expense.
That salesman whom I looked down upon so many decades ago understood something which took me years to learn. The largest rewards occur on the income side of the ledger.
Does that mean every person should quit their job and go sell boats? Of course not; However, it should make you look for opportunities which will allow you to participate on the income side of the scale?
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Jonathan