When life throws us curveballs, our family and work families can hit home runs with the right team spirit. Our latest episode takes you on a journey from the sweet victory of Stacey's grandson's brave fight from the NICU to the sanctuary of home, to the office battleground where toxic employees threaten to steal more than just your stapler. We're not holding back on the laughter or the tears as we share the ups and downs of real life, proving that strength comes in all sizes and that even the smallest victories can be the sweetest.
Have you ever worked with someone who could sell ice to Eskimos but also had the team walking on eggshells? We're joined by Gary Vaynerchuk, who throws down some hard truths about the costs of keeping toxic high-performers on board. Our candid conversation dives into the murky waters of workplace dynamics and the tough leadership decisions that can make or break a team's morale. It's a frank look at the delicate balance between performance and culture, peppered with personal anecdotes and the kind of wisdom that only comes from being in the trenches.
Finally, we’re mapping the minefield of career navigation, especially within the cutthroat plains of sales culture. It's about more than just hitting targets; it's about hitting the mark with your career aspirations and learning when to play ball or when to seek out a new league. We share insights on fostering an environment where speaking up about your career goals is not just accepted but encouraged. Tune in for some straight talk on advocating for your growth, handling the high pressure of sales, and ensuring you don't lose your best players to poor management. It's the playbook you need for winning at the work game.
Make sure to subscribe to our channel, comment, like, and share!
Amy, Kitty & Stacey
P.S. Isn't our intro music great?! Yah, we think so too. Thank you, Ivy States for "I Got That Wow".
When life throws us curveballs, our family and work families can hit home runs with the right team spirit. Our latest episode takes you on a journey from the sweet victory of Stacey's grandson's brave fight from the NICU to the sanctuary of home, to the office battleground where toxic employees threaten to steal more than just your stapler. We're not holding back on the laughter or the tears as we share the ups and downs of real life, proving that strength comes in all sizes and that even the smallest victories can be the sweetest.
Have you ever worked with someone who could sell ice to Eskimos but also had the team walking on eggshells? We're joined by Gary Vaynerchuk, who throws down some hard truths about the costs of keeping toxic high-performers on board. Our candid conversation dives into the murky waters of workplace dynamics and the tough leadership decisions that can make or break a team's morale. It's a frank look at the delicate balance between performance and culture, peppered with personal anecdotes and the kind of wisdom that only comes from being in the trenches.
Finally, we’re mapping the minefield of career navigation, especially within the cutthroat plains of sales culture. It's about more than just hitting targets; it's about hitting the mark with your career aspirations and learning when to play ball or when to seek out a new league. We share insights on fostering an environment where speaking up about your career goals is not just accepted but encouraged. Tune in for some straight talk on advocating for your growth, handling the high pressure of sales, and ensuring you don't lose your best players to poor management. It's the playbook you need for winning at the work game.
Make sure to subscribe to our channel, comment, like, and share!
Amy, Kitty & Stacey
P.S. Isn't our intro music great?! Yah, we think so too. Thank you, Ivy States for "I Got That Wow".
All right, look I got that. Wow, who wants some heads up right now? We got that. Turn it up loud. I know you're wondering how I got that. Wow, here I go, here I go, coming. I can't ever stop. I'm a tour de force running. Get me to the top. I don't need an invitation. I'm about to start a celebration.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello, hello. It's been a while since we've acknowledged the music. It's a really, really great way to get started.
Speaker 3:It is. Yeah, it's almost got the first 30 seconds of the lyrics memorized.
Speaker 2:Almost. I know I love it. Well, how are you guys Good? Here we are again for another episode of Three Cocktails In. We are excited to have another addicting conversation. It's been a week since we were together, so everybody having a good start to your week, yes, well, mine starts tomorrow.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's right, it's technically Sunday night for me.
Speaker 2:Do you have the Sunday scaries?
Speaker 3:Nope, yay. Good, I don't All ready to go. Well, let's not go overboard, but got some laundry done, got some groceries picked up. Gonna make some salads next couple days yeah, you take your lunch every day.
Speaker 3:Um, I have to eat every day. I there's no way I can go from 10 until seven without having something. And I've fallen into the trap of DoorDash, which you know is fine. I mean, I order things like Panera and get a really good sandwich, or it's always a sandwich. I never order a salad there. But you know, if I'm hungry and if I don't't do that, it's the candy that's on my desk, because I always try and have a little dish of candy either on my desk or, you know, for people who walk in just to have something. And yeah, I'm gonna have to go back to or buying things like that have nuts in it that I can't eat there you go.
Speaker 3:It's a bag of twizzlers and gummy bears and Starbursts. I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it in the pants that I have on. I've eaten far too many of them, yep.
Speaker 2:We're still living in under mounds of Girl Scout cookies in my office.
Speaker 3:I never got any.
Speaker 4:Well, oh Well, if you still have them, that's pretty good, because mine are long gone, long gone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, kitty, those all freeze really well, yeah, well they're office cookies, so I mean they're at the office and they were bought by the office. So I feel like I can, you know, walk out with a handful of them, but they're right in the coffee room and so every time I go in there to freshen up my coffee, I have to look at them yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, that's a philanthropic um endeavor you're. You're taking, every time you eat, one of those you're supporting Girl Scouts. So calories don't count for that, I guess.
Speaker 4:I guess, but wouldn't it be amazing if Thin Mints made you thin? Yeah, that would be good. That's a good idea.
Speaker 2:It's false advertising. That's what it is it? Is, and the thanks a lot made you thankful yeah.
Speaker 4:Stacey, what's going on with you? Well, I had a good weekend, a good Easter, because I got to hold little Sawyer, my new grandson, a lot.
Speaker 4:Finally, should I tell the story? I know, yes. So when he was born, I know one time we recorded, and I can't remember which episode Well, it would have been four weeks ago. Basically, you know, madison was in labor and I was just waiting for the phone call, couldn't wait, you know, to hear he was born. You know, that night on what the heck was it March 6th, like eight o'clock and all great. What the heck was it March 6th, like eight o'clock and all great. And the next day I went to the hospital and got to hold him and everything.
Speaker 4:And then, friday, they were getting ready to go home from the hospital and the pediatrician, the you know baby doctor, said she wasn't liking some of the things that were on his chart because he had a very, very weak cry and just never made a lot of noise. So she said I'm going to call a specialist and see what he thinks. So she calls him and they ended up getting, you know, he was transported to the children's hospital and the NICU um to look at. You know what the what the issue was Ended up he had a what they call unilateral vocal cord paralysis, so one of his vocal cords is paralyzed, still is.
Speaker 4:But the issue early on was that, you know he it was difficult for him to eat and breathe at the same time. So they spent three weeks in the NICU, which was a very, you know, long and stressful time, you know, doing tests after test and you know, really finding nothing, you know no underlying cause for it. He just had to get to the point where he could, you know, eat enough consistently, and that basically took you know three weeks time. So then he got out last, you know, just on Saturday, and he's doing great. He has gained a pound and a half, I think. So he weighs nine pounds. Well, yeah, so you know awesome.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Vocal cords still doesn't work. It may just start working someday in a week or a month or a year or whatever, or maybe you know, you said it.
Speaker 3:It won't make a difference in his ability to talk and everything else, right?
Speaker 4:No, no, the only thing they think you know like, if it never starts working, for instance, he'll, you know, be a normal kid for sure. He may just get winded. You know, like being active. Or say, when he gets older and play sports, he'll get winded faster than you know other kids. And just have to take a break and then he'd be fine and go on. Just have to take a break and then he'd be fine and go, go on. You know, like I said, they found no real cause. You know cause for it. They did some genetic testing. They aren't. They found nothing there either. So you know very rare, very rare thing. So you know, odd that they found it. Yeah, he's like's, like I said, doing good. Now, it was just a little stressful at the beginning. You know what's what's it, you know what's gonna happen and what they're gonna have to do and you know all this kind of stuff. So, yeah, wow, yeah, well, yeah, otherwise he's doing good, good and so mom and dad um Madison and Ty.
Speaker 3:Yeah feeling good about this were they freaked out now about being home this weekend without having anybody to help them.
Speaker 4:No, I thought maybe they would. Um, you know, so he's four weeks today, you know. So she has it figured out, she could. She got to the point where she could tell when, you know, like when he would eat, he would like almost hold his breath or not breathe at the same time, so she can tell that and just stops feeding him until he catches up and gets going. So now she knows and she, you know, can, she recognizes the sounds when it's kind of happening and whatever. But yeah, otherwise, he's, you know, they've just kind of gotten used to it being a little different than maybe they thought it would be.
Speaker 2:So yeah, there will be more of that going forward.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so my plug for this is you know, do you ever drive through like I did just not very long ago? You drive through and they want you to up your, you know your bill to the even dollar to donate to a children's hospital or Ronald McDonald House. If you drive through McDonald's, I highly recommend you do that and I'll tell you why.
Speaker 4:Ronald McDonald house was probably the biggest savior to them. You know Madison never left, you know, the hospital, you know for any big amount of time, an hour here, two hours there, you know, but Ronald McDonald house they could get away. She could sleep in a bed instead of a recliner, you know, for a while, um, you know Ty could get away and and sleep there. They had, it's kind of like, had a little, you know, like hotel room type of thing, and meals were free, snacks are free, drinks. They could just go over there and kind of unwind and do whatever. All for free, no charge to them, which you know, honestly, was kind of a lifesaver, just so they could, yeah, you know, spend some time away, and you know it is so interesting that you're talking about that and we talked about Girl Scout.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is so interesting that you're talking about that and we talked about Girl Scout cookies, one of the things that my all three girls were in Girl Sc one stone, but cookie time. You know, a lot of people say, oh, I don't want cookies, I don't want them, I'm on a diet. And we got to the point where we would say, well, would you like to buy a box for we're going to give them, and a couple of years they gave boxes and boxes of girl scout cookies to the ronald mcdonald house. That's a good idea, yeah, um, so because, again, families that are there, and oftentimes they're small, there's families with kids yes that are.
Speaker 3:That aren't the aren't the reason why they're there. But there are families there and you know different volunteer groups who go in and make dinners or, you know, bring dinners in actual you know, not fast food type dinners. It makes a huge difference, yeah it does.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, it really does, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's good to offer that as a suggestion. You know, I mean, it's easy to to, as you're walking into the grocery store and you've got the little stand there and I'm like I don't want any cookies. It's easy, it I don't think about. Well, buy a box for somebody who can't buy a box yeah don't they send boxes to the troops and and things they do?
Speaker 3:yeah, yep, but if you, you know, a lot of people again support the troops and that's fabulous. There is a portion of people who say, well, there are people in our community, in my community, that need help. Well, that's a wonderful thing to do, and so often I just was having a conversation with somebody. I went to a networking event last night. That was a little interesting, it was great, but we were having a conversation about how, how things don't change or get better until you are personally affected by it, and then that spurs you to action. Yeah, and so the Ronald McDonald house. I mean, we all see the commercials. It's just like you see the commercials for St Jude, you know, but it doesn't affect us on a daily life, so sometimes we forget about that stuff. And Stacey, that was really good to bring that up and how it really did help them out. It did really help a lot.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yep, kind of ties into what we're talking about today doesn't it?
Speaker 2:It does yeah, we're talking about today, doesn't it? It does yeah. So a few weeks ago we had an episode where we had a really, really good conversation on the topic of managing emotions at work and at home. If you guys didn't catch that one, go back a few episodes. I want to say it was around 21 or 22,. I think, you know, really relevant because it touches all of us.
Speaker 2:We all have interaction with people, whether we are in the workforce or here in our personal lives. We have interaction with people and it may not always be good when we're driving down, you know, 35 W. Whatever we are human beings, we have interactions and they're unavoidable, and our emotions are affected by that. But so we've been thinking about a related topic to that, particularly because Amy came across a video on social media. It was from one of Gary Vaynerchuk's keynotes, and if you don't know Gary, he goes by Gary V. We highly suggest that you follow him. I think you guys follow him both, don't you? Yes, absolutely so. Gary V is an entrepreneur, he's a speaker, he's an author, he's an internet personality. I want to say he owns a dozen companies. I think he's probably got a thousand employees across all of those companies. So he knows of what he speaks, right, and he's very outspoken, very motivational and very inspirational.
Speaker 3:Very real, very real, Not a button down. You know, buy my book sort of guy. He is in your face and sometimes he tells you stuff you don't want to hear. Yeah. Yes, he's always entertaining and he's always really got. He just is in it for the good of people. Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 2:And that is central to this topic today. I'll just say one more thing on him. If you have a problem with the F word, you're going to have a problem following him Because that is sprinkled throughout every one of his talks.
Speaker 2:So the video that Amy found and dropped into our messenger was titled why you May Need to Fire your Most Talented Employee so super provocative title, right, you're like what? Well, of course, there's going to be a brilliant message behind it and the whole premise is that even if you have a really, really talented person on your team so maybe they're the highest performing salesperson or they are a really gifted CFO or they are just a really brilliant mind If they are toxic inside your culture, they have to go. And, amy, when you dropped that message, that video, into our messenger, stacey and I both responded back immediately. Facts to our messenger. Stacy and I both responded back immediately Facts, truth, 100%, yes, 100%. Why?
Speaker 3:Because we've all experienced it before. Yeah, yep, and you know, and his point was that people spend it slows your business down. So from purely a business standpoint, it's not doing you any good because people don't want to go to meetings with this person. People spend their time talking about how horrible this person is, how they don't want to work with them. It just brings morale down across the board, slows everything down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a cancer inside the organization. I can't think of any better way to describe it. And it can be frustrating when you are inside that organization and you have to work alongside that person and you don't feel supported by the leadership team. The leadership team for some reason turns the cheek on it. I don't know. Are they afraid of backlash from the employee? Well, red flag. No employer or leadership team should be held hostage by a dysfunctional employee. But it happens. And I don't know the first thing about HR. We don't know anything about employment law, or we don't know much about employment law, but to us it always just seems. Why is it so hard to identify that and get rid of them?
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, yeah. No one wants to lose a team member and have to rehire. You know what I mean. Everybody thinks, oh, it'll get better, people will get over it. Or it's somebody else's issue. Maybe it's their issue, not the employee you're thinking about. You know, and and people have a real hard time, you know, actually firing somebody, because then you have to look for someone new, especially, like he said, if it's somebody really high functioning but yet the team just can't get along with them, then you know it's a problem. So you, you have a. You know it's a toss up whether you know you, you fire someone. That good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and and what, and what Gary says emphatically is that that you have to cut them. You have to, you have to get them out fast because if you don't, everything else will suffer. And so whatever good, whatever, you know, whatever uh results to the bottom line that person might be achieving, it's going to it's going to be depleted in other parts of the company or in other ways because of, because of the interaction with them and employees.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I think that, um, again, this is doesn't really I don't know that it matters quite so much for kind of what we want to focus on, but I think that sometimes management is so far removed from the daily ongoings of the work environment. You know, they're just not there in the daily goings on and nobody wants to run and tattle to them. And also they look at the bottom line Also. They look at the bottom line and so when you don't have because I think toxic employees are often they know who butters where their bread's buttered, so they're not toxic to you know going up Truly high people.
Speaker 4:Yeah, going up. Yeah, I disagree. I think people do complain. People complain about other people. I disagree, I think people do complain. People complain about other people, and that's what I'm saying is that then the manager says well, you know, kind of brushes it off as well, this person is really good and you're the one complaining, so you must be the problem. You know what?
Speaker 4:I mean Because I think that happens a lot and then it even frustrates, you know, the team even more, because then it seems like, well, management's not listening to what we're saying. You know you're just viewing it as complaining. You know that's difficult to deal with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's unfortunate that people don't feel that they work in a safe environment, that they can go to their manager or HR, whatever it might, whoever that might be, and have a candid conversation and not have there be negative ramifications on them, right? So, amy, you touched on that. You know a lot of leaders, or you know, or you know, especially the C-suite perhaps is very removed from individual people, departments, and one of the things that Gary talks a lot about.
Speaker 3:I talk about him like he's my colleague.
Speaker 2:He would love that, by the way.
Speaker 3:He would love that we refer to him as one of our. You know the silent voice. He's the fourth cocktail. I'm sure that he'd be okay with that too, especially if we're drinking wine, because that's all that's true, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, one of his business, at least one of his businesses as well.
Speaker 3:Um, but oh gosh, now I lost my train of thought the most important position in the company.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, yeah, thank you. So he says that it is actually, if you are a CEO, if you are that top level, it is your job to know your employees. And so the focus on culture has become way more important than just the focus on the P&L and profits and margin and all of that very important, but in his view, it's him as the entrepreneur, the owner, the visionary, the creator of the company said my, my right hand is not the ceo or the president, it's the chief heart officer. And he says it over and over again it, yes, it's the people officer, hr, whatever you want to call it, but that person is more important than anybody else. And he actually even went on to say if there's friction between the CFO and the chief heart officer and there's a tie, he will give it to the chief heart officer. Hands down every time. Yep, so pointing out the fact that you have to listen to your people, and I mean, that's just one little thing about creating a good culture. Everybody wants something different in the workplace.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah, yeah, I love that, I love and I, I love this idea, and especially for us. I mean, he was talking about you know, somebody who takes their first job and what they're motivated by when they're 24, um, changes when they're 27,. You know, and that you know when you're 31 and now you're 35, you're motivated by different things. And he mentions money. Maybe he mentioned, you know, it might be status, it might be the promotion, it might just be I want to do my job and go home. I want to do my job, get paid accordingly and go home, and I think that that's so good to recognize, because we're not all motivated by the same thing. But I find that to be really true for all of us, where we're at right now, because the three of us are motivated by very different things.
Speaker 3:And it's not just at the beginning of your career. I think it's equally as important. I mean, it's important in every stage. But you know people, our age, and they're the finger bunnies, our age or at our stage. A lot of people would assume we're thinking about retirement. Yeah, not, I don't. I don't know that any of the three of us are. Well, we dream about we dream about it.
Speaker 4:We dream about it, but not any, nothing official. You know, we're not planning our exit. I don't think, I don't think.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm not at all. I'm. I'm finally loving what I do. I don't have Sunday scaries. I like this, yeah, but what motivates me is different than what motivates Stacy, is different than what motivates Kitty. And you know, I see it. I can see toxic people, toxic additions to to the team, and I can see the ripple effects. You know, it's that. It's that drop in the lake and the water goes and it goes and it goes and goes and pretty soon the whole lake is in the lake and the water goes and it goes and it goes and goes and pretty soon the whole lake is getting the waves on the shore, sort of thing. Yeah and um, it, it's got to be. It needs to be addressed far more than, like gary says, the foosball. Nobody needs a foosball table. That's not going to make people happy and want to stay. Being heard, being listened to and being treated as a valuable member of the organization and the team is the big thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, many, many years ago, when I worked at an agency, we were doing a project for oh gosh, I'm going to draw a blank on the company name huge corporation and it was in Wisconsin.
Speaker 2:And so we went to tour the facility and one division of the company was armored vehicles. They manufactured armored vehicles, they manufactured, they, they manufactured armored vehicles. And so this, you know again, this was just one division of this giant company, and the ceo of that company was a army general. Oh, he was an army general and he was exactly what you would picture an army general to look like, and I, I would guess he was probably in his early 70s. And so we got to, we sat down with him and we talked and, you know, talked about the business and um, and then he said let's go, let's go walk. And we walked through the plant. And so here we are in this facility where they are building from the ground up, from the tranny to the you know whatever, these massive you know wheels that are right, the wheels are that tall, you have to stand on a ladder to get into the vehicle.
Speaker 2:And this army general who was leading the company, he knew every single employee's name and as we walked through that facility and walked down every conveyor belt, every production line, basically, he stopped and talked to every single one of those employees that worked in there and you could tell that every one of those employees loved what they did and felt valued. Yeah, and that's what. That's what Gary is continually hammering on, and I'm just hopeful that that, just like you use the ripple effect, amy, that I'm hoping that that just continues to to bubble up as more and more leaders jump on board with that. Because it is on board with that, because it is it's needed for the future that we are going into, it's that human element, he at one point he said it's the human elements that will drive our companies forward. Yeah, yeah, you hear that AI. Yeah, yep, everybody's saying AI is coming from my job. Okay, ai is definitely going to be present and it is going to be a factor, but it's the human element that will drive all of our company's success. Totally agree.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, and it's too bad when you have that situation. I think back to three bosses ago. He'd only. You know we have separate buildings. I think I've kind of described that before. My team is of four sits in a different office building than the rest of the main office in the plant and everything that boss had been. I think in our building that boss had been. I think in our building it was less than five. We always joked it was less than a handful of times. So you obviously have no connection with the people that work for you, which is so disappointing. And that's exactly what it was. It was certainly toxic and we were all glad that he left, that's for sure.
Speaker 4:So it's things like that. That's exactly what it was. It's certainly toxic, and we were all glad that he left, that's for sure you know. So it's things like that. That's too bad. How you fix it, you know that's the problem, you don't. You just hope they leave eventually. Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know, yeah, it takes a new leader coming in to create change. Yeah, yep, yep, potentially so quick little story here. Uh, at a previous company that I worked for, we were on the traction system. Uh, if you're not, uh, oh, I'm frozen. I just froze there for a second. That was not a good look. I had a previous company that I worked for. We were on the traction system. I don't know what that is. Traction EOS. Oh, yeah, I do know what that is. Yeah, you do. I'm like Amy yeah you do.
Speaker 2:No, it's the traction entrepreneurial operating system, and so our whole company was driven on that, and so our CEO came up with this idea that so, as part of that, everybody has a metric. Basically, you know exactly what your goals and objectives are. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, that's a bad thing, it's a very good thing. We all, as employees, have to have our goals and metrics to you know, to measure ourselves as uh, as employees, are we doing what we need to be doing? Um, but he came up with this brilliant idea. To um, he said so everybody needs to know their number.
Speaker 2:Okay, so so you know your number, I'm going to have cash in my pocket and on any random day, if I pass you in the hallway and I stop you and I say what's your number? What's your number? And if you can answer that question, I'm going to give you cash out of my pocket. And I was just like are you kidding? Are you kidding me? So what's your number? How about what? What a great way to make someone feel like a cog in the entire organization rather than a meaningful contributor. And maybe a better question would be what's your? Why? Amy?
Speaker 3:or Stacey? Oh, I don't like that question either.
Speaker 2:Right, whoever it is that they're catching in the hallway. What is it that you go to work for? What is it fulfilling for you? As you said earlier, it could be I'm I'm wanting to, you know, see my career go like this. I want to contribute to my family income. I want to take a vacation. It could be any number of things. Why do you do what you do? I don't like that question.
Speaker 3:I don't like that question at all because I think that people who, um, people who who are there to do their job, get paid and go home. They're not going to say that to the CEO.
Speaker 2:But they should be able to.
Speaker 3:Well, should, should, would, could.
Speaker 3:I think a better question is how are things been going for you? What can I help you with? What do you need me to help you do today? How can I make your?
Speaker 3:I think that that by asking that simple question how can I help you today? I mean you want to have a meaningful conversation with somebody who knows your name and you want to do better at what you're doing. To be able to say you know, this week has been pretty good. I was a little over my head last week, but so-and-so helped me out, I'm feeling good where things are going. Or to be able to say you know, this project has got me a little stumped, but I'm working with X and Y and I think we're going to get this figured out.
Speaker 3:What? What a better question to ask, for some reason, this whole idea of what's your why? Well, I hear it in all sorts of um. It's a really big question of real estate that people are always asking realtors what's your why? What? You have to figure out what your why is. Well, the truth of the matter is, half the time, my why is I want to make a shit ton of money. It doesn't have to be in the board, yeah, but again, people don't want to hear that your boss is going to want to to, is gonna agree with that.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's, that's the you know but you're not gonna go on social media and say my why is you know, I want to make a lot of money.
Speaker 4:Well, why not?
Speaker 2:why not? Yeah, why not? So this is, and I think that you know if, if there are younger people that are listening to this, there's you guys. Something popped up on Instagram recently I want to say, maybe it was, maybe Jenna Kutcher put it out. You guys follow her. No, jenna Kutcher.
Speaker 3:I know who she is, but yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I feel like she was the one who put it out and it was it. The premise is that, um, women under 30 post a question and then women over 30 will answer it, and I love that concept. So this is this is one of the topics right here where I feel like, for those of you who might be younger and in the early parts of your career, or maybe even you know, starting to hit to the mid have confidence to state what it is you want and have confidence to say to your boss yeah, you know what I'm here to make as much. I'm a salesperson. I'm here to make as much money as I possibly can. I need to. I need to be, um, you know, my morals need to be in check in doing that. I need to not backstab my employees and steal accounts and stuff. I you know I have to have a good code of conduct. Oh, talk about toxic talk about toxic behavior.
Speaker 2:But it's absolutely okay because that could be the phase of life that they're in. And there's all this conversation lately about bring your whole self to work. Be yourself at work. That's one of the ways to do it. Make it known what exactly you're there to do. And if you're working for a company who says, who doesn't like that, for whatever reason, then you're not in the right place. Yeah, yeah, it's not the the right place. Yeah, yeah, it's not the culture for you. Yeah, and the, the what's your? Why can just feel way too big that. The answer to that question doesn't have to be earth shattering. I'm going to save. I'm saving the world. No, I'm here because I, the world. No, I'm here because I, because my husband has been the breadwinner for this many years and I now want to contribute to the family income that that that's meaningful to that person?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it is, and, just like Gary Vee said, that changes all the time, all the time throughout. So you can have different, different reasons throughout the years. Things change. You change.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think my thing for younger people is do not and I know I've said this before do not be afraid to talk to your boss about what you want to do, how you want to grow, the things you like to do, the things you don't like to do. That is a perfectly acceptable conversation to have. You know, how can you help me get to here? How can you know what can I for you that gets me to hear that I want to get to? That's perfectly acceptable. If you don't feel like you can talk to your boss, or they don't hear you, which is possible, that's then you know what you need to do. I mean, if you come across a boss that just cannot, you know, hear you and you're stuck doing just this and only this, then it would be, in my opinion, time to go, and that happens. I mean realistically, especially young people. I feel like they jump jobs, get some experience, jump to something else a lot more than some of us do.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it is more common than it used to be.
Speaker 3:Well, I, you know again with the young, with my girls in that age group, it has been, it has come up more than once that that's the only way they get jobs. I mean, they get raises, yeah, but having a two or three percent raise when inflation is higher than that, they're not going to get a big, a big raise until they go to a different company and they start at a higher amount.
Speaker 4:You know they, they've moved up then yeah, and not necessarily a different company, but you can apply for things you know, loftier positions within your, your own, and then I feel like you know, if you don't get it, your question would be okay well, how can, what can I do to move to here? You know that's a perfectly good question to ask, question to ask, yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, um, Kitty, when you were talking about the old backstabbing and taking other people's accounts, you know I've always been in some sort of sales, and sales from the early nineties all the way to today so that's a bazillion years worth, you know can draw really aggressive personalities. Yeah, really, really aggressive personalities and I think this comes way back to where we started this conversation is you've got to root out that cancer, because there is nothing worse than a salesperson who, who is just in it 100% for themselves and to hell with the rest of the team. And that's a fine line to walk as an organization, because you are there. Each salesperson has their own goals and their own metrics and needs to meet those. And you are there. Each salesperson has their own goals and their own metrics and needs to meet those. And you are oftentimes your own. You're on your own, so to speak.
Speaker 3:Um, and your team member might not be a co salesperson, you know another salesperson sort of thing. Your team member might be somebody who is in-house to help you, yeah, Whatever. So salespeople often don't have to cooperate with each other, so you wouldn't think it'd make that much of a difference. But you bring in a salesperson that might be making the numbers and going gangbusters, but they have pissed off every other salesperson in that team. Now you've got a problem. Yeah, you got a bigger problem because now you've got people looking to target people you know like. Well, they've screwed me over a couple times. I get the opportunity. They're first on my list. That is not how you want your company working.
Speaker 2:No, the loss of productivity happens because everybody's in a tailspin and everybody's doing this right. Everybody's talking amongst themselves about what are we going to do about this, and that is just. It just eats away.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and even beyond that, the idea that management knows you talk to your manager and say this is a real problem. And they say, well, you know, if you were, really, if they were your account and you were on top of it, that wouldn't have happened. Or, um, you know, he just has a different um vibe with that client. No, don't make excuses, just say we're greedy fuckers and we don't care. Yeah, and just let us know. And you know not what I'm doing right now. Let me just say that. But yeah, I don't know, because I've only ever been in sales, I can I can only speak from the sales position. But it happened when I was selling office furniture.
Speaker 3:New guy came in and, um, we didn't have territories. We kind of have it like when we started back in the golden days you had a phone and a telephone book and you might get some files that somebody may have sold to 10 years ago, that nobody knew what was happening. That was your accounts that you got. And he came in and he just started calling people left and right, never bothered, did not care if it was somebody's account. And I don't think management gets how stupid the company looks when a client calls you and says hey, are you not taking care of me anymore? Did, did, did I get reassigned? Is who is this other person calling me? And you're like what? I don't know why he's calling you. Yeah, sort of thing, but what a disaster. And, yeah, just so infuriating to be in that situation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah you know, yeah, boy, people, yeah so people leave, right, good people leave, good people leave. Yeah, boy, hr would be a tough, tough, uh tough job, yeah. So interesting conversation and, you know, hopefully some little nuggets of of advice coming out of this one today, both from the um, the employee standpoint you know those of us that have to navigate that sort of situation and culture. Um, maybe some some words of wisdom also, as far as you know, for the younger people as you're navigating your career path, make it clear what it is that you want and what you're looking for, find that culture that is right for you. And, hopefully, leaders if there are leaders listening to us as well let's all do what we can to adopt this. People first, yeah, first, culture.
Speaker 3:And be brave, not not just as the employee, but as the employer. Yeah, be brave. Do what is right. You know what you need to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we should have maybe had an employment, an employment law person join us, or an hr person could have joined us too.
Speaker 3:That would be fascinating so it's for another day.
Speaker 2:We'll do it another day.
Speaker 3:Yes, yeah hey, if you are an hr person and you've dealt with this, drop a comment yep, let us know.
Speaker 2:We'd love to hear about, we would love to hear from you. Yes, all right. Well, I don't have any idea what we're talking about.
Speaker 4:Next week, so we have nothing we're going to have to figure it out. We always do. We always come up with something. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, something always bubbles to the top.
Speaker 3:yes, I've started a list of random things that I've been um, that I've been noticing, that I don't understand and I'd like to talk about, so we could just have this whole uh smorgasbord of, uh, you know, let's help short topics yeah, yeah. What's up with this? Yeah? What the hell exactly. I got a lot of what the hells and I'm everywhere, so maybe that'll be the next week maybe. Yeah, like hey, if you've got something that you're going, what the hell? Let us know. We can throw it in, we can.
Speaker 4:We can certainly talk about it.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Sounds good, I like it. Yeah, all right. Well, shall we sign off? Any parting words from anyone?
Speaker 4:Cheers, Cheers. I'm having a good old-fashioned amaretto sour Not really sour, but with squirt. Fashioned Amaretto sour not really sour, but with a score with squirt that I like.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's our wine, having a wine that I bought from Gary V's wine library, where I subscribe to his wine text, and every day I get a bargain wines texted to me and I decide whether or not I want to buy it. Cool, yeah, brilliant idea. Yeah, it's very good, definitely.
Speaker 2:Thank you, gary news all right, ladies, we'll see you next week.
Speaker 1:All right, bye all right, I got that. Wow, who wants some heads up right now? We got that. Turn it up loud. I know you're wondering how I got that. Wow, here I go. Here I go, coming. I can't ever stop. I'm a tour de force running. Get me to the top. I don't need an invitation. I'm about to start a celebration. Let me in Brought a good time for some friends. Turn it up loud past 10.