Boss Meeting
We had executives from our corporate leadership team in town last week for a meeting. Now during my sales career while in the music industry I was one of the top 10 account reps in our company, so I frequently attended executive meetings and interacted with high level executives on a regular basis.
I had an idea how this meeting was going to go.
Our immediate bosses made the rounds a week before the meeting, calling us and emailing us to make sure we were going to show up. They wanted a good showing of people from the region and I totally agree with that philosophy! But in my current position (100% commission) and at my current level (I’m not yet one of the top producing loan officers in the company) the weight of my attendance or input was not that heavy.
I attended the meeting but I took an entirely different approach. In the past, when I was one of the top producers in the company, my feedback was taken seriously and would help shape our policies and company strategy. So I would give feedback and input on a regular basis.
But I knew better than to speak up at this event since the weight of what I would say may or may not have made a difference. Don’t get me wrong, overall our company wants to improve and does listen to the employees, but part of what I have learned over the years is when it is time to speak and when it is time not to speak.
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” Jm 1:19 (NIV)
A Real Christian Businessman uses his experience and acumen to know when the time is right to bring up issues and when it’s time to not speak at all. It was not easy for me to sit and keep my mouth shut the entire meeting but y’all would be proud of me as I was able to do it!
So the next time you are part of an executive meeting like this use your words wisely. Sometimes it is worth saying something, and sometimes it is just better to listen and say nothing at all.