The following transcript was created using a combination of automated and human transcription. Please check the audio version before quoting from the transcript.
Mary Vasile: Hi everyone. Welcome to a special edition of three Minutes in the Loop, the bite sized video series, where you can stock up on the latest supply chain, insights, strategies, and news in the time it takes to get your caffeine fix. I’m your host, Mary Vasile.
Over the past year, we’ve asked our guests to share the guiding principles that have led to their career success. Today, we’re sharing a compilation of those tidbits. We hope you find something useful for your own career path and be sure to follow ToolsGroup to get our upcoming episodes.
- David Barton: The best piece of advice I’ve received is to focus on business objectives. What are you here to do as a company? You need to keep the focus on what the business is trying to accomplish, right? One of our customers has it up on the wall in the conference room, “we’re going to increase inventory returns from five to seven”. Every person in the company knows that. So, anything you’re doing on a day-to-day basis can be tied back to that business objective.
- Doug Johnson: Work hard and treat people well. Obviously, we’re dealing with people all the time and we don’t always get what we want from candidates that we’re talking to or companies that we want to work with. But treating them well and always taking the high road, even when it’s difficult, usually leaves the right impression to be able to build that relationship.
- Steve Johanson: Well, the year before I went to the Naval Academy, a former grad told me that before I go, he wants me to come over because he has a piece of advice to give me. He was very serious about it. Finally, we scheduled the time, and I came over and we had tea. He sat down, looked me in the eye and said, okay, you’ll hear lots of things, lots of things going on but if you remember one thing, just remember this. “Don’t ever pass up a chance to go to the bathroom”.
- Gerrott Faulkingham: I had a wonderful mentor and even though I’m in sales and you’re supposed to be the guy at the top of the room, talking to everybody, he really taught me at a young point in my career that active listening is just super, super important. So, when we’re trying to successfully sell our software, we need to understand where the customer is coming from, what are their challenges? And then ultimately make a joint decision, the customer and us, can we help you out or not?
Mary Vasile: So now it’s your turn. What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received? Add it to the comments below and thank you for watching.
