A Verio lesson taught to me by Buddy Cunningham.
In the early days of running marketing/sales for Verio’s Boston office (circa fall 1997), we had few resources (including no marketing budget and no heat in the sales office). Meeting our sales targets was challenging. My boss (who would end up being my mentor) called me into his office and asked if I thought that we could make the current month’s targets.
“No,” I replied, “I honestly do not.”
“Well,” he replied without missing a beat, “you had better change your thinking. Because you are the leader. And if you don’t lead by believing, then your team won’t follow and you will fail.”
We never missed a target again. We always exceeded them.
It’s a good lesson. We should all periodically take a hard look in the mirror and “change our thinking” for the greater good.
