First and foremost, thank you to this community who grounded me for what happened today. I have not called HR bc my VP is on PTO this week and time off is sacred and should be respected at all levels IMO.
Now for the juice... essentially my boss called a 1:1 to discuss the deal today - same day - especially because he noticed I had a call with the prospect tomorrow he wasn't on. (was quick to bring this up, I remained unfazed)
He basically tried to explain why he cut me off. he had no choice. I say he had an opportunity to better understand the deal ahead of time. we MUST behave as an aligned and unified team. he says sometimes we just have to pivot. I tell him I don't disagree but he pivoted against our own predetermined strategy and caught me off guard. I don't operate well within an environment where trust does not exist. I never once called out him shushing me. It felt like a waste of time. He has a script planned for all of it. let him dig his own grave.
I explained in return the feedback on his approach from the prospect wasn't great. too aggressive. they want to work with people they trust and consider friends (its executives but a blue collar industry so, makes sense). he says "you get paid a base salary to work to close deals, not make friends" I reply, "to be clear, I have plenty of friends. I don't work to make friends. I'm here with 10 years of never achieving under 200% of quota. I've closed Bank of America, Capital One, McDonalds, Geico, Disney, Verizon, Siemens.. to name a few" he says "I have 27 years experience. stop being afraid to ask hard questions" I reply "you've admitted everything you've asked, I already had. and you've never netted a different or better response."
The call felt like me wanting any sign of viable rationality and him wanting a pissing match.
One of the first things I told my now VP was, I don't get into the concept of needing to prove my worth to others. I know my vision and my value I can bring you. but I'll never adopt to an aggressive pushy methodology in sales. if that's what you feel you need here I'm considering 8 other offers. it's all good. Lets not waste each other's time.
I believe in my VP even if we don't see eye to eye on methods. He has continually spent one on one time with me where he has reinforced that my gift is how un-sales like I behave.
The point here is, I hear all of your advice. I didn't offer to include him in my next client call. He asked to call my champions boss to build another Avenue in. I said I would consider the approach and let him know. The answer is no. I just know how pondering and letting them know later I already made the call as a suggestion from my champion and was successful is best.
The only thing we can control as reps is our client, agreed upon next steps, and how we handle internal conflict.
What I heard today wasn't an apology. I was met with more excuses and planned reasoning for unacceptable behaviors. I don't need to call out his inappropriate behavior again. Not including him and justifying it with a best for the business decision left him with no where else to turn.
4 reps now report to him. I was the first to include him from his consistent ask to come in as a fly on the wall. it's my last time under him giving him that courtesy. his calendar is empty because my peers wouldn't even test his waters.
Earn trust from your people before you act like the expert in the room. It's a reinforced idea I already believed in prior to this. pushing the ego cart before the horse is how my new boss got himself into this predicament.
He picked the wrong woman to test it on. ✌🏼
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