Outside of being a world famous author or a TV Comedy writer
or an actor… the real dream job for me would be to be a trainer.
I have spent most of my career in positions where I have had
to train people or mentor and I have been very successful at it. I have taken
many people under my wing and given them opportunities to succeed. Many of them have become leaders in their
industries now. Many are far more
successful than I could ever have dreamed of. There are some who are high level
figures who make crazy incomes. I am not jealous of that, I am actually proud.
I have had a few people come to me and tell me that if it were not for me and
how I helped them, they would not be where they are now. That’s the best compliment to hear.
I decided long ago that I wanted to be that guy. The guy who
would do what he could to make other around him better. This started back when I got my first real
job. I was a part time collection
rep. It was a crap job but it was a foot
in the door. The President of the company was a guy named Richard as well. He
noticed that I was really working hard to learn my job and to be great at
it. He eventually offered me a full time
job in a position that was way over my head.
I was going to be doing things that I did not understand. He pulled me in his office and told me that
he wanted me to succeed and that he would work with me to understand my
position. I would meet with him weekly
and he would go through my work and give me pointers and advice on how to work
better and more efficient. I learned a lot from him and he really set me on a
path that was all about learning and adapting.
I eventually progressed into better opportunities and was put in charge
of training people to use the system we worked with.
I spent many years in the auto finance industry. I worked in credit and funding and internal
audit. I was usually in a senior roll or a manager. I focused on being the type of manager that
would have made my first boss proud. I
made sure people were trained to use the system properly and to do their job efficiently.
My goal was to make sure that anyone who wanted to progress and grow had the
skill level to do it. Like I said, there are many successful people out there
that I helped to get started.
I have worked with good people and bad ones. I have trained good and bad as well. It’s
easy to figure out who is in it to progress and who is in it for a paycheck. I
have been put in charge of both kinds. Training the paycheck people is just as
easy. I learned a long time ago that
most paycheck workers have never been motivated because they do not see growth
potential. I ended up being like that
when I worked at Liberty. I mentored
some people there who are managers now. I could never progress there because I
did not have college degree. At the time you could not qualify for many
opportunities because you did not have a degree. There were places I wanted to go within that
company but it just wasn’t going to happen.
It made me sad leaving because the people I met there were damn good
people. I am friends with more Liberty people than I am with Travelers people.
I have friends for life from Liberty.
I will say at my most recent job I was given great
opportunities to mentor and train. I actually
became a certified trainer. I trained so many people locally and at other
offices. I took pride in that. There will be future leaders there that will be
able to look back and see who really helped them get their start in commercial
claims. Unfortunately my efforts were not as appreciated as I thought they
should so I ended that relationship.
I still believe I have plenty to offer and I will be out
there again looking for the best opportunity that will take me from here to
retirement. I never set out to be the
CEO because I know my place. I am content with being that person that would be
completely happy as a full time trainer.
Traveling to other cities and living out of suitcases. Long days on my
feet. Long hours on planes. Long days of
prep and planning. It was what I enjoyed doing and hopefully will get to do
again. Or I can just become an actor.
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