Politics, again
Over the years, I have tried to give you direction and advice to make you successful, as an employee or as an entrepreneur. Let’s talk about confidence again.
Some of you, I know, who read this, are consultants and business owners. We are hired by other companies to produce something; that something could be a plan, a document, a budget, or even advice.
The issue is when you are hired by a company that is not in your locality.
I have lived in Israel and had agencies in Las Angeles and Boston. I’ve lived in Seattle and had agencies in London and Chicago. I’ve lived in New York and been hired by companies in Taipai and Tel Aviv.
You are hired to produce a plan by the VP of Marketing (example). The VP tells you to work with one of their managers and get direction as needed. You produce the plan. You send it to your “contact” at the company. You never hear another word.
Until much later when the VP sends you a check and says thank you.
Or, the VP calls you and says you will get paid but the Manager did a better plan and doesn’t need your help.
Or the VP calls and says the plan was bad.
The point is, how can you trust the “contact” (manager) to pass on the information/plan that you sent to the “contact”. You worked hard and spent many many hours on the plan (or whatever). You want the credit. You want to have your contract renewed or extended or be considered for future projects.
How can you insure your future with the company if you can’t control the message?
Of course, you can always send weekly updates to the VP to insure that they know that you are working and where you stand.
Or, you can trust the VP and hope that the manager conveys your thoughts and issues.
You can NOT fire and forget – you must follow-up. If the VP doesn’t send an email about the plan, you must send an email about the plan (“did you see it? what did you think? etc.”)
But, you must also “let go” during the process and trust (hope) that the manager will present the plan the way that both of you practiced. That you will get the recognition when the items that you worked on are presented. You must trust that what needs to be done will be done.
There are times that this won’t occur and will turnout exactly as I stated – that your idea’s, comments, suggestions will be “taken” by the manager and no recognitiion will come your way. But, those times are rare.
If you do a good job and believe in your capabilities, then, trust and hope that everything will be presented as you want. Of course, if no word comes back, then, send the email to the VP to verify that they had received your information.
As many of you know, I am not the type of individual who wants recognition for work done; I want appreciation. I want my mind and hard-work appreciated. A simple “thank you” is all I need (and of course, being paid on-time).
