Welcome back to another episode of the corporate Cowboys podcast it’s been a little bit more than a week but you know me your host Alex is still alive and kicking just had a busy couple of days full of events today’s date a little proof of life for you it’s
Sunday the Lord’s Day July 30. 2023. I’m gonna do things a little bit differently I recognize that a lot of the content is uh I mean it’s a podcast style and motivation Style posts that go up on our Instagram profile that being said because there won’t be videos um in-depth videos on
Still trying to figure a way whether or not there could be a shorter YouTube videos like YouTube shorts essentially I mean we did try to venture out into Tick Tock but we got Shadow band what was it day two [Laughter] uh that’s what we get for trying to
Follow Trends or trying to corporatize trends so the way I’m going to speak and I think I’ve done a fairly good job thus far and that is to be calm to be clear trying to be more and more organized as seasons have gone on and the episodes have built up
And I’m thinking that this therapy that I’ve created I’ve volunteered myself for has helped make me a better orator better speaker and hopefully better able to verbalize my thoughts and the opinions of my own and of those around me especially as it relates to corporate that being said I also recognize that
30 minutes though it’s free can go by relatively quickly and so I will continue keeping these free and try to publish as many of them as I can every week there was a I mean there was a period when I was doing one a day and
Then it kind of scaled and fell off especially as summer was beginning to pick up and that’s just because of the work that I have to do on the outside but but were you to complain right if I’m donating my time if I’m investing my time willingly
I am cognizant of the fact that the time I invest is what will ultimately serve to give me positive results so the more I invest more output quality in quality out that being said I don’t I don’t think we’ll be doing videos anytime soon and that’s something because you know
The resources available time energy money not really an issue but having to coordinate with uh teams having to coordinate with contractors on on substantial side projects that don’t directly Drive the mission is a little hard to justify I mean maybe if I pick up another body oh I might be able to uh
Delegate more but the folks we have now working with me and behind the scenes I think we have more than enough Outreach for the people who actually give a [ __ ] so with that in mind I mean the mission hasn’t changed my goals haven’t changed the objectives
Have not changed and that is to become a better to Aspire to be a better professional a consummate professional with every passing day every interaction it’s a challenge it’s a challenge because as you know business is war the sooner you come to terms with that the sooner you wake up to that fact
Sooner you can get to becoming productive the sooner you can learn how to work with people working for yourself today’s question is coming from our slash career guidance and they’ve flared this post for advice so they are seeking a little uh constructive criticism if you will right this being our office hours it’s
It’s open but you should keep in mind you should bear in mind that you come to me you come to us with questions then you better prepare yourself to be served with commentary and it’s commentary as of now if you can glean those points of advice those tips the hints the actual nuggets
Of knowledge and wisdom I don’t know if you’re noting them down on paper or just keeping a mental run of things then this podcast will serve you not just entertain you or distract you from your work it will serve to serve you to make you a better professional have you take a look
Inside or through the Mind’s Eye of a corporate cowboy and potentially influence you to move like a corporate cowboy so this post the title of it is asking 28 years old and I don’t know how to switch careers I mean they’re not much younger than I am and career changes can be a
Tumultuous time very radical time in a person’s life no matter the age no matter the age but I think the older you become it’s a double-edged sword because you could change career is just as easy I feel like a lot of seasoned professional are more adaptive to change to this kind of
Sudden Change in the trajectory of one’s career they if I mean if they’ve grown and developed to be capable professionals they’re better able to adjust when change is required when change becomes necessary a younger person because of a lack of experience or a lack of exposure they just haven’t been put
Into these types of situations that call for critical thinking that call for effective coping and Stress Management and not just stress management but a revamped a revitalized a more efficacious approach to time and energy management more order out of Chaos that’s what a lot of professionals
Are good at so what a lot of professionals are good at I’m not going to say all of them and I’m not even going to say most of them but a good handful of professionals are real adept at handling pressure and maintaining order through chaos maintaining I mean to those that are
Having their worlds burned down around them if they see someone not sweating in the fire to them that’s near miraculous but to that professional it’s another Tuesday it’s another business cycle it’s another yeah it’s another business cycle another fiscal year [Laughter] if it comes in Cycles it’s something that
You should be able to distill down into predictable values predictable variables something you should see coming on the horizon Alex is getting real philosophical on just the title so let’s start with the body a little bit they’re saying so I want out of my career there are 28 they’re in a career
They’ve got an established career apparently and they want out they’re right I’ve been an automotive mechanic for almost five years now and the pay is decent but I hate the hours and I hate the job what started as a way to make money doing my hobby now has become the dread
Of my life it’s stressful I hate the business I hate how it’s run I hate cars damn I don’t think he ever truly loved the business he probably still has a notice how I’m gendering this person but they probably still have some deep some profound interest in cars but it’s their mismanagement
Of professionalism it’s their misapproach so they’re mistaken their wrongful approach to the business that has Stamped Out their love of Life their their Spark for Auto Tech for automotive Technologies for mechanics that’s sad that really is sad but more often than not these people Are Not Without Blame
They’ve got to shoulder some of the responsibility they’ve got to take account of the fact that they maybe weren’t a good employee even if the pay was decent and now they’re beginning to [ __ ] about the hours and how the businesses run I mean we haven’t learned anything about the client
Be they hypothetical but doesn’t mean that every hypothetical client can just be excused from the fact that because they’re an employee and someone else pays them that they are not responsible for how the business runs you might not have a profit share in the business it might not be employee owned
But you run the [ __ ] you run it you’re on the ground level you’re on the front line you handle the public even if the public is by way of your colleagues by way of your manager customer service and I’ve said this time and time again customer service flows up
Customer service Flows In just like it flows out flows up and in just like it flows out I mean you’ve got to learn to manage your manager to service your manager in a way in a way that allows you that ensures that you secure your interests in the business
They write what started as a way to make money doing my hobby now has become the dread of my life it’s stressful I hate the business I hate how it’s run I hate cars I hate the wear and tear of my body the business is all about making money
At the employees and customers expense bam I’m gonna say yes and no I mean if if that’s all they believe the business is about this is where we would begin to ask the hypothetical client questions during intake whether or not they actually know what goes into running an automotive business
You want to be well-rounded and needle sharp I mean you’ve got to show that you’ve got the capacity to hone in on the fine details of business that is selling and socializing and networking and marketing as well as the broad Strokes that is team cohesion I mean when you’re a manager you are
You’re what you’re meant to be a leader but more often than not people they don’t even fall into these management positions these management positions fall into these people’s laps and they haven’t got the first [ __ ] clue on how to manage people on how to manage business much less how to lead either
A business is all about making money at the employees and customers expense I’ve been to a few shops and they are all ran the same I can’t just walk away though I have a house I have bills I need to pay and even though I make decent living I’m
Still struggling living paycheck to paycheck I think this is a good time for a legal disclaimer and I do this every episode sometimes at the beginning sometimes in the end or in the middle but anything you hear that I say or that we say or that we broadcast or distribute
Anything we say should not be taken as legal advice should not be taken as personal legal advice right if you haven’t retained us if you haven’t engaged us if you haven’t contracted with us to help you write this this advice that you hear right now it’s just general advice it’s what a
Corporate Cowboy would do but be mindful of the fact that this pertains to one person’s One Singular person’s situation our hypothetical 20 year old automotive mechanic friend so now that we recognize now that we’re cognizance of the fact that we don’t even have that much information to go on
Without the hypothetical clients in front of us to interview and to inquire and ask follow-up questions of we only have what they write to go on and it’s not much they write I have a house I have bills I need to pay and even though I make decent living I’m still struggling
Living paycheck to paycheck and I don’t live a lavish lifestyle I just don’t know how to switch careers I don’t know what I can do using my skills I already have and make the same kind of money I’ve pigeonholed myself and need help and looking for advice I’m honestly thinking of quitting and
Working at Dunkin Donuts or something just for the sake of my mental health while I figure this out but I know I won’t be able to support myself I feel trapped [Laughter] why would you feel trapped is it because you haven’t thought of or you haven’t educated yourself on how to navigate through
The corporate hierarchy right regardless of how big your shop is you could be working at a small mom and pop or at a large uh Corporation what is it pepboy Meineke any one of these any one of these has an organizational hierarchy and those rungs in the latter those
Layers to the hierarchy have their rules have their own particular sets of rules to follow in order to be compliant and to get promoted but you’ve got to demonstrate that you’re capable that you’re able if all you can do is show up and work all they’re going to do is give you work
No real opportunities for progress no real shot at moving up without you first taking the initiative without you first showing that you are capable and you want to leave for Dunkin Donuts I mean we don’t know we don’t know if the hypothetical client’s situation is Beyond Salvage right if it’s non-salvageable at all
If the bridge is on fire and it’s past the points of just charred if it’s burning if it’s being consumed and falling apart yeah you know that bridge might not be worth saving but even at a point when fires have just started there’s a little smoke damage
Beginning to appear on this bridge right I’m painting a picture here it can still be saved it requires drastic measures now you don’t want to want to fear you don’t want to grow desperate you always want to move calmly collected and cool remain level-headed and even killed or is it evenly killed
I’m thinking of thinking of uh what’s it called iron working equally evenly quenched I won’t say enough even healed but going to work at Dunkin Donuts is not going to resolve your underlying issues thinking that work is going to be easier in some place because it’s what lower wages I mean if you’re
If you’re making decent money now you’re gonna leave for a minimum wage spot because you think it’s going to be easier nah man you’ll be treated even more like [ __ ] you think you think the objective of making money in business is to take all the all the costs and the charges
Out of employees and customers minimum wage jobs are even worse you get paid less so of course those costs and those profits are coming out of your ability to produce it just a matter of educating yourself and moving up you probably still got some some idea a good idea
That you can capitalize on I’m not going to say probably you do have you do have an underlying idea some some suppressed or repressed idea to capitalize on that you might have put on the back burner for the sake of your career [ __ ] five years jumping from shop to shop
Right they couldn’t even be five consecutive years at one place because what you’re incompetent you’re inept [Laughter] but what I’m giving you is tough love right sure you are a career mechanic but it hasn’t been at one place that you helped grow and it’s not that we don’t know that
They’re just a hypothetical clients just not telling us that in their prompt right but we would ask him these questions these are questions we would want to know whether or not they specialize in a particular car make or car model or a particular service that’s not just tuning up maybe it’s modifying modification
It may not be the the basic and routine maintenance that goes into a vehicle brakes and alignment oil changes what if it’s something more but that takes knowing what what is available what is out there in the automotive field that this person can transfer their skills into
Now you can come to us you can come to us and we can do the legwork for you it’s going to cost you money it’s going to cost you money because it’s costing us time and energy and that is in essence a business agreement that is an exchange right that would be a
Contract that we would that we would bargain for so that you can focus on your work and we can help you do your work better maybe at the same place maybe at a different place but at a Dunkin Donuts I mean you’re there they are asking they are asking
About using their skills and switching careers right now unless you’ve been actively Public public facing and interacting with the customer I don’t know maybe explaining to them in simpler terms what it is when you’re when you are adjusting the timing on their car because their timing belt
Or timing chain was out of whack and you have to explain it to them by breaking it down and letting them know like as if they were a fifth grader what it is you’re doing to their car to justify the expense right but if you’re not doing that if
The customer is just having to deal with a manager who’s charging them a standard rate without any explanation any justification any actual service which in theory most every manager should have some some service component some ability to to socialize but sometimes they don’t right they just want they want the authority that comes
With the title without the responsibilities that come with keeping it that come with maintaining it it’s not just the title that come with keeping the business open that come with maintaining good business relations you’ve got to be social you’ve got to be professional the two go hand in hand
So if our hypothetical clients had an inept manager and this manager wasn’t doing their part to pull their weight and informing the customer and I do mean informing informing them educating them ever so slightly in order to massage the fact that they’re paying for a service that maybe double or triple the amount
That they would had they saved the money by doing it themselves and just I don’t know watching a a tutorial online but if they’re not doing that the customer is going to walk away feeling ripped off the customer will nag the customer will complain and that [ __ ] rolls downhill
To the manager and then on to you for failure in the chain of conduct notice how I didn’t say chain of command it’s in the chain of conduct now having to reverse engineer that interaction having to having to reverse engineer the interaction and improve it is going to
Take some time and this is then this this part is where we as corporate Cowboys get paid to be your consultant right it’s going to require you moving in a manner changing the way that you conduct your business so that you handle the manager in a way
That you want them to handle the customer right if the [ __ ] rolls downhill I’m not gonna say don’t push back but using a little a little Judo a little Aikido there is a way to hustle to uh to jug to jug those complaints because that’s really what they are they’re complaints
From the customer to the manager from the manager to you but you can change the way those complaints come down and potentially prevent them but it requires some professional initiative on your part if you don’t have the initiative if you don’t have the will to improve business for your sake
I don’t know if you have a family or not the hypothetical client here never claimed to have a family but they say they make decent money but they have bills to pay okay and they’ve and they live paycheck to paycheck so if they’re not willing to undertake a little additional leg work
Don’t even call it work from your work work call it your personal project right and and this personal project because this is how I’ve navigated my career this personal project of improving business at every point of contact that is in every job that you hold and this could have been done in every
Shop that this hypothetical client was a mechanic at right if you go in with the personal project of improving business relations you can’t lose you can’t lose no matter what happens no matter the changes that occur in the chain of command and the organizational structure the fact that you’ve got to change your
Career they start this first sentence as they want out of their career they want another change into something completely different but this this human condition for the need to constantly improve and it is a need but whether you want to or not is another question right it’s a need the
Human condition is the need to improve is going to be in every [ __ ] career not just and making donuts not just being an automotive mechanic notice how I started with making donuts first you know I’m trying to beat them to the punch where if they start on their first
Day making donuts they’re going to realize that the [ __ ] continues to roll downhill until you do something about it now I’m not I’m not saying do something drastic I’m not saying jump to the last resort right that’s that’s not what I’m saying what I’m saying is the [ __ ]
Always rolls downhill until you work with professionals right if the manager realizes that they are working with a professional you think they’re going to roll [ __ ] onto you nah no your reputation your reputation your reputation and repertoire will begin to proceed you but the change comes from within
You in this in this sense you must manifest the change that you want to see no homo because as much as I don’t like sounding cliche I mean it sounds kind of fruity but in this sense it’s true you’re not faking it until you’re making it right
You are not faking it till you make it either you are professional or you’re not it’s that simple if you conduct yourself as a professional around your mechanic colleagues then more than likely they won’t hide the 10 millimeters from you more than likely they won’t pull any shop Shenanigans with with the
With with any of the uh of the tools or the lifts that right like the shenanigans would stop or at least lesson or be reduced whenever you are in their presence and vice versa whenever they are in your presence right they would tone it down they would change the way they speak
Change the way they act but changing changing changing careers right changing [ __ ] careers being a mechanic is good work being a mechanic is actually in demand right now folks are hiring folks need good mechanics now if you’re not a good mechanic because we don’t know whether or not this person’s been
Written up or disciplined because their work is shoddy because their work is garbage we don’t know this but folks are paying decent money for journeyman mechanics for good mechanics but I like the fact that they want to change their career and their first idea first idea that comes to their mind is
Dunkin Donuts I mean I’m not judging but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t have ourselves a good one don’t sell yourself short
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