Career Misadventures, Mayhem, and Mourning

In "Here for the Memories," personal tales blend with insightful commentary on social, cultural, business, and religious issues. This episode captures the humor and heartbreak of navigating a changing industry and highlights the importance of empathy and understanding in the workplace. You'll laugh, you might even cry, but most importantly, you'll gain a fresh perspective on how our memories shape us. Whether it's a critique of an industry in flux or a testament to personal growth, there's something here for everyone as we explore the lessons hidden in life's most unexpected chapters.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories, humor, anecdotes and commentary on social, cultural, business and religious issues. Whatever Lyndon remembers and thinks will entertain, challenge and inform is a possible subject. The collection of memories about one's life allows for the development and refinement of a sense of self, including who one is, how one has changed and what one might be like in the future.

Speaker 2: 0:34

Greetings and salutations. This is Lyndon Wolfe and you are listening to here for the Memories, which is my audio memoir, which is similar to a podcast, but different, because I call it something different. Last time we looked at a career path, I would call it a strange series of events. Anyway, I spent nearly 12 wonderful years with Kelly Services, the company often credited with starting the staffing industry. However, since my tenure with them, their organization has devolved to something unrecognizable to me. Poorly led and managed, and completely losing their moral compass and integrity. They are now known more for their incessant reengineering, reorganizations and right-sizing which is layoffs than for their growth and innovation. During the following decade from my departure, as the industry exploded, kelly's revenue shrunk from $5.5 billion annually to a mere $4 billion and continues to decline. Well, that was a little commentary. Back to my less-than-aimless career. When we last met, I'd just received a promotion due to a unique series of events, but before I left for my shiny new role, I had to train my replacement Her name was Melissa, not her real name who could accurately be described as someone falling down on the job. You'll get it later.

Speaker 2: 2:14

Melissa was a project. She was also a blonde Her naivety and a communication style that lacked a filter made her quite endearing, almost like a child. If a child asked you for $5, you would probably give it to them, but a beggar on the street you would not. That was the kind of personality that she had. Cute as a button, she had long since survived. On looks and bubbliness. Oh, the stories I could tell you would roar with laughter and blame my imagination. They would be true accounts that kept me wondering what she would do next. A dear and caring person, she, like so many, struggled with mental health issues and because of her I became more empathetic toward those with similar challenges. It was painful to watch her eventually implode under the weight of her inner turmoil. As much as she made me laugh, she also made me cry. I still pray for her to this very day when she comes to mind.

Speaker 2: 3:20

Anyway, it was my job to mold her into the kind of salesperson who could replace me as my career advanced and I moved on to my new role, my new shiny role. It's called succession planning, but this adventure was more like survival planning. Each day created a new challenge, because Melissa was never quite the same from day to day. Alyssa was never quite the same from day to day. After a genuine attempt to train her, in frustration I told her that if she could get appointments I would go with her and she could learn from me while in action. I also said that she would receive the commission and sales credit if we were successful in generating the business. That was me closing the deal, by the way, I was not hopeful. She would land many appointments, if any. It was just that kind of environment and selling in that space Having other responsibilities. I was fine with that. Anyway, I told her that we would meet on the following Monday to recap her week and prep for the calls. She had arranged, the appointments that she had gotten right. I expected there was no reason to clear my calendar, but I was very wrong. Melissa had 12 appointments for that week alone, a completely unrealistic number In a world where face-to-face appointments are very, very difficult to come by. She had hit the mother load, but how? That was the burning question. And then she told me One day she was making a sales call and she was in the reception area and clumsily fell down.

Speaker 2: 4:58

Well, the human resources manager, who is usually our primary target audience and usually had an office nearby the reception area, and with all that, they were still famously inaccessible. With all that, they were still famously inaccessible. However, since HR had either direct or indirect responsibility for health and safety, upon hearing that there was a possible injury in the waiting area, they dashed out to play EMT. That is when Melinda discovered that she got attention, the opportunity to chat and the opportunity to come back by setting an appointment with the HR manager all by falling into a helpless heap on purpose. So she went from office to office, plant to plant, greeted the receptionist and, of all things, immediately feigned a fall and a potential workers' comp claim and, voila, secured an appointment for me to attend with her. Unbelievable, but it worked. If you're a pragmatist, you'll love that story. I can't help but share one other Melissa story.

Speaker 2: 6:14

We went on a call together at a prominent publisher of Christian music called Word W-O-R-D. She had fallen down in their lobby as well. During the call, the general manager told us that music piracy had taken its toll on them. They'd had massive layoffs and profits were down For the uninitiated digital music distribution also opened the doors for online fraudsters who made music piracy their way of life. Peer-to-peer file sharing services like Napster, kazaa or Soulseek became the biggest nightmares for the recording industry during the 1990s and early 2000s. These services allowed millions of users from around the world to illegally download copies of individual songs, entire albums and even music rarities that were unreleased to the public when uploaded on these platforms. Sometime later, most of these services were forced to shut down and being brought to court for copyright infringement. Of course, napster's case was one that went viral and still today is one that remains in the collective memory of the music industry.

Speaker 2: 7:26

Anyway, back to Word and our meeting. Years later, when Word was acquired by Curb and although very different than the powerhouse in Christian music that it once was, it was still intact, with profits being slashed, of course, with all the piracy, they had to lay off all their contingent workforce and many of their regular workers. It had been very painful and, candidly, word never fully recovered. Confused, melissa asked for clarification on what piracy was and who Napster was. The general manager told her. Unfortunately, the light bulb came on and she lit up and said I do that, my whole family does that, and she was so proud. The GM looked at her and instead of strangling her which he should have laughed and said I forgive you. Then Melissa pulled a. Well, melissa Forgiven for what? If you can get free shit, you should go for it. We were soon escorted out of the building and it took me nearly an hour to explain to her that she had been stealing from this company and others like it. I realized her understanding was imperfect when she said oh my, I better not tell my family is stealing, it might hurt their feeling. Although she had no sales skills or industry knowledge, with my help she was soon one of the best performing sales people Across our 1,500 branches in the US and I was free to move on to my new role with the Kelly Corporate Office in Troy, michigan. What no one knew at the time, however, was that in my absence, melissa had no one to close the deals on all those appointments she got while falling down. Within a year, her numbers were so poor, her job was in jeopardy. Less than two years after my departure, numbers were so poor her job was in jeopardy. Less than two years after my departure, she was released due to subpar performance.

Speaker 2: 9:32

I'm sure that there have been a lot of twists and turns in the journey of your career. You've met unique people, people that made you laugh, people that made you cry, people that made. You do both. Recall them, ponder those people, ponder the experiences, look back on the memories, good and bad, of the situations that unfolded and the dynamics that happened as you weaved your way to where you are today, and the companies and the managers, the clients and the co-workers that made the journey memorable. This is Lyndon Wolfe. This is here for the Memories. I hope you join again and I hope you do soon.

Speaker 1: 10:22

Hello friends, If you appreciate the content and what it takes to create and deliver it, please consider a small contribution. Just go to buymeacoffeecom slash here for the memories. That's buymeacoffeecom slash here for the memories Much appreciated.