EXPERIENCE vs. POTENTIAL

From the moment I started my career I only heard of people that were “doomed” for choosing a certain field to work in. From interns to young professionals - how can any past experience stand in your way for trying new opportunities? The fear of “getting stuck” was always in the back of my head, ever since I started working. Coming straight out of university - how does one really know what field you want to work in for the rest of your life?

We live in a VUCA environment. This means that the world we live in is unstable and that the industry is constantly changing. The only way to tackle this is by being flexible, adaptable, ready for change. It requires employees with both a diverse skill set and open mindset. But how can a company prepare for this? How can a company strike the right balance between potential and past experience?

A couple of years ago, the board members of sales & marketing at adidas got together on stage in front of thousands of employees and announced that they want to start to interchange talents across the organization and its different departments. This way we will enable creativity, collaboration and confidence. A year later the adidas Talent Carousel was launched. A two-year rotation program where you are faced with a new function, new country and new challenges. The selection process is based on blind judging, relying less on past experience and focusing more on future potential.

My first job at adidas was within the global strategic sales division. I was put in charge of Customer Service - the backbone of sales. I spent five years in this field learning about how sales works from the backend. When I expressed my ambition to work as a key account manager, I was told that with my lack of experience I would have little chance to move into this type of role.

Determined to explore other options I reached out to the markets in search of a new opportunity that would provide me the skills and experience needed to move into a new field. I took the initiative and reached out to the former GM in Chile and proposed a job rotation within the Chilean sales team. He took a risk on my potential. These three months gave me vital market experience and eventually led me to my next role as senior sales development manager in Latin America.

After a year and a half into this role I was asked to temporarily fill in for the Head of key accounts in Colombia. I was instantly reminded of the comments I had received about not possessing the right experience to succeed as a key account manager. Naturally I had doubts over my ability to fulfill such an important role. But how can you know if you don’t try? Luckily, my potential was valued higher than my experience.

I learnt more in those three months than any time during my career so far. This temporary experience gave me the confidence to pursue new opportunities. I had experienced firsthand the incredible value of learning and working within a new field and function.

This experience led me to a new question. If I am able to adapt to working in another function of sales, how would I cope in a completely different professional field?

This is when I decided to apply to the Talent Carousel.

As of March 2018, I moved directions from wholesale to eCommerce. I will be forced to adapt to a new fast paced VUCA Environment and explore a field that I have never worked in before. 

I feel very fortunate to be given this opportunity - to be able to try out something new and be given the chance to find my own path throughout the company. I hope that by sharing my experiences it highlights the benefit of recognizing the power of potential over experience.

Over the next 2 years I will be sharing my experiences and learnings and I invite you to join me on this journey. I am interested to hear of your experiences or opinions regarding past experience vs potential. Feel free to share your opinion or own experiences in the comments.