Get Up!

Like most kids, I got myself into my fair share of challenging situations. Now this one goes way back to a time when I can’t even remember it happening. As a little guy, I followed my parents and siblings around everywhere - think tornado that changes directions constantly.

One such time my dad was in the backyard repairing our fence (a prelude to my future fence days perhaps?) and I was running around the backyard like normal. My mom was calling out to my dad to get his attention but like most men (myself included), he ventured on trying to get that portion of the job completed before responding - deep in job mode! My mom persisted and he finally turned around to answer. As he did he swung the hammer down and hit me square between the eyes!

It was not a hard swing but it was strong enough to knock me off my feet and to the ground. The way my dad tells the story, while he and my mother were horrified, I popped back up and went about my business like nothing happened.

There’s a powerful lesson to be learned from that experience. Life is going to deal you a few blows over time - your job is to decide how you deal with it. Some examples from my own career:

The “No” From a Potential Buyer: during my early days in sales, the stakes were pretty low. Slogging papers or shoveling snow - if someone said they were not interested you simply moved to the next house. As I got into selling fence jobs, the stakes got higher - investing time to measure, quote and follow up. Getting a no in that environment hit home a lot harder. Fast forward to my days selling to the energy market the lead times, sales cycles, spend and time and resource investment were substantially higher. So much so that the costs of a failed sale had to be tracked and offset somewhere else in the business - high stakes. I truly believe my acceptance of rejection early on softened the blow of some of those hard “no” conversations from potential customers. It also made the wins that much more satisfying.

Not Getting That Thing You Want: if you’ve ever lost out on a house or other material purchase in a bidding war or other complications you can relate. Getting your hopes up to “win” in that arena only to be shut down can be soul-destroying for some. OK maybe not that bad but it certainly stings for a period. When that happens most people I know who’ve experienced it (myself included) will tell you the sting wears off as you chase the next win. That in and of itself is a good example of getting up and getting on with things.

Lost Opportunities at Work: I can think of multiple times early in my career where I was pumped up on performance only to be let down when passed over for a new role. While strong performance yields promotions and other perks, they may not come as quickly as you want them to. Early on in my career I would get frustrated about things not moving fast enough - a project, a process, a promotion. Over time I learned it was my own maturity that was setting me back. Had I not faced those setbacks, I may never have been able to see them let alone get up and address them.

It’s easy to tell people to just get back up when they fall down. If you have kids you say it more than you know. As kids it’s instinctive for us to “get back on the bike when we fall” or “get back on your horse”. As we get older things like pride and ego get in the way. If life kicks you in the pants (or a hammer hits you in the head by accident), find the strength to get up and get going. Most of the issues you face that knock you down (figuratively or literally) will pass.

Until next time, keep the faith…

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Jim McKay is a seasoned supply chain executive with over twenty-five years experience in leading and coaching others. From the shop floor to the board room to the ball diamond and hockey rink, those who know him know that he has a few stories to share about life and leadership. Through his 'Reflections' posts and 'Reflections of a Workaholic' publications Jim shares his experience in transportation, supply chain and leadership through impactful and insightful stories that are meant to help and inspire others.

The commentary and opinions in these stories are his own...