The Passion

There is a Gallup poll that says 25 million Americans attend an organized church service each week in the USA. I believe this number is closer to 40 million people when you account for children who attend with their parents. These people attend each week and most actually pay to be there by donating up to 10% of their annual salaries in a tithe. These people continue to attend each week because they have a passionate belief that church service is beneficial to them.

My youngest son is a 2nd degree blackbelt in Taekwondo. He has been attending classes at his local studio 3-4 times a week for the last four years, and I shovel out hundreds of dollars each month so he can do so. In addition to his weekly classes, he is now a junior instructor and volunteers his time teaching others. Yes, I pay for that also. I support my son in this endeavor because I believe taekwondo is beneficial to my son. I believe that he is a better person because he is part of this organization.

I have been thinking a lot about the future of my business. When I started working in the satellite industry 25 years ago, it was an employee driven business. What I mean is, nothing was accomplished technically without someone completing a task. There was no advanced technology to drive the business forward. People drove our business forward. With thousands of dedicated professionals working side by side, it was easy to cultivate passion for the business at hand.

When I came back to my company nine years ago, I spent 50% of my time addressing service-related issues with our equipment and 50% of my time performing preventive maintenance to hopefully avoid service issues in the future. Today I spend less than 10% of my work week on service-related issues. The technology we utilize today is so good that equipment driven issues are almost nonexistent. Yes, issues still arise, but not at all to the scale of past years. The advancements in AI technology will continue to transform my business as well as the way I do business in the future.

My business is now driven by technology with our team members in more of a support role to that technology. We no longer work together (In person) as most of my team are now remote. The passion that came from sharing a room with your team to achieve a goal is gone.

I can envision a day when my company is fully automated and it’s possible that only a very small number of team members will be needed to support operations. I work in operations, so this is troubling for me.

Knowing that technology now drives my business, I am in a place to where I need to find a way to stay relevant not just in my business, but in ANY business.? What can I offer my company that technology can’t? What can I do each week that a computer or AI technology can’t? I can bring passion to the table.

My company has asked each team member to be a Brand Ambassador. This means that each employee is a representative of our company with a responsibility to (When possible) tell our friends and neighbors about our products and services in an effort to hopefully drive sales. To be honest, not many take that mantle and run with it. Most employees show up to work (Virtually), do a job and get paid. They do what is asked of them and not much more.

I believe that the days of doing the minimum to get by in a career are gone. Competition in the marketplace today (For almost everything) is so fierce that “Just getting by” is no longer an option. Companies today are looking for top performers in their respective fields, because only the best will win at business. When most companies are downsizing staff to save on overhead, the top performers always seem to have a job. When every member of your team is equal in knowledge and training, who do you think your employer is going to keep when the downsizing comes to your group? The answer is simple. The top performers and the most passionate will always be a part of a conversation to stay on and continue to push their respective companies forward and drive change.

I believe that if you work for a company, you need to have passion for the product or service that you are offering. If you are a barista, I believe that you need to always strive to be the best at what you do and you need to be able to provide the best coffee available in the marketplace. Delivering the best with smile and a “Thank you” to each customer for stopping in and spending their money in your establishment is a business trait that a computer will never be able to deliver.

If you are in sales, it’s not enough to fly in, show up for a meeting and present a fancy PowerPoint presentation.? Today’s sales force needs to not only sell the product, but they need to know how to support the product they sell. They need to know how it breaks and how to fix it when it does. If you work in technology, you need to know MORE than the technology you are using today. You need to know about the technology that will be used tomorrow, because technology is constantly changing. The days of showing up and treading water in business are gone if you want to be successful.

I believe that every team member of every business should be in sales. I could care less if you are in-house council or if you work in building maintenance. If you work for a company and you believe in that company and in the products and services they offer, you should be able to share that publicly. If you are not comfortable with the secondary job title of “Brand Ambassador” or “Product Ambassador”, you might need to re-evaluate your place in your company, because your employer most likely already is.

I travel for business 40 weeks a year. I have spent hundreds of (personal) dollars on branded apparel from my company store and I wear it constantly when I am on the road. I only stay in hotels that offer my company’s products and services. When I check in to a hotel, I am proud to introduce myself as a team member of my company and I thank the hotel for being MY customer. I take ownership of each customer I see when I travel. If someone is unhappy with MY product or service, I get involved to resolve the issue. I am not in sales, but I NEVER walk away from a potential opportunity to sell the products and services that my company offers. Most importantly, I never receive a sales commission for the sales referrals I generate. I am an engineer, and I am paid handsomely for the work I do. Bringing new customers to my company helps rise the tide that all my fellow team members benefit from. That is the best compensation I can receive for a sales lead.

I believe in my company. I believe we have the best products and services in the marketplace. I believe in my management team. I know I make a difference every day I show up to work. I believe that there needs to be a fundamental change in the mindset team members have towards business. I am trying my best to be the change I want to see at my company.

Change starts with me…

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The views expressed in this blog post reflect the experiences and opinions of the author only and are not meant to be any official correspondence from DIRECTV, its Dealers, affiliates or any related entities. Copyright John Mac's Travels 2025