Why I don't like the word "drive".

I always flinch a little when I hear the word “drive” in business.?Maybe it is because English is my second language and my Dutch ancestry tends to make me think of things literally rather than too figuratively, but here are my thoughts on it.

When someone in business says “we’re going to drive our sales people”, or “drive our customers”, or “drive demand” or “drive revenue”, or “you need to drive your team”, it comes across one sided and frankly, a little blunt.?I don’t have keys to people, I don’t enjoy pushing random people or crowds for that matter.?As fun as the visual of that might be, Ie. Verb. (1) Operate and control the direction and speed of a motor vehicle, ?(2) propel or carry along by force in a specified direction.?Many elements that would make this enjoyable are missing.

As a leader of people I avoid it unless used in a sentence like, “jump in my Hilux and I’ll drive us to the customer.”.

So what’s your point you might well ask.?In my simplistic mind, customers tend to run a business or operate critical infrastructure or govern a country, run an institution such as education or a not for profit.?These people have needs for equipment or services to be able to do that, which they procure through partners or vendors that in themselves also have these needs.?In my case, I manage a team of technical solutions architects that assist these people in making good decisions.?One of these decisions may be to not go ahead with us or postpone the decision or re-think things for the betterment of the long term.?No amount of (2) “propel and carry along by force in a specified direction” is going to make an unsound decision sit well with my team, the partner, the customer nor me at the end of the day.

A sour taste will linger far longer than the initial sugar hit.?The word “drive” is ugly shorthand that in my mind is 180 degrees of what business is about and what it is supposed to imply.

If you situate yourself on the other side and are the person being “driven”, or (2) propelled in a specified direction. ?That seems unpleasant and not something many would sign up for unless you’re queuing up for a rollercoaster ride.

You might then say well Mr Smartypants, what’s a better way to convey urgency, a good reason for customer contact, and messaging that illuminates your solution’s market fit and customer fit??How about “bring along”?

From 25+ years leading and managing people in pre-sales technical roles and having worked for exceptional people leaders at Symantec, VMware and Infoblox to learn from one thing stands out.?People are not cars, and neither is the organization they run about the car.?It is about people serving people and the best way to lead is to lead by serving and bring them along.

How can I serve you?

Regards,

Tim