Leaderboard

As Uday and I were in the final year of our graduation, everyone around us was sure of Uday's future. They said Uday could sell anything. Others spoke highly of his emotional intelligence. Sounds like an instant marketing hit, doesn’t he? Well, so he was! Filled with the indomitable energy of a sales newbie and exuding charm he sped his way to step into the shoes of a Area Sales Manager after 5 years of introductory sales engineer experience. Although he surmounted every problem that came his way, human errors made by subordinates served as regular bottle-necks. He’d ensure the avoidance of billing errors on his own but communication gaps would result in one. He would often suffer the embarrassment of differential pricing quotes for the same offering. And his team's efficiency was blotched with documentation errors, material dispatch errors, poor after-sales service etcetera all along the way. These debacles soon earned him the ire of his clients and he began to invest substantial time in resolving issues with them. What came to his rescue during such delicate times were his soft-skills. His juniors hero-worshiped him. They all said that Uday had his way with the clients and had to be seen tackling them to be believed. His success prevailed. The changing times soon saw him as GM Sales and in his stewardship saw the automation of many processes. Just when he was expecting technology to result in perfection, errors persisted due to a high rate of attrition amongst sales professionals. Uday sought help in sales counselling sessions but the organization was still infested by errors, reactive measures and rework. One hadn’t an option but to become complacent in the current situation of mediocrity. Majority of Uday’s energy was directed towards client conflicts and retaining business. Still exuded charm, our man, but perfection still eluded him. 15 years into the job and following a linear trend, Uday was now the Vice President of the sales department. Towering now over a fleet of GMs and reporting only to the CEO, he collaborated with the New Product Development Team and the Hiring/Training Team. Banking still on his insight into the customer psyche and high emotional intelligence and his reputation as the best Sales Workshop Facilitator, Uday now became the direct contact for strategic high value clients. But what sounds like a success story had a bitter glitch. With all he had accomplished in his 18 years long stint, Uday still couldn’t bask in the glory of his success without disturbance. He convinced himself that he had stuck to the same organization too long. It was now time for him to shift his allegiance. He flowed with the trend of his time and joined a multinational organization. This is where Uday had the greatest revelation of his life! The skill set he had acquired over the past prolific 18 years of his life seemed redundant now. The processes here were highly streamlined; devoid of quotation disputes, erroneous and delayed invoices, shipment delays and other organizational inefficiencies. It was there and then that the great truth had dawned on him; his coveted moment of corporate enlightenment; the great organizational consciousness that he had come in terms with: his new organization swore by and soared with Six Sigma- the ultimate organizational truth and saviour. Six Sigma had his creative juices flowing. He no longer felt contained or restricted. His approach was futuristic; prevention was the thumb-rule not mitigation. He soon collaborated with the Leadership Team and formulated a new sales model which heralded in astronomical revenues. Uday realized that he could never enjoy such potency of thought in his previous organization where he wasted much of his energy tackling trivialities. Much like Buddha, he attained the great consciousness the hard way. But it needn’t be so tough, does it? One can only imagine the greatness he and his organization could’ve scaled had he stumbled upon Six Sigma earlier.