9

Life in the Fast Lane

Not long after my “brilliance,” I was doing very well. I had been promoted to merchandise manager. I felt good about myself and my work, I was making good contributions to the company’s overall success, and I was moving up the ladder. But I noticed that the people who were getting significant promotions all came from the sales side of the business* even for positions in merchandising management, product development management, and marketing management. This concerned me, because I thought, How does a great salesperson suddenly know all about advertising? What does a salesperson know about sourcing in Asia? Nothing, it seemed to me. Meanwhile, although I had moved up in my department, I was still working in merchandising, and it seemed I wasn’t being considered for a higher-level managerial position. I asked for a one-on-one meeting with my boss.

I said, “I know the company likes me, and I have nothing but the highest accolades for the company. You guys have treated me well, and I love what I’m doing. However, it seems that every time there’s a big job open, the person who gets that job has come out of sales. As a result, it doesn’t look like merchandising is where I should be. I’m not sure I should stay with the company—or if I do, I clearly need to get into sales. I’m in the wrong spot, because you’re not promoting anyone from this discipline.”

He said, “Let me think about that, and I’ll get back to you.” He arranged for me to meet with the senior vice president of the company, Robert Solomon, who also knew me personally. By this time, I knew everyone in the company, and I had built up a lot of goodwill. A few days later, Mr. Solomon called me into his office to talk. He mentioned a few things I had done recently that had worked out well and said he was really happy with my work and my performance. Then he asked me about the conversation I had had with my boss, and I told him the same thing: “I love this company. I feel the company has treated me well and that I’ve done well for the company. But I’m watching what’s going on, and it seems to me that I’m in the wrong space to become one of the heads of the company someday, and that’s what I’d really like to do. I’d like to think I could be a major contributor, and being in the merchant side of the business, I don’t see it happening.”

He said, “Okay. Let’s talk about that,” and we began one of the most important conversations of my career. He asked me, “Mark, are you good at finance?” I said, “I understand finance. I relate well to it. I understand the economics of the company and what takes place. Yeah, I’m good at it.” He asked, “Are you great at it?” I thought and said, “No, I’m not great at it.”

Then he said, “Okay. Let’s talk about sales. Are you good at selling?” I said, “I know how to present our products well, and I make good presentations.” He didn’t seem satisfied with that answer, because he asked me again, “But do you enjoy selling? Do you think you would be great at it?” I said, “I think I’d be good at it, and I think I would make a contribution. I believe I could do well at anything I put my mind to.” Again he said, “I asked you if you’d be great at it.” I answered truthfully: “No, that’s not what I’d be great at.”

Then he asked me, “Are you good at developing new products and new designs?” This time I said, “I’m great.” He continued, “Are you a good merchant?” And I said, “No, I’m a great merchant.” That was when he got to his point: “I’m going to stop right there, Mark. In this world, you’re competing against the best. If you really want to talk to me about a big career, then you have to think about competing against the best, people who are great at what they do. For you to compete, it’s not okay to be good at something to get to the top. If you go into finance and you’re good, you’re competing against great; if you transfer into sales, again, you’ll be competing against sellers who are great, and if you’re just good, you’re not going to get to the top. But no question, you’re great at product development, and that’s what you should pursue, that’s what you should be, because in this world if you’re going to compete, you need to compete with what you’re best at.”

I have never forgotten that meeting or that insight. Learn everything else you can, respect every discipline that’s out there, but if you’re going to get to where you want to get, you have to be great at what you’re going to do.

Then Mr. Solomon added the icing on the cake: “Mark, you’re too important to the company for us to take you out of merchandising and move you into sales. In addition to what you’re doing, I’m going to pair you with one of the key sales executives and charge him with the responsibility of teaching you the important components of sales.” And that was what he did. I had my existing responsibility of heading up the product development area, but at the same time the head of marketing for the division, John Mueller, trained and taught me the other side of the business.

I worked hard to round out my merchandising knowledge by learning more of the analytical skills on the product development side. How much do you buy? When do you buy? How much do you buy? How do you keep track of it? What do you do with inventory that you don’t sell? I needed to learn the inventory management side, and so I had about a year’s worth of intense sales training and inventory management. At the end of that year, I was expecting to be promoted to vice president, general merchandise manager.

* I’m sure this was happening in many companies, because the logic at the time was that the people closest to the end customer were the people with the greatest knowledge of the business. After all, they would call their retail clients, ask what was selling or working, and get a direct response. Today the heads of companies come from every discipline in the business environment. They can come from finance, merchandising, sales, or anywhere else.