Today I celebrate my first year anniversary in account sales for Rockwell Automation. All of my previous work experience was software engineering, interaction design, team leadership, and project management. It’s been an incredibly busy and successful year. I’m thrilled that I accomplished all of my personal and career goals with this transition, and I’ve had a lot of fun and learned many things.
What do I like best?
- Variety and flexibility of my schedule and work locations.
- Working with my smartest customers on strategic project planning and problem solving.
- Collaborating with my colleagues and friends in the extended district sales team.
- Getting to know the Baltimore, DC, and Eastern Shore region as a market and as a wonderful place to live.
- The money.
- Working with and selling the best damn automation solutions in the world.
What could I do without?
- Managing the flow of all the little demands and requests that are constantly streaming in, taking time and energy away from the strategic and important stuff.
- Never feeling like I’m doing enough and never getting ahead of the curve.
- Dealing with the technology tools that supposedly support my job – customer relationship management software and e-mail/calendaring tools.
- A remarkable lack of project management skills and follow-through in many people I work with at customers, internal to Rockwell, and with my distributor.
In short, I’m thrilled to be here. I’m looking forward to my second year, and my skills are having a visible and important impact in the area. Onward and upward!
