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April 22, 2003
"What's best for ..."
While I'm on a "I hate it when" rant...
Since I started at UEN, I've been amazed at how many times rumors have been widely circulated about my position on things, and how I feel about certain people or vendors. The few times I've found out about these, I've found them to be completely wrong or, at best, seriously exaggerated.
Much of these are my own doing. I believe very strongly in doing what I believe is best for my employer, even at my own personal expense. I have opinions, and I let them be known, and I will vigorously push for what I believe to be right. Many decisions I have made over my career were politically and often personally risky, even stupid, but they were the right thing to do for the company I worked for. I've learned from several mentors, over many years, how to be more effective in political and social aspects of the game, but I still would sooner take the risk of doing things right than quietly go with the flow.
What I've found interesting is that nobody doubts that the "seller" is motivated to do what's in their best interests, which is to sell more stuff. It's a rare find to work with a vendor who puts his customers interests first, at the expense of his and his company's success, and it's very obvious, when that happens.
But it's rarely clear how the "buyer" is motivated. In fact, my experience is that it's rarely assumed that the buyer has the best interests of his organization as his motivation, and usually is assumed that the buyer has any number of other motives: personal gain, bias for or against certain sellers, lack of understanding or education, laziness, etc. It's a very rare occassion when I hear the rumor mill say "he bought that because it was (what he thought was) best for UEN."
I guess it's a fact of life. It's not just with purchasing, I've had some painful experiences with personal relationships that were undermined by what people believed I thought.
I have learned in the process, though I have a lot of practice, to not let my assumptions about people dictate how I perceive them. Or, I try not to. It's very hard. But having been on the receiving end, all I can do to improve the situation is try to not do it to other people.
And in the end, all I can say is: contrary to everything that's been rumored about why I do what I do, my motivation always has been, and always will be, to do what I believe in my best judgement is best for the company I work for. I can't control what other people think or say about me, but I can feel that I've done what I believe is right, and that's the best I can do.
Posted by pete at April 22, 2003 05:57 PM
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