Page 253 - Social Media Marketing

242 Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman

Once, I hired an assistant who said during her interview that she
was quick on her feet, energetic, and a real problem solver. On her
first day, just before she headed out to lunch, she sat down with me
and asked, "Is it always like this?" She was obviously overwhelmed
by the frenetic pace.

I said, "No."
At the end of the day, she came in again. I asked her what she had
meant when she asked earlier whether it was always like this. She
explained that she wanted to know whether the office was always
this fast paced.
I laughed and said, "Oh.... When I answered 'No,' I meant that
it's not always like this because we were having a slower-than-
normal day."
The next morning, she called in her resignation. She said that
during the previous day, she had to take one valium in the after-
noon, one on the way home, and one before going to bed. She had
applied for the position because her office was too slow. I guess she
was looking for something in between a drizzle and light scattered
showers.
The moral of this story is that if you're racing along at 200 miles
per hour on a steady fuel supply of nitrous oxide, you need to realize
that the rest of your team might be more comfortable cruising along
on unleaded at 55 miles an hour. Your intensity level could quickly
burn out your staff, making them run for shelter, hide under their
desks, or head for the exits.
As rainmaker, you need to maintain a continuing, productive
pace: a steady rainfall.

Final Thoughts

You'll know that you are a rainmaker when you control the out-
come. Notice that I didn't say, "when you control what happens."
You cannot control what happens. You can't control what your cus-
tomers want or how they will shop for it. You may have only a small
influence over the direction of your industry. You probably have no