COM0014 – Blog #6: Becoming… A Work In Progress

Working at one of the top global electrical manufacturers definitely has its challenges. Keep in mind while reading my post that I am not a decision maker at my place of employment, I don’t even have anyone underneath me on our org chart so this viewpoint is from a 25 year employee who has “been around the block” within the organization (I mean that in the best way possible) and as a member of our 2 year old Digital Marketing Team.

We have been in business for over 100 years and have a lot of great things going for us. We are well known in the electrical industry and have, over the years, formed strong relationships with our distributor partners. Our employees have been around for a long time, many over 20 years and some approaching 40 years.

Like every business, we also have our challenges. In my opinion some of those strengths listed are also some of the biggest challenges we face as an organization. Our current position in our industry makes some of our leadership nervous to risk change. Our employees who have been with the company for 20+ years have the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” or “we’ve always done things this way” mentality.

The truth of the matter is, if we don’t continue to transform to a digital way of doing business, remain agile in our approach and challenge the status quo we are going to be left behind.

We can’t forget the DNA of our business, the people, the ethics and good business sense that got us where we are today. We know where we’ve been, who we are now and what we NEED to become.

This great quote from Michelle Obama says it perfectly:

“Becoming isn’t about arriving somewhere or achieving a certain aim. I see it instead as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn’t end.”

– Michelle Obama, from Becoming

I know we are not alone in our struggle to evolve. It can be frustrating and challenging. It feels really great when we work hard and are recognized from industry peers for the progress we have made. Our leadership may have not been able to see the vision as clearly as we did, but we are gaining their trust and they are coming along with us on the journey.