Mantra for Success

I am sitting here in the hotel lobby and a recipe for sanity when working for a vendor has come to mind.  I don’t mind working for vendors.  Most vendors in the current marketplace are much better at providing what I would call “ethical” representation for their products and services.  Nevertheless, the politics, complexities, and down right speed of change within most vendor environments is still enough to make it difficult to balance professional integrity with the end goal of selling more products/services for the employer.

So at times, when things get a bit hectic I think I will remind myself that when all is said and done– my only job is to do the following:

1. Make sure the customer is happy and that the solution meets their needs.
2. Make sure the company you work for (the vendor) makes profit not just revenue.
3. Make sure the people who did the work receive the credit and that “success surfers” do not show-up at the last minute and steal the recognition.

This last one is of particular importance to me because there is nothing more de-moralizing and detrimental to a company than the wrong people gaining recognition.  Such practices are rampant in many vendor organizations and it leads to the best, most talented, and most ethical people leaving.  So I pay close attention to this last one because I like to be surrounded by good people.