Welcome to this rare, Saturday edition of the Inevitabl newsletter.

It's brought to you, in part, because of a new role, responsibilities, and schedule to accompany my existing, professional adventures.

Having been asked by a friend to become the 1st sales hire, as an Account Manager, this coming January for his new pursuit as a franchisee in the environmental commercial kitchen solutions industry, I was excited for the challenge.

As unplanned change can strike in any business, I got the call to see if I'd consider jumping in as a service technician for a month, as staffing issues had left my friend as a near 1-person show. Talk about urgency for change!

While I'd been a bagel baker at one point in my career (Hi, Bruegger's Bagels 🥯 and old college jobs!), I wouldn't say I thrive in the kitchen, especially when working with cooking temp frying oils (that's 350 degrees! 🔥).

Despite 2am and 3am shift starts, 10+ hour days, and heavy lifting (picture pushing heavy equipment up truck ramps - a bit more my speed and fitness industry expertise a la sled pushes), we've been able to meet existing customers (the territory had existed before under a previous franchisee), provide an exceptional experience, and earn their confidence.

It's been a fantastic immersion in the service aspect of the business, giving me improved understanding of the importance of our solutions, detail of the processes, and the immense value of our technicians. I'm certainly that much better-prepared for the selling conversations I'll be having in the near future.

Beyond that, I've been able to realize how significantly aspects of change management and leadership show up in an industry that's new to me.

From modeling the way, as the franchisee has been acting as a service technician, and providing clear communication with employees, customers, employee candidates, and the franchisor, to welcoming feedback and being open-minded to applying ideas that are not self-generated, and celebrating short-term wins to maintain momentum, the foundation is being set for the desired organizational culture.

I'm known to be open-minded to change, and even more so when consulted in its visioning and strategy, though I'll be glad to turn in the many layers of heat-resistant PPE that I've been armored in this week for my more usual sales garb. Though, I'm sure I'll keep that gear in my "locker" so I can ride along every so often for time on the front-line.

Curious to see what this new role is like? Click here to watch the video, in case you don't see the image below.

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I'm convinced there's some magic on display, as they make maneuvering that ramp look far easier than has been my experience!

Stay tuned, as I add to my library of change management and organizational leadership stories and insight.

By the way, what's a job you've had that's been outside the realm of the industry you work in now? Let me know!

In health,
Boh

David Bohmiller, MBA, MS (he/him/his)​
Founder, CEO and Consulting Executive
Inevitabl LLC

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Whenever you're ready, more ways I can help you:

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