Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site randvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!bellcore!decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcrdcf!randvax!edhall From: edhall@randvax.UUCP (Ed Hall) Newsgroups: net.singles,net.social Subject: Re: Salemanship Message-ID: <2565@randvax.UUCP> Date: Sun, 23-Jun-85 14:16:58 EDT Article-I.D.: randvax.2565 Posted: Sun Jun 23 14:16:58 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 27-Jun-85 07:48:44 EDT References: <968@peora.UUCP> <1424@mtx5b.UUCP><344@unc.UUCP> <396@unc.UUCP> <442@unc.UUCP> Reply-To: edhall@rand-unix.UUCP (Ed Hall) Organization: Rand Corp., Santa Monica Lines: 41 Xref: watmath net.singles:7534 net.social:745 Summary: > It doesn't matter how good your ideas are if nobody will listen or accept them. > It takes salesmanship to convince others to accept your ideas. > This ability can make the difference between outstanding career success > versus rotting in a dead-end position. > > I have seen too many top notch techies who couldn't sell themselves, > who were thus not only unappreciated and underpaid by their managers, > but under-utilized by their companies. > > Frank Silbermann I disagree. I want technical people who are competent and who are reasonably articulate, but if they need to ``sell themselves'' in order to be appreciated and utilized, I'm failing in my job as a manager. And if they have a salesman-like mentality, I'll likely not hire them no matter how technically competent they are. Many times I've seen people work hard to sell an idea, but ignore the ideas of the rest of the team--and thus create a tremendous problem by this ``salesmanship''. I want to discuss possibilities and choose based on facts, not on the size of the ego of whoever has the idea. An idea should succeed or fail on its merits; although I'm certain that good ideas are often passed over because they aren't well-presented, this is a failure in trying to *express* them, not *sell* them. Perhaps what you've noticed, Frank, is the inability of some ``techies'' to communicate what they are thinking in a reasonable and articulate way. Or it is a failure of managment to deal with its people in a way that allows them best to express their ideas--I've certainly seen this happen a lot as well. But I wouldn't call these things a lack of the employee's ``salemanship''. To tie this in with net.singles: there is a big difference between liking yourself and expressing your thoughts well (something other people generally find attractive), and having ``salesmanship''. The latter has its place--I don't intend to demean sales people--but it has no place in relationships, and although superficially attractive, it wears out pretty fast. -Ed Hall decvax!randvax!edhall