By Patrick Gaul
When I first spoke with Jeff Nischwitz, he was an attorney working in the building next door to us in Midtown Cleveland. He has since left the law firm to start a new career as CQO (that’s Chief Question Officer) of Think Again Coaching. He named his start up consulting business after his first book, Think Again.
My initial interest in Jeff was to learn something from him about networking. He is, after all, known as “The Human Linkedin”. We spoke for almost two hours and Jeff was a breath of fresh air. He was more than a great listener. He clearly demonstrated why he has taken the title of Chief Question Officer in his new company. We didn’t talk much about networking though, so I didn’t quite understand the Human Linkedin monicker.
A month or so ago I was happy to learn that Jeff was planning a half day seminar called “Effective Networking & Relationship Building”. I thought, “Here’s my chance to learn about networking from the Human Linkedin.”
As a sales professional, I have been to countless sales trainings. Typically, I come away from them with an uncomfortable feeling that I am not cut out for this. They all spin it a little differently, but most sales training comes across to me as manipulation. Sales people are taught to control the sales process in a way that makes the target think that they are in control. I have never been comfortable with this. People are not targets and I certainly can’t control them. I was excited and looking forward to a training session with Jeff, knowing that his presentation would be unique and more in line with my philosophies.
Jeff’s seminar helped me to understand more about myself as a business person. I am not comfortable “selling” when I have not earned the right. I have always enjoyed the relationship building aspect of my job. I honestly like helping people. It “fills my bucket” so to speak. But until this seminar, I was always uncomfortable when somebody would ask me what I “do”.
Ask me what companyI work for and I can proudly talk about the great work of the Center for Families and Children. Ask me about the division that I work for and I feel great speaking about the Ease@Work EAP. But admitting that I am a sales person? While that’s in my title, it’s not what I am.
So, from now on what will I say when people ask me what I do? I’ll say that I have the greatest job in the world because I love helping people and I work for a company with a mission that boils down to helping people in need. The discussion that this inspires is much more comfortable for me. How do I help people? How does CFC help people? How does Ease@Work help employees and businesses?
I will not mislead people into thinking that my role is something other than sales and marketing. There is no reason to lead with my profession’s baggage though. My success and my happiness stems from building strong relationships. This is done by a genuine desire to help people. Thank you Jeff for helping me to feel much better about what I “do”.
Do you want to network? I would enjoy the challenge of figuring out a way that I can help you even if you have no need for an EAP. Connect with me on Linkedin or you can reach me through the “contact us” form on our home page. Yes, I actually receive and respond when these forms are filled out.
