Can you say “Frustration?”

I remember a time when I felt very UN-influential.   

Flash back with me a couple of decades…  I was a one-person training department responsible for all training and on-the-job performance tools for a large call centre. After only 9 months, it was a big job for one person and it was expanding in scope every day.  I was keeping up and still (mostly) having fun but knew something had to change before I was in full burnout mode.

My boss was a really nice guy.  I spoke to him about my situation and the impact on me and my ability to deliver at the pace the business demanded.  We had a new VP and I trusted he would flag it up the chain of command.  

A couple of months passed and the situation worsened.   My boss acknowledged the stress but said his boss simply didn’t understand the need to add more resources to the department when it had only existed for 9 months.  

Can you say FRUSTRATION?   

Part of me wanted to give up, sulk, maybe quit.  I spent time worrying and wondering what I should do, and if I should do it.

But I really liked this job, this company.  I was invested in it working out.  Plus I have a thing for fairness and logic and I couldn’t accept that this VP didn’t just “get” it.   I didn’t want to stay stuck in how things were.

So, as any reasonable underling would do, I asked my boss if I could meet with the VP myself and help him understand the situation better from my perspective.  

To his credit, he agreed and the meeting with the big boss was set!

Now the logistical work began - the business case.    I still have my copy of it - neatly typed on the communal Windows PC!  I had determined that the department needed 2 people in the near term and 3 in the longer term. 

I sat down and typed out TWO questions:

• What do I want or need him to know about me, the department and the impact of the different options on the business?
• What will he want or need to know in order to decide?

Then I structured the business case as a discussion document around my answers to these questions and further questions for him.

The day of the meeting arrived, and I walked into that seemingly massive office with sweaty palms and nerves jangling.   

I was feeling prepared but decidedly UN-influential.  

And while I didn’t get what I asked for right away, within a month I was seconded into a high-potential long-term project opportunity to develop my leadership experience.  When I came back, I got to build my department. :)

That VP became one of my most important mentors and would always joke with me - admiringly - at how I had “waltzed” into his office and pleaded my case so convincingly.

So how was I actually able to make this happen?   

 When I break it down, it’s two things:

1. I reframed my fear and frustration into excitement about potential.
2. I was intentional in my preparation.

What could be possible for you if you could powerfully elevate your own personal influencing skills with one or two key changes in approach?