Does your job love you back? | TDSU Ep. 18

Dillon: [00:00:11] all

right. What's up Lifers and welcome to The Daily Standup with Lifetime Value. We are so happy to be here. We're going to give you another fresh idea

to start your day about customer success. JP, do you want to say hi?

JP: What's up people?

Dillon: Rob,

Do you want to say hi?

Rob: What's up Lifers?

Dillon: And Bob,

do you want to say hi?

Bob: I do want to say hi. Hi Lifers. It's good to be

here.

Dillon: Bob, do you want to introduce yourself?

Bob: Yeah. My name is Bob Mathers. I run a-- I'm a [00:00:41] revenue coach. So I work with CS leaders and founders helping to grow

from, you know,

5 million to

50 million and

50 million and above.

And, yeah, I'm really excited to be here to share what's on my mind.

Dillon: Awesome. So you already know the

script. So why don't you tell us, what are you thinking about?

Bob: All

right, so I got to, there's a little bit of context here that I think is

really important. Seven days ago, I was sitting with my family in a restaurant. My wife and two sons and my younger son, uh,

wasn't feeling so well.

He

[00:01:11] was sick. He had some numbness in his extremities. We ended up rushing him to a hospital and 12 hours later, he

had emergency brain surgery to remove

a mass on his brain.

Now

I'm not going to get into, I know that's a kind of a heavy way to start a conversation. So believe me, believe me. We're going to bring it home here.

The point is that you've caught me at a moment here, right? For the last seven days, I've been reflecting on...

the fragility of life and how I want to spend my last

30 or 40 [00:01:41] years, et cetera.

And so I've been reflecting on that, but I've also been bringing that back to a lot of conversations I've

been having with people in CS.

And I know it's been a really tough couple of years, right?

There's people out there that have been out of work for a while. There's people that are kind of living quarter to quarter

that have had friends and colleagues, lose their jobs while somehow they've still been

standing. So they're under this constant kind of threat of being in that

position themselves.

And this goes for individual contributors, CS leaders... [00:02:11] and

I guess I just, given the week that I've had, I hope that people are taking the opportunity to ask

themselves,

"Is it worth it?

Am I in a job

that doesn't love me back?" Because what nobody seems to

tell you is that if you're out of work, for example, as a

CSM, and I've been there. Let me just share a quick story. I've been laid

off as a...

a sales leader and I've been laid off as a CS [00:02:41] leader.

And I

remember I was in my early thirties. The first time it happened,

two young kids at

home. Sitting with my Blackberry, at the time, in my car in the parking lot after having just been escorted out of

the building by HR. For

those, anybody who's been through it, they know what that feels like.

And I'm sitting there and I'm, I'm, I'm angry.

I'm scared. I'm, I'm alone. And

so I know that feeling.

And I remember

sitting there going, "I'm going to prove them all wrong. I'm going to go get a next-- another job and I'm going to prove that this was a mistake and I'm going to get promoted. I'm going to, you know, I'm going to [00:03:11] show them."

Because that's just a very human

kind of reaction to it all right? And I talk to people all the time

and they're in that situation and, so I just hope that people are taking some time

to reflect on...

whether it's worth it because

this is going to happen to you.

CS is undergoing

a lot of change. It's not dead. I don't care what

the, you know, the clickbait out there-- like it's just undergoing a bit of a change here.

Damn, if you haven't been laid off, it's just a

matter [00:03:41] of time. And if you're-- and if you've been out of work six to eight months and you're trying to find a job, you're going to find another job.

You know what? In two years, it could happen again.

And that's what you're saying,

"yes" to. You're saying you're going to spend almost as much time looking for a job and onboarding new jobs as you are in that pocket where you're confident you're delivering value, and there's just

not enough spots

for everybody out there looking right now.

So

I don't know, that's, that's kind of my kind of my call to action as I've

reflected on it is, I hope people are taking the [00:04:11] opportunity to

decide

whether they're up for it and whether they, they really want to do this, because I know you just want to get back in the game and I know you're, you're getting pulled in there, but just try to take some time to figure out whether it's worth it.

So,

Dillon: noted, that was definitely all directed at me because I am a recent job seeker. I recently wrote a, a screed on the pending death [00:04:41] of customer success.

And I've also written quite a bit about...

the only person that cares as much about you is you. And companies don't give a s--t about you. You're a widget.

And

It doesn't even matter if you're bringing massive value, they could decide tomorrow that they

just don't give a s--t about you anymore. And that's specifically employment in America. So,

I'll take that one on the

chin and I'll let the guys add their commentary if [00:05:11] they'd like.

Rob: I have some commentary. First of all... I think that was as liberating as it was disappointing

or as disappointing as it was liberating. I mean...

So I think that for, for me,

being laid off was one of the most liberating things that I could have asked for.

I wouldn't be on my current path, and this is the happiest I've

ever been in my work, if it weren't for the fact that the last company I was at[00:05:41]

downsized and said,

"Rob, we got to move you back to being a consultant."

It was something that needed to happen. And I'm glad the

circumstances called for it.

Do I agree that

companies don't give a s--t about you? Well,

I can't say that

as a universal norm. I think there are some companies that don't.

And I think it's kind of ironic that,

you know, we in customer success, we're in the business of proving ROI

on everything. And yet we struggle to prove ROI on our own selves, which [00:06:11] is kind of funny.

But yeah, I think there's,

there's a, the,

the challenges that the customer

success world has seen have really matured this thing that we're doing. Customer success...

in a way that I was waiting

for, for years, honestly.

So even though it's not ideal that a lot of

us have gone through this type of thing,

I do think there's a lot that's really come of it that's positive.

Bob: Yeah. I love that, Rob, you're right. [00:06:41] And, uh, but it,

I've never talked

to anybody that's been through it, that hasn't looked back with a little bit of distance

and said,

"Yeah, that was the best thing to happen to me."

But man, it's hard to see it when you're in the middle of it.

Dillon: I'm only, uh, I'm only getting there now, Bob.

Bob: Right.

Dillon: Uh, and it's

been about six months for me.

JP, what do you have to say?

JP: Yeah. I appreciate

the candor with which you shared, Bob. It was really great. Really, really human, right? Really, really brought that element to the front.

And I [00:07:11] know that one of our traits as humans is resiliency

and adaptability.

Those two things that really go hand in hand. And I feel like my own personal journey,

for sure, I've been able to definitely reflect

with a lot of gratitude from places where I've been let go.

Because I've always

seen each place as a learning stop for me.

And I've always sort

of believed that, in the grander scheme of things, as

long as my character

and my [00:07:41] heart are in the right

place and I'm consistently on that path that

the other things

will work themselves out.

I feel like right now I'm at a place in terms of literally in my career

and where I work, where I feel like

I've been able to

find something that really works for me.

But I also don't take it for granted. And I think that that's part of the message you're sharing is not to take things for granted.

That's definitely where I am. I don't

take having a position [00:08:11] for granted. I don't take finding a job that brings me a lot of fulfillment for granted.

Yet at the same time, I also understand the reality of where things are and that... you could get let go any minute, due to unforeseen circumstances.

Dillon: I wanna, I have two points. First of all, Bob, what's the name of your son and how is he doing?

Bob: His name's Will. Yeah, he's eating like a horse. It Looks like he's going to be fine. So, uh, yeah, the darkness of it is over. [00:08:41] So, yeah, thanks for asking.

Dillon: Okay. Knock on wood. Um, I'm pulling for Will.

That's gotta be the scariest thing. I can't even imagine. I can't even imagine talking about it after it happens, let alone... experiencing the situation in the first place. So yeah, thanks again. Also, unrelated, but I want to thank Rob for calling in from the headset he must've gotten at the very first tech support job he's ever had.

Style points, my friend. We get just the smallest amount [00:09:11] of background noise too like you did when you call into AT&T to try and argue your bill. I can hear a little bit of the conversation. I don't know quite what's going on, but I know you're not alone.

Rob: I'm not alone.

Dillon: That's our time, Bob. I want to thank you again

for coming on the show, sharing your time, sharing your expertise.

It's been a pleasure. We hope to have you back, Bob.

Bob: Anytime, guys, I really, I really love what you're doing here. I appreciate you having me on anytime we'll

see you out there.

Dillon: Thank you

JP: Thanks a [00:09:41] lot.

Rob: Thanks, Bob.

Bob: Bye guys.