This is the Leadership Journey series on the Choosing Leadership Podcast.

I believe we all have a lot to learn from each other’s stories – of where we started, where we are now, and our successes and struggles on the way. With this series of interviews, my attempt is to give leaders an opportunity to share their stories and for all of us to learn from their generous sharing. If you know a leader whom you would like to see celebrated on the show, please send me a message on LinkedIn with their name.

In the heartfelt conversation, Glenn shares the story of how he moved into sales early in his career, and how he has never looked back. He also revealed many other stories from his long career and the lessons he draws from them – which are not only useful to anybody in sales but any leader in my opinion. You will not want to miss this conversation.

You can find Glenn at the below links

In the interview, Glenn shares

  • My first job was as a civil servant. I worked for the federal government as a technical role in the weather department fixing electronic weather equipment.
  • I had a government company car. It was the crappiest car you could imagine and I think it was a Chevy Chevette.
  • My then boss always told me that I was in the wrong job. So I listened to him and I applied for a sales job and I ended up getting that job and leaving the government and going into the world of sales.
  • When I got the interview for the sales job they flew me to Montreal to visit and meet one of the owners. I was picked up in a B M W 750. And and I’m like, wow, I really need a job in Sales because I had just gone from a Chevy Chevette to a BMW 750, and that had a huge impact on me I was like “I gotta get me one of these things.”
  • The only reason I got the job was because I was the only one that followed up twice a day for 10 days. Their reasoning was that I would go to that length to keep the job. When I set my sights on things, I can get very focused on following up and sticking to the task  
  • I found it very difficult to learn the products at the beginning because I didn’t have any way to apply them. But once I got into the field, I started learning tips and tricks from the owners who became my mentors, and that’s where I started writing down the rules, which eventually became the book.
  • I resigned my job after I realized that my bosses were never gonna be my partners or see me as an equal.
  • After I retire, I’m planning on building the background to perhaps have a bit of a public speaking effort or just drift off into the sunset, play pickleball and relax. Book some speaking gigs and maybe do a bit of public speaking tours.
  • the biggest challenges were integrating our business into another bigger business that bought us and figuring out how to blend systems and people.
  • I learned was that the moment you realize you’re not getting the business leave, just end it and let other people fight for it because you are wasting time.
  • A rejection and a no is not a judgment on yourself. It’s a path towards finding the person that does need your product or solution at that time.