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Networking with other purchasing pros brings success
October 23, 2007
Birds of a feather flock together.
My mother always told me, you are judged by the company you keep. People with the same interest tend to hang out together.
I have many friends in The Institute for Supply Management. We may have different jobs at work and work in different types of businesses, be in different levels on the organizational chart, but our professional organization draws us together. Over 300 of us will be going to Galveston, Texas next week for the ISM Southwest Supply Management Conference.
Remember in high school, we had the jocks, we had the nerds, we have the weirdoes, and the rest of us really were not categorized. Go to a high school reunion and you will be surprised by the change and success of some of your classmates.
At work, you have groups. You have the ones that meet after work at the bar, you have the ones that live in the same area, and their kids are on the same sports teams. But people associate you with the group you “run with”.
My father lives in a retirement community. I was reading an article in the Erickson Tribune on a resident, Joe Gargan. Joe is retired from the position of vice-president of sales for cosmetics giant Elizabeth Arden. He states he gets no more samples.
The secret to his success, he says, was finding the right people to work with. “I’ve had good luck because of my ability to surround myself with good people,” he says.
It is good to think about the crowd you associate with. Do people look at you as a partier, a good time person, or one that is really interested in learning and advancing in your profession?
I can’t remember who coined the phrase “Dress for Success”, dress like what you want to be. People will look at you as a professional. Dress codes are different now in the work environment, but you don’t want me to get off on that. Many major companies in our area have no dress code. The companies feel employees perform better if they feel comfortable in their dress. I still like to see the suit, white shirt and tie, however I think it is a thing of the pass and soon to be forgotten.
Posted by Mary Walker on October 23, 2007 | Comments (0)