It’s always great when we can persuade a senior executive to drop into one of our courses to add their weight to the discussions. Hearing a Chief Executive or Senior VP discussing the importance of proposals – and offering their personal support for improvement initiatives – does wonders for the confidence of the attendees.Only, it doesn’t always quite work, no matter how carefully the exec’s been briefed. Take the following ‘praise’ offered to a group of proposal managers at a recent event:
“You guys do a fantastic job – I come up late at night and there you are”
When the security guard on the night shift drops by your desk to say goodnight before heading home – when success is measured in terms of hours worked, commitment viewed as a willingness to persevere with too few resources and an unnecessarily inefficient process – then it’s time for change.