Christine Beckwith
My kindergarten report card says, “Christine talks too much”! So, let us start right there. I know, not something of which to be proud. Thankfully, I have turned that into something worthy. My mom would argue she is owed some form of ROI I am certain for all the blabbering she had to listen to for 18 years.
The thing I learned because I talked so much was that many people along the way would tell me that it was great that I was a seasoned story teller and wonderful that I could write well; however, the real merit in a person came from action and doing. There are so many famous quotes and cliches about this; I realize I am not unearthing any big enlightenment here, but I do feel compelled to say that learning early on that words have to lead to action was the game changer for me. I could see when other people ran amuck with their words in life. Broken promises and unexecuted plans were something I saw every day and I would always think about that.
Yes, I may have spoken a gazillion words but there are many words I held in. Words that would have given away my strategies in a sales competition or words that I promised not to repeat when someone was confiding in me. I had a keen understanding of the need to choose when I spoke and let my actions do the talking.
One such case took place for me when I had my first promotion as a young district manager. I had joined the ranks of 13 other men who held the same title and I had been given the last place market district in Boston, made up of 125 loan officers and eight branch managers. I had flown to join them and their Regional Vice Presidents in Palm Springs, CA for a business planning session, and the CEO of our company joined us. At dinner he addressed the #1 district manager and asked if he thought I had a shot in the upcoming impending annual sales contest, a few months away from starting. The answer was a very quick “honestly? NO! Not really!” followed by a lot of laughter. My words wanted me to defend. I knew what I brought to the table and I had big plans on how I was going to turn things around for this district. Somehow I withheld and maybe out of fear or insecurity, but still I managed to answer the next question pointed directly at me “Well do you think that you have a shot at winning?” and I will add this CEO loved to stir the competitive pot, he had hired me and saw something in me as a branch manager, in some way he had some chips on me, and so, of course, I confidently responded “Everyone at this table has a chance if they are in the race”. He smiled. I looked back at the #1 district manager and he managed a smirk and looked away.
