Steve Czaban (channel 142 on your XM dial from 6am-9am Eastern)....does a great bit once in a while called "I'm so done with....". Well here's my offering:
I'm so done with the newest entry into the cliche hall of fame: "At the end of the day". For example:
Random Jock: "At the end of the day, we just has to goes out there an win"
Random CEO: "_(fill in company name here)________'s success is dictated by numbers. At the end of the day, if we sold our quotas then we will be a success"
Any politician: "It's about caucusing for me - and I ask each and every one of you to caucus for me, and at the end of the day we'll see who wins, and with your support it will be us together......
Joe Blow: "Yeah, I f*cked up and lost my job, my Camaro was re-po'ed even though it's an '84, but I was able to get re-hired after they found out it was Bubba who shut off the fryer. At the end of the day, It's all good (double heinous cliche there), now let's put on some Kid Rock and get high.
Jesus H Christ I think I heard it at least 20 times yesterday, even some dillweed at the airport on his stupid bluetooth was spewing it - while talking about how he brought his A-Game to a sales meeting. That had me snickering, especially since he was about 15 years my junior.
I first heard the cliche when it wasn't a cliche. Jaymes Humel was my boss here.
This guy was a classic, hard driving sales guy. Stood 6', drank Rogaine and Espresso from 5am - 10am easy, with a 'heater' in the afternoon just to stay awake. The f*cker commuted from Anthem to Clarkdale, AZ in a lowered, that's right, a lowered white Miata with custom rims and ultra low profile tires. He unfolded his body from that car, grabbed his TUMI briefcase, and strutted into the office with more confidence than George Bush at a Republican fundraiser. Gold chains, marginal hairline, small gut, but you could tell he was THE SHIT from his little hometown outside of Cleveland. I can't even imagine how much he was dying to return for his high school reunion - he was that confident. Jim could sell a bible to a Buddhist, or a vibrator to Mother Teresa. We sat down on my first day to talk, and I was brimming with confidence about selling these polyolefin-compatible graphics, and how excited I was to be working a straight 9-5 job. He says to me, he says "Chris, I'm gonna cut to the bottom line here 'cause I don't waste words on staff. You get on that phone, and sell these graphics because nobody else has what we have - period. Most people will tell you to f*ck off, but you'll make a few sales too. At the end of the day, it's about your successes, and the failures - f*ck em. Who cares.
Back then, it wasn't cliche - it was a way to truly measure my success. Now? Well now, Lord willing, I'll just give 110% and take it one day at a time. At the end of the day I hope to have won your vote, and life is what it is, but I hope to at least get my piece of the pie.
___________________________
Hours on the bike the last 14 days - squat
Hours spent working out in some capacity - maybe 3?
weight gained in 14 days - could be 2-3 pounds
Sweet - looks like I'm on a great training plan for a 24 hour team bike race in less than 30 days.
OHMIGOD you need to write a motivational book because, buddy, you'd sell big time. You could have all kinds of matching motivational posters, hanging in offices nationwide. At the end of the day that would be all that matters. It's all good.
ReplyDeleteLove the rant. It made me feel better... two days in row. this is wierd.
ReplyDeleteIn the grand scheme of things, all you need to do is pound the pavement and drum up sales. You'll win some, you'll lose some, but remember to roll with the punches and don't let it get you down. In the battle of rock versus stream, the stream always wins; not through strength, but through perseverance. If need be, we'll revamp our approach, think out of the box where we need to and cause a paradigm shift that will force others to follow if they hope to have a chance to compete against our value added product. No one provides what we provide. We're ahead of the curve here and others will be scrambling to catch up. And it's this that will rocket us to the top.
ReplyDeleteWord.
ReplyDeleteS. Troy - that was absolutely the finest piece of corporate motivation I have ever read. That has GOT to be in a movie scene!
ReplyDeleteThe creative juices were flowing. Or, maybe I was suddenly able to recall all the crap from seminars, budget planning, goal planning and vision statement writing meetings that somehow made it into my head through osmosis and stuck in that ever-growing fountain of useless knowledge for recall at a later date.
ReplyDeleteSteve- refering to yourself as a "fountain of useless knowledge" is the understatement of the decade.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute..... are you saying there may be usable knowledge there or are you saying there's far more useless knowledge there than I'm leading others to believe?
ReplyDeleteThe later.
ReplyDeleteI was afraid of that. Maybe, one day one of the tidbits I tend to gather will be useful.
ReplyDelete