May 8, 2006

My CEO has a lot going on. He’s getting more funding from our lead investor; he’s changing the Sales Compensation Plan, and changing the organization structure. Since my promotion at the end of March, we’ve been addressing operational and budget issues.

On the funding issue, my CEO’s presenting our additional funding needs, so that’s in play. The comp plan has just gone through Management Team review with a number of key issues that he has to solve.

And the org chart? There’s a change he intends to make in Sales that involves me, but it’s still not final.

Organizational Development, Moving up the Ladder

Have you ever wondered why organizational charts change? Were you ever curious how some people moved up the ladder faster than others? I know I have.

I’m finding the upcoming changes fascinating. I’ve never had access to a CEO making these types of changes before. I’ve never known about upcoming organizational changes before they happen. It’s interesting to see these organizational developments up close and personal.

I feel fortunate that my CEO has identified me as one of his key resources. I appreciate the opportunity to grow into new roles that he keeps giving me.

Sales & Marketing?

I think I’m going to have both of these functions. My CEO asked me again on Friday, if I was okay with being accountable for Sales. I replied with,

“We have two issues as a company. The first one is Sales and hitting our forecast and the second one is revenue recognition. Both make me tense. I’m happy to take on the first issue for you because I know it’s important to us.”

“I’m glad to hear you’re as tense as I am. I just want to make sure that I’m not giving you something that you don’t want to do.” My CEO added.

So that means the Sales Directors would report into me, which they already do in a day-to-day Sales management capacity. I have two more marketing headcount scheduled, with one being set for June in and another in November.

Deep Dive into Sales Management

Because of the organizational changes, I’ve done some research on Sales Management. Last night I researched compensation in Sales plans. Now I can understand why our existing one was problematic.

The comp plan is this week’s top priority. The Controller and I will be running the figures on different commission rates and see what our current budget can handle. We have the old one budgeted for, but we’re trying to solve rate, timing, and caps. Meanwhile, we’re still waiting for the contracts that I hope are delivered on Monday.

Lessons Learned

Becoming a key player for your boss, creates new career opportunities that you never anticipate.

The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company. For previous entries in this series, click here.  For the first diary entry, click here. For the highlighted Smart Lemming Diary entries, click here.

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