The journey started two months ago when the "Head Cheese" of the Business Intel (BI) area at Deluxe Corporation called me saying that she found my name on LinkedIn and would like to have discussion with me. I thought it was odd that the head of a Business Sciences unit of a public company would call me up personally, but was flattered that she did and thought this would be a good opportunity to learn about Deluxe and increase my networking contacts. So I decided to have tea with her at Starbucks to do so. We had a intriguing conversation as she told me about the changes going on at Deluxe, transforming from a check printer to financial and small business services model. She also told me about how well the company was doing in the growth phase of their business. I thanked her for the conversation and to keep in touch.
About a week later I got a call from the "First Lieutenant" of the BI area at Deluxe asking me about my experiences working at Best Buy and in consulting. I answered his questions as asked. Then he said he would like to see if I would be open to coming in to the Deluxe headquarters and talking to a few of their folks. I said sure, but inquired if there is something specific they want from me. He more or less said "perhaps you."
So I went into the Deluxe office for three hours of discussions or interviews in late February. I felt very comfortable the whole time answering and asking questions about Deluxe, their culture and my experiences. I left thinking that the whole thing was a good experience for me since I gained network contacts of six folks at Deluxe Corporation and apparently left a good impression.
About a week and a half later, Target called me up asking if I would interested in coming in and talking to them about apparently joining their team and the "Target Culture." I said I would be open to a discussion if I considered the opportunity a promotion and would foster my career development. They assured me that is what "Target is all about." So I agreed to come in for a discussion. At this time I started to wonder if I should actually consider moving on from Best Buy after about a year of service there and when things are really starting to look up for the company turnaround. At this time, I started to really seek on the Almighty's guidance specifically for the next decision.
The day after my discussion with Target, Deluxe contacted me to offer a position that would be both a title promotion and a notable compensation upgrade. I thanked them for the offer and said I would think about it over the weekend. I then decided to inform both Target and Best Buy about an offer being on the table. Target called me back asking if I would consider a different position with them. From the conversation that followed, it did not seem like really anything different from what I was doing at Best Buy. I apparently hurt the recruiter's feelings because that discussion did not end well.
I decided to inform Best Buy of the offer since there has been much turnover in my area since I've been there. For example, a strategy team that was created last fall was totally eliminated as well as all the jobs in it, all of them there for a shorter duration than I was. So my Director immediately set up a discussion the following day and I we discussed the offer and the issues I had with my Best Buy job that would be appealing for me to take the offer. After the discussion he called up the Senior Director and Senior VP and got them to provide a strong counteroffer. This made this decision much more difficult.
At this juncture the Almighty's guidance became clearly apparent to me. Throughout these discussion I kept my mother informed. Asking for guidance, she said, pray because God knows what's best. I found that encouraging. Then when I was reflecting on my decision I recall all the prior discussions with my mother after I started working at Best Buy and they always included two specific comments from her. One was my mother telling me that I'm working "Day and Night, Night and Day," and the second one was her asking "When are you coming home?" Pre-Best Buy, I was able to come home every weekend. Now I'm able to go once a month, if that, due to working on Saturdays and nights.
I recalled my discussions with Deluxe regarding work/life balance and they all said it was great, saying they don't recall going home after 5 pm. This surprised me for a company that is growing significantly over the past 5 years. At Best Buy, many folks in my area work till 10 pm if not later. Additionally, during my discussion with Senior Director, she acknowledged that they should have done a better job moving along my development, calling it a "big miss" for them. She also acknowledged that a title promotion like Deluxe was offering was not going to come for awhile despite my 'notable' contributions to Best Buy. These facts were coming together quite quickly.
Also, I've also intrigued by the opportunity to assist small business that Deluxe was offering, especially I've been associated with small business my whole life. Also, the opportunity focused more on intermediate to long term projects, not the continuous fire drills (i.e. a task that needs to be done right away with short notice) that I had to complete at Best Buy.
However, the remaining question that I had was if it was worth the career risk to me to leave Best Buy after about one year there. This question gave me some consternation since the rule of thumb is one should stay at a specific job for two years before making a move. Well, as I reflected on this question, I recalled that many of the 400 jobs that were cut at Best Buy recently were there for a shorter time than I have been at Best Buy. In fact, one individual who was in his job for four months and that I have weekly meetings with was among the 400 cut. Then I know that Best Buy was still looking to cut an additional $575 million in costs from the company. From what I know, they were looking for redundancies to consolidate. One area that they have widely made known and I have found in my work is that many analysts in different areas produce similar types of reports, which leadership thinks is an opportunity. Talking to the Senior Director, she could not deny that eliminating redundancy would not create more layoffs. (Coincidentally, I found out that at the end of the week all open positions in my area were cut, including analyst positions).
As I took in all this information towards a final decision, I suddenly recalled the following that made deliberating on this question much clearer:
"He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." Ecclesiastes 11:4
In my myopic opinion, taking risks is part of learning to follow the Almighty's will and keeps us progressing, not stagnating, in taking advantages of the talents He has provided. To me, I took it through my faith and the guidance I have been given that I should make the decision to take the Deluxe offer as a risk worth taking.
So in the end, all I can say is "Yes, mom. I will be coming home more often."
Congrats on the new position! And good luck!
ReplyDeleteNathan Grawe