livestrong blog LIVESTRONG and the RIDE ACROSS IOWA 2008-08-01T00:03:15-04:00 http://livestrong.myblogsite.com/index.html admin@fortunecity.com tag:blog,2008:livestrongblog Pivot Copyright (c) 2008, Authors of livestrong blog The Lack of Blogs 2008-07-31T23:48:00-04:00 2008-07-31T23:48:00-04:00 tag:blog,2008:livestrongblog.3 Lets just suffice it to say, I work (ed) for a company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  The initials of the company are T.S. and over the course of my nearly one year with the organization, as a business development manager, I have had FOUR sales managers.  Again, I state:  I have only been with the company for 11 months and in that time, I have had FOUR sales managers.  This does NOT bode well for ANY organization, let alone one that has delivery and support issues. So anyway, in the interests of complete disclosure, I have not had the best numbers in the organization...however, I also did not have the worst.  In fact, this month, the first month of the Third Quarter, I had two deals lined up that would net over HALF of my quota for the entire quarter.  One deal in particular was rumored to be the single largest Multi-Factor Authentication deal the company had ever sold.  This deal had taken me over 6 months to put together and at the last minute, the parent organization, a multi-Billion dollar insurance firm had gotten involved AND was interested in our solution.  So I was on Cloud Nine.  Everything was right with the world and I was heading to Iowa to ride with the greatest cyclist in the world AND to contribute in the fight against cancer. So on Friday, just before I leave with my Brother for Iowa, I get a call from my Sales Manager, L.H. down in Dallas.  She lays on some heavy guilt that she can't believe I am going to be actually gone "for a whole week."  I reiterated to her that the one deal that was closest to close was now in legal/contract negotiations and that I was out of that loop.  I also reminded her that I had already had my home office phone forwarded to my cell which would be with me the entire journey, so if anything came up, I was reachable.  She backed off a bit, making some stupid statement like "Sean, I need to know that you are committed to this."  I said "Yes, I Am." and that was it. So, the ride starts on Sunday and I get in a good 52 plus miles.  Monday was a grueling day, 82 miles of Iowa hills.  A LONG day in the saddle.  At some point, late in the day, she called me and I missed the call.  I DID get her voicemail, around 8pm (CT) that night.  So I decided to call her in the morning, which I did and got her voicemail.  I left her a message and asked her to call me when she got the message.  I saddled up and joined the rest of my team for the kick-off of Tuesday's ride (Day Three).  About 30 minutes into the ride, my phone rings and I tell my teammates that I will catch up with them.  I answer the call and she doesn’t waste any time but cuts right to the chase:  "We are going to have to let you go." I was numb.  I was on vacation.  A vacation I was using to improve OTHERS lives and they can’t wait to fire me until after I get home from the trip.  I expressed my consternation with the way it was handled and she said she "...needed someone to work that territory." The twist: At the end of June, despite not having had the best quarter of all my peers, my CEO, P.S. and I had a phone conversation which L.H. was on as well.  In that conversation Pete, erm, P.S. said "You didn’t have the best quarter, but I still believe in you and I am going to continue to invest in you.  You have this quarter to hit your number and then we will re-evaluate."  Less than 3 weeks later I was being fired.  So I have little doubt that P.S. (the CEO) was as involved in the decision as was Laurie...erm...L.H. The bottom line:  The CEO's word is entirely worthless.  His thrashing around over the last year, replacing sales managers, hiring and then firing staff without them having a legitimate opportunity to actually achieve their goals...ALL his erratic behavior is just indicative of a person in command who has zero idea what he should be doing. Sad really.  The company and its solutions are pretty decent.  But I am confident that he will drive even that into the ground. Sorry for the lack of blog postings, but what are you going to do.  Being fired on vacation definitely takes some of the wind out of your sails.  Or is that 'sales'?  LIVESTRONG!  But I guess dont "WORKSTRONG" Sean Lets just suffice it to say, I work (ed) for a company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The initials of the company are T.S. and over the course of my nearly one year with the organization, as a business development manager, I have had FOUR sales managers. Again, I state: I have only been with the company for 11 months and in that time, I have had FOUR sales managers. This does NOT bode well for ANY organization, let alone one that has delivery and support issues.

So anyway, in the interests of complete disclosure, I have not had the best numbers in the organization...however, I also did not have the worst. In fact, this month, the first month of the Third Quarter, I had two deals lined up that would net over HALF of my quota for the entire quarter. One deal in particular was rumored to be the single largest Multi-Factor Authentication deal the company had ever sold. This deal had taken me over 6 months to put together and at the last minute, the parent organization, a multi-Billion dollar insurance firm had gotten involved AND was interested in our solution. So I was on Cloud Nine. Everything was right with the world and I was heading to Iowa to ride with the greatest cyclist in the world AND to contribute in the fight against cancer.

So on Friday, just before I leave with my Brother for Iowa, I get a call from my Sales Manager, L.H. down in Dallas. She lays on some heavy guilt that she can't believe I am going to be actually gone "for a whole week." I reiterated to her that the one deal that was closest to close was now in legal/contract negotiations and that I was out of that loop. I also reminded her that I had already had my home office phone forwarded to my cell which would be with me the entire journey, so if anything came up, I was reachable. She backed off a bit, making some stupid statement like "Sean, I need to know that you are committed to this." I said "Yes, I Am." and that was it.

So, the ride starts on Sunday and I get in a good 52 plus miles. Monday was a grueling day, 82 miles of Iowa hills. A LONG day in the saddle. At some point, late in the day, she called me and I missed the call. I DID get her voicemail, around 8pm (CT) that night. So I decided to call her in the morning, which I did and got her voicemail. I left her a message and asked her to call me when she got the message. I saddled up and joined the rest of my team for the kick-off of Tuesday's ride (Day Three).

About 30 minutes into the ride, my phone rings and I tell my teammates that I will catch up with them. I answer the call and she doesn’t waste any time but cuts right to the chase: "We are going to have to let you go."

I was numb. I was on vacation. A vacation I was using to improve OTHERS lives and they can’t wait to fire me until after I get home from the trip. I expressed my consternation with the way it was handled and she said she "...needed someone to work that territory."

The twist:

At the end of June, despite not having had the best quarter of all my peers, my CEO, P.S. and I had a phone conversation which L.H. was on as well. In that conversation Pete, erm, P.S. said "You didn’t have the best quarter, but I still believe in you and I am going to continue to invest in you. You have this quarter to hit your number and then we will re-evaluate." Less than 3 weeks later I was being fired. So I have little doubt that P.S. (the CEO) was as involved in the decision as was Laurie...erm...L.H.

The bottom line: The CEO's word is entirely worthless. His thrashing around over the last year, replacing sales managers, hiring and then firing staff without them having a legitimate opportunity to actually achieve their goals...ALL his erratic behavior is just indicative of a person in command who has zero idea what he should be doing.

Sad really. The company and its solutions are pretty decent. But I am confident that he will drive even that into the ground.

Sorry for the lack of blog postings, but what are you going to do. Being fired on vacation definitely takes some of the wind out of your sails. Or is that 'sales'?

LIVESTRONG! But I guess dont "WORKSTRONG"

Sean

]]> Mea Culpa 2008-07-23T10:49:00-04:00 2008-07-23T10:49:00-04:00 tag:blog,2008:livestrongblog.2 First of all:  one thousand Mea Culpas (that's Latin for "My Bad") for not having posted a decent blog entry since last week.  As you know, if you are visiting this blog, I am in Iowa, riding across the entire state to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation as a member of Team Livestrong.  So far it has been an outstanding ride!  Well, with a couple brief exceptions which I will get into once I post my daily update...a couple of days late, but as they say in corn farming:  'better late then never!'  (I have no real knowledge that the saying I just typed has anything to do with corn farming, so, apologies to the entire vegetable industry) So I am presently sat in a trailer, compliments of Iowa Telecom, one of the major sponsors of RAGBRAI.  They have trailers placed throughout the route and provide internet access for those of us that are so technologically fixated that the idea of riding a bike 77 miles (our distance for todays route) without internet access is just unthinkable. The town's name is NevAda, Iowa.  Notice:  I capitalized the first A because, that is how they pronounce it.  As I ride into town, a large man in a stovepipe hat, black formal coat and bow tie greeted me:  yep.  Abe Lincoln.  Now, many of you may say Abe Lincoln?!  He's from Illinois!  But the Lincoln Road runs from Philadelphia literally right through this town.  So they've got an Abe Lincoln here.  Lovely. So for the serious stuff, I've seen some pretty significant crop damage since leaving Missouri Valley on Sunday Morning.  There is STILL standing water in many of the fields we are passing by.  Stunted corn (in the over watered areas only) but all in all, the corn crop looks STRONG!  Lush would almost be a word I would use to describe the brilliance of the green leaves and the soy beans look strong as well.  Now, there are a couple of things:  1) I am no biologist or botanist and 2) I have only seen a sliver of the damaged areas.  We knife through those damaged areas on our bikes, usually at a rate of about 16.5 miles per hour, but trust me:  at that speed, the scenery is just so much more intimate and real.  The GREATER damage I have been seeing was the day before yesterday.  Iowa has been having some SIGNIFICANT summer storms and with those storms comes what they call 'Straight Line' winds.  These winds can range up to 90 mph...and it will literally 'lay the corn down.'  It looks like dominos after they have been meticulously set up by someone and then knocked down.  Strips through acres upon acres of corn, laying on its side.  See, the heavy rains result in the corn not establishing a deep root base.  If the water is plentiful, the roots dont have to dig deep to find moisture.  So they develop short root systems and if, well, more likely WHEN a big winds comes along, voilas:  laying down corn.  Scary. The people:  I will be posting a blog later today called Serendipity, but I want to introduce you to another LiveSTRONG rider.  His name is Kelm.  Kelm is currently battling cancer as we speak.  He is ALSO riding a bicycle across Iowa.  One of the kindest, gentlest guys on our team, he has become an almost unofficial mascot of the team.  I will be giving you more details about him, but honestly, every day, I hit this wall...sometimes multiple times.  It's the wall of 'what the heck am I doing here in the middle of Iowa on a bicycle, surrounded by cornfields' wall.  And the image that keeps me going, is not just my Sister anymore, it is also Kelm and the 7 year old boy that had one wish last year while he was battling cancer:  to ride with Lance Armstrong.  He did.  And you know, there are some pretty tough guys on this team...but that day, as we built a protective peloton around him and Lance, not ONE of us had dry eyes.  I blamed it on the sweat from my brows, but we ALL knew better. It's moments like that where I think:  why isnt EVERYone out here with us?  We ALL should have experiences like this, riding with that boy and riding with Kelm.  If we did, maybe cancer wouldnt be laying so many of us down. Keep the rubber on the ground and remember to LIVESTRONG! -Sean Brown, from NevAda, Iowa First of all: one thousand Mea Culpas (that's Latin for "My Bad") for not having posted a decent blog entry since last week. As you know, if you are visiting this blog, I am in Iowa, riding across the entire state to raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation as a member of Team Livestrong. So far it has been an outstanding ride! Well, with a couple brief exceptions which I will get into once I post my daily update...a couple of days late, but as they say in corn farming: 'better late then never!' (I have no real knowledge that the saying I just typed has anything to do with corn farming, so, apologies to the entire vegetable industry)

So I am presently sat in a trailer, compliments of Iowa Telecom, one of the major sponsors of RAGBRAI. They have trailers placed throughout the route and provide internet access for those of us that are so technologically fixated that the idea of riding a bike 77 miles (our distance for todays route) without internet access is just unthinkable.

The town's name is NevAda, Iowa. Notice: I capitalized the first A because, that is how they pronounce it. As I ride into town, a large man in a stovepipe hat, black formal coat and bow tie greeted me: yep. Abe Lincoln. Now, many of you may say Abe Lincoln?! He's from Illinois! But the Lincoln Road runs from Philadelphia literally right through this town. So they've got an Abe Lincoln here. Lovely.

So for the serious stuff, I've seen some pretty significant crop damage since leaving Missouri Valley on Sunday Morning. There is STILL standing water in many of the fields we are passing by. Stunted corn (in the over watered areas only) but all in all, the corn crop looks STRONG! Lush would almost be a word I would use to describe the brilliance of the green leaves and the soy beans look strong as well. Now, there are a couple of things: 1) I am no biologist or botanist and 2) I have only seen a sliver of the damaged areas. We knife through those damaged areas on our bikes, usually at a rate of about 16.5 miles per hour, but trust me: at that speed, the scenery is just so much more intimate and real.

The GREATER damage I have been seeing was the day before yesterday. Iowa has been having some SIGNIFICANT summer storms and with those storms comes what they call 'Straight Line' winds. These winds can range up to 90 mph...and it will literally 'lay the corn down.' It looks like dominos after they have been meticulously set up by someone and then knocked down. Strips through acres upon acres of corn, laying on its side. See, the heavy rains result in the corn not establishing a deep root base. If the water is plentiful, the roots dont have to dig deep to find moisture. So they develop short root systems and if, well, more likely WHEN a big winds comes along, voilas: laying down corn. Scary.

The people: I will be posting a blog later today called Serendipity, but I want to introduce you to another LiveSTRONG rider. His name is Kelm. Kelm is currently battling cancer as we speak. He is ALSO riding a bicycle across Iowa. One of the kindest, gentlest guys on our team, he has become an almost unofficial mascot of the team. I will be giving you more details about him, but honestly, every day, I hit this wall...sometimes multiple times. It's the wall of 'what the heck am I doing here in the middle of Iowa on a bicycle, surrounded by cornfields' wall. And the image that keeps me going, is not just my Sister anymore, it is also Kelm and the 7 year old boy that had one wish last year while he was battling cancer: to ride with Lance Armstrong. He did. And you know, there are some pretty tough guys on this team...but that day, as we built a protective peloton around him and Lance, not ONE of us had dry eyes. I blamed it on the sweat from my brows, but we ALL knew better.

It's moments like that where I think: why isnt EVERYone out here with us? We ALL should have experiences like this, riding with that boy and riding with Kelm. If we did, maybe cancer wouldnt be laying so many of us down.

Keep the rubber on the ground and remember to LIVESTRONG!

-Sean Brown, from NevAda, Iowa

]]> Preparing For the Ride 2008-07-14T14:27:00-04:00 2008-07-14T14:27:00-04:00 tag:blog,2008:livestrongblog.1 You know, in last weeks article on the upcoming ride across Iowa that my Brother and I are preparing for, the article ended with the following quote in reference to the fact that a great many counties across which we will be riding will be recovering from the recent flooding all across Iowa, my Brother made the following statement:  "They (the people of Iowa) need something like this to bring them out of the funk that they're in." [For the entire article, click http://http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.bike09jul09,0,545294.story?page=1] It's a great statement.  The devastation across a great deal of the state of Iowa is horrific.  However, the irony here is that last year, as my Brother and I prepared to ride across the state for the first time, WE needed an event like RAGBRAI to bring US out of the funk that WE were in.  After losing Lisa Kae Brown, our lovely, brilliant and beautiful Sister, both Jeff and I had both slid into this funk or depression.  I didnt want to do much else beyond work and come home.  I didnt go out.  I didnt exercise.  I wanted to just stare at a television screen and not think about anything.  Selfish, I know.  Sure there were times I allowed myself to emerge from the seclusion in order to spend time with family at birthday parties or to hear my Niece Caitlin's band do a gig somewhere in Maryland.  But ultimately, my favorite past time was to sulk. RAGBRAI gave me the chance to emerge from that funk and depression and gave me a focus I needed desperately.  It got me back on my bike, pedaling away.  Letting the emotional pain evaporate with my sweat and muscle aches.  It was tremendously cathartic!  So this year, we are not only riding for the three members of my family that have battled cancer over the past three years...we are riding also for those in Iowa who are dealing with their own funk. If you are interested in supporting me on this ride, here is a link to my Lance Armstrong Foundation Fund Raising Page: Sean:  http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2008/ragbrai2008sbrown Remember to always LIVESTRONG! Sean Brown You know, in last weeks article on the upcoming ride across Iowa that my Brother and I are preparing for, the article ended with the following quote in reference to the fact that a great many counties across which we will be riding will be recovering from the recent flooding all across Iowa, my Brother made the following statement: "They (the people of Iowa) need something like this to bring them out of the funk that they're in."

[For the entire article, click http://http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.bike09jul09,0,545294.story?page=1]

It's a great statement. The devastation across a great deal of the state of Iowa is horrific. However, the irony here is that last year, as my Brother and I prepared to ride across the state for the first time, WE needed an event like RAGBRAI to bring US out of the funk that WE were in. After losing Lisa Kae Brown, our lovely, brilliant and beautiful Sister, both Jeff and I had both slid into this funk or depression. I didnt want to do much else beyond work and come home. I didnt go out. I didnt exercise. I wanted to just stare at a television screen and not think about anything. Selfish, I know. Sure there were times I allowed myself to emerge from the seclusion in order to spend time with family at birthday parties or to hear my Niece Caitlin's band do a gig somewhere in Maryland. But ultimately, my favorite past time was to sulk.

RAGBRAI gave me the chance to emerge from that funk and depression and gave me a focus I needed desperately. It got me back on my bike, pedaling away. Letting the emotional pain evaporate with my sweat and muscle aches. It was tremendously cathartic! So this year, we are not only riding for the three members of my family that have battled cancer over the past three years...we are riding also for those in Iowa who are dealing with their own funk.

If you are interested in supporting me on this ride, here is a link to my Lance Armstrong Foundation Fund Raising Page:

Sean: http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2008/ragbrai2008sbrown

Remember to always LIVESTRONG!

Sean Brown

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