UnLeadership

61UnLeadership Is Flexible

AFTER COLLEGE, SCOTT WORKED AS a national sales training manager for a packaging company, flying around North America teaching people how to sell bubble wrap. (Read that again. He literally sold air.) It was a sweet gig: two-day training, and 16 hours of talking about bubbles and popping packaging. His job was on the road, visiting customers and teaching them how to sell all their products better. It was actually great branding because they were helping customers have more business overall. Outside of trainings, he didn't do a heck of a lot. He went into the office and looked busy. He'd set the record for the quickest Costanza lap around the office with a clipboard, with his hair all disheveled. The company had several locations, so he figured no one really knew where he was.

When his son was about to be born, Scott was getting ready to take parental leave, something we have here in Canada. Getting ready for the time away made him really think about what he was doing at work. His job wasn't in the office. He realized he could keep working, travel on the weekend to save the company money, and do the rest of his work from home. He wasn't staying in expensive hotels, and his food expenses were pretty much Popeyes and Waffle House. After parental leave, there was actually no reason for him to return to the office regularly at all. He decided to pitch it, put all the information together, and met with the company president.

“Come on in, Chris.”

Well, not ...