Ever eat a chocolate covered Jalapeno?

That is how my week has been... the last few weeks.

Work in Las Vegas was quite great. Good meetings.. productive.. feeling like I was moving the ball forward. Ideas around sales training, and demo equipment for partners were all well received. So, here we go.. great and nice to see other IBM folks face to face that you work with every day.

Then.. the week back is a week of great news. IBM earning are up, while pressure on sales and management is up as well. I am not sure if this is a matter of trying to keep the success going, or it is a matter of leveraging hard economic times to make changes at the employment level. IBM is a great company, but there are occasions in the new world where I feel there is added pressure put on employees and this week that extra weight has fallen on my shoulders.

So the earnings are like sweet chocolate, but the work and climate are more like a hot pepper. I love my job, and I love my ability to get things done. Partly, because I have worked 20 years to build a good reputation. Partly, because I use that reputation and success to fly under the radar screen and get some real work done.. not that others do not but I have I believe a unique ability to build teams to work with me toward results. Part of this skill relies a little bit on not having to have management on calls or in the middle of notes. Instead allowing people and team members to see the results and be able to communicate to their management what is being accomplished. Amazing what things can happen.. I constantly in the last few years hear phrases like " we were told that can't be done " or thank you Brian "this is a best practice we will take elsewhere" or calls form other teams basically asking how did I get things done that were supposed to not be done. The answer is both a tribute to IBM employees. They really want to do the right thing and get real work done. IBM folks don't usually have a "No" attitude. There is an eagerness to get the work done even if they don't feel it is their job at the moment.

This week.. there is pressure to change that approach. Instead of just communicating to my management team and have them share our success, now I am to copy a team of managers which will dilute some of my ability to get work out of people and real results. My boss feels the pressure, and I am not totally sure what that is, but as always pressure rolls down hill and I am down hill here. So.. not only was it a long week of catching up on all the good work in Vegas, but it is also a matter of added pressure.. all of this is the hot pepper among the sweet chocolate of great earnings for IBM.

Which IBM am I working for this week coming up?

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