The Gift of a Terrible Boss

Have you ever worked on a dysfunctional corporate team that seemed to be imploding before your eyes? I have, and let me tell you—it was a wild ride.

In just 18 months, I saw a revolving door of managers, with five new line managers coming and going. The environment was toxic, rife with lying, backstabbing, gossip, and a complete lack of functional training.

As a new sales rep, I was thrown into the deep end with no training beyond being handed a stack of pamphlets and some general branded swag. One manager, at the time, said, "Go get 'em, Cowboy. I can’t teach you to sell—you either got it or you don’t." I had no onboarding and was calling on accounts that would laugh in my face because our brand had a poor reputation at the time.

After nearly 11 months of hard work, I finally secured a great relationship with a major decision-maker and hit my quota. But then, a new interim sales manager came in and pulled me from the account, replacing me with the team’s “shark.” The shark was not only a gossip and the team bully but also lacked the basic self-awareness to avoid talking trash about me on email chains and group texts that I was tagged in.

The account manager was flabbergasted and furious, saying in the transition meeting, "If you think you'll get more business, you're wrong. We love Adam. He’s a straight shooter, honest, and doesn’t jerk us around."

I was relegated to a small account far off in the sprawl of St. Louis adding nearly an hour of traffic to each side of my daily commute. I had a 4-year-old, a new baby, and an exhausted wife. There were days when my blood pressure was so high I thought I might have a heart attack.

I demonstrated the hallmarks of workaholism by going to work on Sundays to get organized and prepare for what I called the “Monday morning panic attack," an intense feeling of dread that worsened as the weekend came to an end.

There was no recourse until one morning in the fall of 2019 when I finally put my foot down. I woke up to a badgering text from the shark who had the obnoxious habit of talking to their former contacts at my accounts and meddling in my sales process. I’d had enough and on my way to work, I called the boss of the month who was a decent guy but had inherited a mess and like myself was reliant on the lucrative base pay. I flew off the handle and defended myself in a tirade. I stated that I was a grown man with bills, children, and responsibilities. I demanded he address the backstabbing and infighting.

I got a half-hearted apology via text from the two main culprits, and a few weeks later, I walked into the office and gave notice with no backup plan because I was done. I figured I’d take a break and regroup. My beautiful wife was frightened but I rationalized that I could tap my retirement accounts if I had to.

The next day, I returned to the corporate office to turn in my laptop, and the regional sales manager quipped, "I guess you're just not cut out for sales."

A few weeks later, I drove to Chicago for a 30-hour marathon Coach Training weekend with the iPEC organization. I started an LLC over the holidays in 2019, began live-streaming my thoughts on Facebook, built two websites, and spent hours teaching myself digital marketing. I created a lead magnet and mailing list, wrote a workbook, and gave a workshop at a local therapy office. I read books on value propositions and listened to every business podcast I could find. I learned about taxes, write-offs, and bookkeeping. I networked my tail off.

I worked with a sales coach who taught me the art of qualifying leads and picking a business niche. As for being a guy who "isn't cut out for sales," I rarely get objections now. I don’t cold call, use high-pressure, twist arms, or do any sales tricks. I built a simple click funnel with the price on the page, and people are delighted to pay my fee.

As Pastor-turned-sales-guru Myron Golden would say,

"I don't go looking for customers. I'm a master at what I do and I just make sure people know where to find me when they want my services."

Today, I am firmly committed to never working in a toxic environment again. I work in my zone of genius. That genius is simply being fascinated by the resilience in humans and encouraging them. The validation I get from being who I truly am can not be overstated. Exiting a dysfunctional team and the lessons learned have been a gift worth more than gold, diamonds, or rubies.

You can read my entire story in this free eBook: “Who are You? How to unlock the power of your core values.” Download it here!

If you're looking to rework your career, exit a toxic team, and regain your sanity, then book a call with me.

I've been where you are—scared, humiliated, and burnt out. I promise you’ll be okay.

I can help you.