Why Do Wholesalers (And Their Leaders) Stay In Jobs They Dislike?

Big question.

And recently one that has come up more than once with my coaching clients.

As a former disgruntled employee – turned satisfied entrepreneur – I have a strong point of reference.

Clearly the economy of our wholesaling community since 2008 has been all the motivation many would need to stay in place, endure the unhappiness, and keep the dollars coming in.

But most of us we get wonderlust from time to time – it’s human nature.

So we start to convince ourselves that the grass is greener.

Even though it might be crab grass.

As I made my way through my Google Reader recently I came across the image at the top of this post.

It came from It Starts With and contained the following thought provoking questions:

Am I my best self in this relationship?
Do I believe in the product, organization, or service?
How does this job make me feel? Good, Accomplished, Satisfied?
Am I challenged to be my best?
Am I growing and learning?
Am I meeting or surrounding myself with good people doing interesting things?
Are people in this organization open to new ideas and receptive to each other?
Is this the best use of my skills and talents? Aka – Am I indispensible?
Are there people I can learn from and look up to? Do I have good mentors or advisers?
Do I want to become my boss?

These are great questions to check-in with yourself about from time to time.

In addition, wholesalers are not the only ones staying in place while evaluating/contemplating change.

Our most senior leaders of distribution also wrestle with the ‘should I stay or should I go’ question.

In fact, Kathy Freeman Company recently released their annual whitepaper which contained the survey findings about this very topic:

Our coaching covers a wide range of wholesaler, divisional manager and national sales managers issues. If you’ve been contemplating working with a professional coach contact us and let’s have a discussion.