The Dream Maker
I am lucky that I have a job that gives me a chance to affect people's lives. Nothing as noble as a doctor, policeman or teacher but it can be a satisfying way to make a living. Most days that means I get the opportunity to help people take a giant step towards a better life. I don't write this to brag, not at all. Actually it's just the opposite.
I sell equipment to people that allows them to go into business for themselves. They come to me with the hope that purchasing this equipment will improve their life and their families lives. The opportunity they dream of is there but I'm not selling dreams. See, not everyone who qualifies to buy my equipment is qualified to own it. In other words just because you can operate this equipment doesn't mean you know how to operate a business.
I've been doing my job for a long time and I can tell in about 15 minutes when someone isn't going to make it. While I'm not always right, I am right most of the time. That's the problem. Is it my job to talk them out of buying what I'm selling? No. Is it my job to say you need to give this some more thought? No. Is it my job to crush their hopes by just simply turning them down before they make a mistake? No. I'm just selling equipment here, I'm not selling dreams.
The funny thing is they want me to sell them that dream. They beg me to lie to them and tell them how easy and great it will be. I won't. No matter how many times I remind them that there is risk to what they are considering they choose to ignore it. They urge me to sugar coat everything. I don't. Still they plow ahead dodging my warnings like a mad man running threw a minefield. As much as I direct them away from those mines I know they will eventually find one because they have their eyes closed. Closed, thinking about their dreams coming true. I can only sit on the sidelines as they plot their destruction because I don't sell mine detectors and I don't sell dreams.
So what's my responsibility? Do I take their chance of trying away? Of course not, even if I did someone down the street will be more than happy to sell to them. They will go along with the dreamer and sugar coat their situation and what ever else it takes to get the sale. That's what they do. That's what I'm suppose to do. I mean if you buy a knife is anybody there reminding you that knives can kill? They can.
So I sell them the equipment, not the dream, because I don't sell dreams, and I wait... and hope... and pray... that they make it. I hope I'm wrong about the ones who seemed unqualified, yes there are times when I love being wrong. Sadly though, I'm not wrong about these things enough.
When these people finally realize they have made a mistake it is to late. They have elevated their life style to a point they can not maintain. Some lose a spouse, their house, their car but the worse part is that almost all of them lose that dream. A dream I was not selling. The bright enthusiastic faces are replaced with worried, dejected ones. The people that came to me with so many plans are now scrambling to find a plan to save themselves. It's sad, and no amount of "I told you so" will make me feel any less responsible.
But lets not forget the ones who do make it. The ones that allow me to feel good about the money I make. The ones that move out of that bad neighborhood. The ones who can send their kids to college. The ones that come back and thank me for all my help in making their dream come true. Of course I take no credit for that because like I said I don't sell dreams, but I do buy into them...I certainly do.
7 comments:
Nice post :)
You're not selling them a guarantee to happiness - you're giving them a tool to help. Making the dream come true is their job.
You're just doing yours and making some other people's dreams - your family's and yours.
What an interesting job! I bet you must get a lot of satisfaction though? Sounds to me like you are very good at your job, very honest and very sensible!
A few times I wish someone had told me I was flat out mad and not to pursue certain paths. (Did I ever tell you about the restaurant I owned, I ate dinner there once, It cost me 45 thousand dollars.)
Good post RT, real good.
When I think about getting to The Dream I imagine that it's kinda like stepping on the rungs of a ladder, but the ladder is laying on the ground. It doesn't go up and down. It goes the same way as a road you've traveled 50 or a 100 times.
The rungs can represent every step you had to take to manage to get to the shiny end. Getting out of bed in the morning, getting a new job, driving to the bank, sweating over hot coals...
You're a rung in someone's ladder.
Being the first rung, or the fifth, or the second to the end is all the same in a ladder. None are more important then the others, but most importantly you can't climb a ladder well without all the rungs.
So in my thinking RT, you aren't the one responsible for when they choose to stop following the ladder, or when they decide they see the end, but being a rung.. that gives you the right to bear the title Dream Maker.
Jen, the ladder is yours and mine, and you're only as strong as the weakest link in the chain.
I go through life believing that I own the ladder and the air around it and the ground it sits on, making my way along it seems easier that way to me.
20Something: Thanks :) It's just hard to watch people do something you know is a mistake and profit from it.
Lindsay: I do get satisfaction when it works out for the best but I can't help share in these people disappointments when things go bad.
I wouldn't say I was good at my job. The company would say I lack that "killer" instinct to close all the deals possible and I spend to much time with my customers. The best salesmen I ever knew once told me the difference between him and other sales people was that they thanked their customer at the end of a deal, where his customer thanked him. He could sell an ice maker to an Eskimo and was as crooked as a question mark. He's made a lot of money in his life, a lot.
HB: Would you have listened? I tell these people all the time; have a plan, talk to people in the business, make emergency plans but they don't want to hear it. Their heads are in the clouds. Just like yours was I'm sure. What kind of food did you serve?
Jen: Good analogy, I agree I am but a step on their journey to success or failure but you can't help but feel bad when they fall off the rung you're involved in. Then you become the dream breaker :(
The restaurant was your all round sorta deal, way up north, bad news for three years, we try not to talk about it.
You are right though, I wouldn't have listened to anyone anyways.
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