Got to meet Garry Capers yesterday!! It had been some time since I had seen him. We had a chance to work together about ten years back. There are a lot of memories from those days – those weekly flights together to DC and the time in the Delta Skyclub spent together every Thursday in Reagan airport.

Other than catching up on our families and all the recent activities in America, we also reflected on our learnings from corporate life. Most of it was around the difficulties of building cultures in a company and how individual personalities play into it.

One observation we both had was that in every product company we have had a chance to work in or at least become close, there is/was always an internal skepticism towards the sales organization. Right, wrong or indifferent, folks inside the organization always seem to have an opinion (negative) about the sales organization (individuals are sometimes cited as very good, though). Interestingly enough, we both reflected that this was not true in professional services organization.

What has your experience been? Same? Different? If you have had a similar observation, why do you think it is so?

P.S. In case you were wondering how come I had forsaken my shorts when Garry’s clothes clearly indicated to the heat in Atlanta – well, I took my motorbike, so had to wear my protective gear. Fortunately, this coffee shop allowed sitting inside the air conditioned area (of course, with social distancing).