Balancing Responsibility as an Executive Leader and Individual Contributor: Eric Mueller’s Perspective
I’ve been the VP of Sales at Telcion since the end of 2019. Telcion is a growing Cisco partner/integrator in the Central Valley of California with a presence across the United States. In 2018, Telcion acquired Peak IP Solutions, LLC, another Cisco partner within the San Francisco Bay Area market. I became an individual contributor on the sales team, along with my peers and the existing VP of Sales & Marketing from Peak IP. My background was primarily in operations, then account management, so I was able to easily transition into sales at Peak IP, then make that streamlined move into a sales role at Telcion.
The first year was great, as I had to prove my ability to operate in my role as the new guy on the block. It was fun, challenging, and really helped me grow my ability to drive the integration initiatives with the acquisition as well as grow revenue. I ended the integration and dove headlong into helping our clients, which was an exciting transition.
Telcion was already growing, and our CEO, Lance Reid, was managing some of our key accounts when the existing VP of Sales left the company. Lance ended up stepping into the role as the interim sales leader. He was still trying to see if I was going to be the guy to not only help drive added business, but also if I was going to be able to take on an executive leadership role.
The opportunity came in the beginning of 2019, when Lance asked me to take over all the accounts he was managing and help him return to the most important job of leading our company as the CEO. I willingly obliged. It’s not often you get walked into business to grow and help the company get to the next level. 2019 was a record-breaking revenue year!
I was honored when Lance asked me to take on the role as VP of Sales. I planned to do both the sales leadership role along with maintaining the great client relationships I had established. I recognized that it was going to be a heavy lift, but I felt like I was capable of maintaining the balance between being an executive leader and an individual contributor. This role has been exciting, tough, and of course a great challenge for me to maintain the activity level to accomplish the company goals, while producing a third of the company revenue.
There are a few factors that I leverage to achieve balancing these responsibilities. These factors include:
Delegating the minutia
There has been plenty of delegation to assure that I focus on the highest and best use of my time. I try to stick to the areas that give me my best ROI for the time that I spend in each activity. My main focus is growing the business and taking great care of my clients, so I delegate lower priority activities that don’t directly contribute to those goals.
Energy over balance
When I came into the VP of Sales role, I found that I was already able to easily balance things in life. I had been working 40-to-50-hour weeks, serving in prisons with a ministry as a pastor, running the ministry as the Vice President, along with living life with my wife Renee. I was good at balance. The energy was what I needed to focus on. As I continue the balance between the different parts of my role, I continually ask myself if I am putting energy towards the things that matter. Maintaining balance is one thing, but having the energy to sustain that balance is another. If I can keep my energy focused in the right areas, then I am better set up for success.
Focusing on the greatest impact
The hardest thing I have found is to figure out where to make the biggest impact and sticking to those areas. In the beginning of my role, I found myself sometimes doing busy work that had low impact. This was something I needed to look at and ask myself: what is my opportunity cost for doing this activity? If the cost for the activity is greater than the return I would gain elsewhere, that activity needs to be delegated out.
Taking time for self
Burnout is real. If you run at a high pace, you know exactly what I am talking about. Over the years I have been able to take time off to adequately rest and recoup. I even did a 500-mile trip on Jet-Skis from Ketchikan Alaska to Juneau. Downtime is key to being able to keep my energy levels at top performance in my role.
Overall, the experience at Telcion as VP Of Sales and part of the leadership team, as well as being a part of the sales team has been amazing. Of course, as with all of us in sales, we press the reset button annually to fly to new heights and try to achieve the impossible. So, with commitments in place, we will press on as a sales organization with a passion to serve our clients’ needs and create an amazing life in the world of sales.
Eric Mueller serves as VP of Sales at Telcion Communications Group. Eric has worked in the technology industry for over 15 years, in positions ranging from operational, account management, and sales. He leads the sales team and is responsible for sales operations and client experience. He is passionate about providing best in class service to our clients.