Getting Real

Up to this point I travel to a peer group meeting and when asked the tough questions can fall back on "Well I am just a sales guy so I don't deal with that issue". As of August 1st I am now the location manager for the office that I am at, in Ames, Iowa. While this is an exciting move in my career, it does make me a little nervous. I now am more responsible for the day to day operations of the office which has a larger affect on HTS. While I look forward to this new challenge (the CEO of HTS, Arlin Sorensen, a person I respect a lot, calls it my 2.0 phase) I also have started evaluating me. I want to do a great job, like I do in sales, so what will that entail? I read a book a few years back called "Get Real" and I think that is going to be as important to me as my other goal - FOCUS. I was thinking late last night and came up with a list of items that I really need to work on to be a good location manager:
1. Financial Knowledge - after my meeting last week with Mike and Steve, I know this is a big weakness of mine.
2. People Skills - while I am great at building relationships, I am a typical sales person. I want everyone to be my friend. You can't manage or lead this way. Mike gave me some great pointers on the drive to Hays last week and I know I have a long way to work on this. I am glad to know that I can always ask my HTG3 buddies for help and direction on this one.
3. Better Prioritization - again something I am good at, but always with a sales focus. I now need to integrate a staff of 8, a location's profitability, and many other factors.
This is just a beginning list, but I know I will be successful, if I just seek help when I need it.