Through my career in the office products industry, I progressed through different levels of management - from Field Service Supervisor up to VP of Service.

From 1992 to 1997, I was in charge of the Service Department in our Nashville branch. It was during a time when the Service Manager was responsible for, not only the P&L and HR functions of a six million dollar a year department, but also Shipping & Receiving, Supplies, Service Admin & Billing and Setup & Delivery.

During those years, I was fortunate enough to have been mentored by a person named Tim Glaze. Tim not only taught me the mechanics and mathematics behind the business but also showed me the importance of focusing on extreme customer care. From '92 to '95, we doubled the size of our business by doing just that.

My direct reports where the Supervisors over specific tasks:

• Field Service Supervisors (5)
• Service Admin Supervisor (1)
• Setup & Delivery Supervisor (1)

At one time it was over 60 people in all.

In late 1997, that number was down to about 40 and with corporate downsizing and restructuring it was still on the decline. All administrative and logistic functions had been consolidated out of state and job descriptions (and comp plans) were being drastically rewritten.

It was during that time that I made the move to the Network Support side of the house in an effort to maintain a viable future with the company.