If the Shoe Fits: Drinking Your Own Kool-Aid
by Miki SaxonA Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here
Founders are known for the passion and drive that turns their vision into reality. While many are known for their technical brilliance or marketing expertise few are known for their management skill.
Many harbor a secret dream of being hailed as the next Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Anna Wintour, Barry Diller or Martha Stewart.
If those names impress you then consider that they all are in Forbes Bully Bosses Hall of Fame (personally, I’d have included Jack Welch).
“At some point, those we consider ‘visionaries’ become puffed-up creations of their own imagination. When business executives stop looking beyond quarterly reports and stockholder dividends, they start ignoring internal stakeholders. We’re seeing that unravel now.” —Gary Namie, management consultant
American tolerance for bullying leaders may be waning.
There has been a real sea change in what’s conceptualized as good leadership. Americans have become disenchanted with power. Almost daily, they watch as leaders–in government, in business–fail to exercise appropriate restraint.” –Roderick Kramer, Stanford Business School professor.
In four decades I never spoke with anyone who liked being bullied and have watched tolerance for it slowly seep away.
These days people vote with their feet; the question is not ‘should I leave’, but ‘how soon can I leave’.
The focus is how quickly someone can find a position that combines personal satisfaction with the ability to take care of their responsibilities.
Good management/leadership isn’t just about killer visions.
It’s about enabling growth by building up and never tearing down either the people or the enterprise for which you are responsible.
In short, take care of your people; without them there is no company.
Image credit: HikingArtist
