Shakespeare wrote in his description of Feste, the jester in Twelfth Night that one should never underestimate a man who is “wise enough to play the fool.”

I’ve given that advice to executives, managers, workers and friends and it always works, especially if you broaden your concept of “fool.”

Being a fool doesn’t mean being foolish; it is more acting innocent or ignorant instead of showing off your knowledge or expertise.

Playing the fool draws out the other person; it gives you the opportunity to learn what they know and get a far better understanding of where they are coming from, where they are going and how they plan to get there.

Playing the fool is sort of like Undercover Boss where the CEO learns far more about her organization by pretending to be a candidate than she ever could in her normal persona.

However, I find fewer people willing to play the fool in these days of social media no matter how successful the technique.

They worry that playing the fool might be misconstrued in 140 characters and that is more important than the beneficial outcome that can result from playing the fool.

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Whether a company has 10 or 10,000 people the right people reporting directly to you and whether you call them vice presidents or something else they are critical to your success.

For convenience I’m going to use vp to refer to the top people in your company; those who report directly to the CEO and are responsible for the different functions (with or without staff).

They are the people the CEO relies on

• as a sounding board;
• for both tactical and strategic intelligence;
• to tell it like it is—even when she doesn’t want to hear it
• to see and understand the big picture;
• to lead the effort in employee acquisition, motivation, and retention;
• to support and strengthen the culture she envisioned;
• to not sabotage another group or start a turf war, and
• to help stamp out politics whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.

And more, but you get the idea.

The first item on your agenda when creating a senior staff is to determine what parts of your business/company (beyond the standard ones of finance, development, marketing, and sales) need to report directly to the CEO for peak performance.

You never want a truly critical function reporting through, and responsible to, someone else (agendas do get in the way).

It may be customer service (or whatever it’s called); it could be IT; if you are large enough to have a real HR department (not just a benefits admin) it should definitely report directly.

Support functions are often left to report to the CFO, which can prevent them from being used fro real strategic advantage.

Where does one find talented VPs? Now and then you’ll be lucky enough to actually hire one complete with all the bells and whistles, but more likely you will find a current VP, or talented director, with some of them, or with the right potential.

Be aware that one of the main things that sets great VPs apart from merely good ones, as well as other managers, is a strong strategic ability, which means they see the entire team and understand how their department fits into the whole.

It’s not a given, I’ve known many C-level executives who never grasp this, as well as director level (and lower) managers who get it.

Every member of your staff needs a real understanding of business, including financials, and it’s your responsibility, as their manager, to make sure they get whatever training and information is needed to do their job as a member of your senior staff.

Further, if you want the most powerful senior staff possible cross train them in each other’s functions and challenges.

Think of the phenomenal value of a CFO who understands the intricacies of manufacturing as more than a set of numbers; a VP of Engineering who understands financials and inventory turns; an HR head who understands what actually happens in the different departments, etc.

Think of the power inherent in a senior staff that understands what it takes to turn an idea into a product and a product into revenue.

And if you still have doubts about hiring all that power, don’t focus on the difference it would make to the company, but rather the difference it would make doing your own job.

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I have to laugh every time I see a reference to Management-By-Walking-Around (MBWA) that creates the impression that it’s a hot new management tool.

Hot, yes; new, no.

MBWA dates to 1940 and is a management technique instituted by Dave Packard at the founding of HP; it’s “marked by personal involvement, good listening skills and the recognition that “everyone in an organization wants to do a good job.”"

I’ve written about it before and when I looked at that post I found little that needed changing, go here it is again.

Remember Management-By-Walking-Around? It’s an oldie, but a goodie.

Great managers work to spend at least 25% of their time wandering around chatting and building trust with their people.

Don’t have time? Maybe that’s because you never really thought abut the benefits. Getting to know your people this way helps you to

• spot high-potential workers;
• raise your trust quotient with employees;
• improve retention;
• attract talent;
• discover molehills before they’re mountains, and, most importantly, it’s the best, if not only, way to
• know what’s really going on.

But to work it must be the norm—that means it needs to be done constantly, not just when there’s a problem.

Consistent, casual visits make people feel comfortable and encourages them to chat—saying what they are thinking without editing it. To pass on information, rumors, and the like without wondering or worrying that it will boomerang and hurt them.

While wandering, you’ll hear enough to validate or repudiate what you heard from somewhere else. It lets you protect your sources—which means they’ll continue to pass on information—and it helps you avoid acting on erroneous information.

The higher you rise in the organization the more important this intelligence becomes.

One of the greatest dangers for any manager is getting isolated and hearing only a sanitized or slanted version of what’s going on within the group, department or company. This is especially true for the CEO and senior staff.

Bottom-line—get off your duff, out of your office, wander around, say hi, listen, be a sponge and soak it all up.

Invest the time—that’s what managers do—and it will pay off handsomely!

MBWA works best when it is embedded in your MAP, as well as part of your organization’s cultural DNA.

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I’m There For You, Baby, is the first volume in Neil Senturia’s The Entrepreneurs Guide to the Galaxy.

“Huh, if this is about entrepreneurs, why is it Monday’s post in stead of Thursday’s?” I’ll let Neil answer that,

Today everyone needs to think like an entrepreneur whether it’s in your own business, a large company or a non-profit.

I would add that you need to think like an entrepreneur if you are working for others, raising kids or just trying to function in the 21^st Century.

Other reasons I’m reviewing it on a Monday.

• It’s hilarious and a great read at only 215 pages. (Disclaimer: some of the language may be a bit blue, but no more so than real life.)
• It’s autobiographical, so it’s very real; not as told to blah blah.
• It includes a great deal of the bare-ass truth about entrepreneurs that is usually glossed over.

For those of you who don’t recognize Neil’s name, he is CEO of Blackbird Ventures; he moved from  writing for television sit-coms to doing real estate deals to technology entrepreneur; like me, he is older than dirt, but at least a billion times richer.

I’m There For You, Baby includes some 400-odd rules, most of which you don’t have to memorize, but there are a few you would be wise to not only memorize, but implement as well, such as Rule #1: Return every phone call and every email.

Most of the rules are a function of common sense, good manners and a belief in the ethical treatment of fellow human beings—not the most prevalent attitudes in these go-go meme days, so maybe they do need to be memorized.

I’m There For You, Baby offers enormous value and no preaching; instead of how-tos it provides how-dids along with an unvarnished view of what worked, what didn’t and why.

I highly recommend it and would love to hear your thoughts here after you read it.

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I should have called this series “Did you know…?” because that’s how I keep wanting to start every time I write Oddball Facts. Oh well…

Seems that most people these days are either trying to lose weight, so, of course, they work at reducing the amount of food they eat. If the average person eats about 60,000 pounds in the course of their life—the equivalent of about six elephants—look around and just think how many extra elephants some of the people you see must have consumed.

I wonder it the half a billion dollars American kids spend on chewing gum is included or in addition to the 60,000 lifetime pounds.

While we’re on the subject of people food, you can add the more than $11 billion in comestibles that we feed our dogs and cats.

I often wonder why most Americans are upset over the possibility that the US Post Office will eliminate Saturday mail delivery in an effort to reduce costs. Canada eliminated Saturday service in 1969 and seems to be doing just fine.

Try dropping this bit of trivia at your next boring lunch or meeting—more people use blue toothbrushes, than red ones. If nothing else it’s sure shut people up while they try and come up with a response.

Finally, a salute to ingenuity, not to mention sheer guts. Cary Copestakes had tuition to pay and no money, so she decided to auction her virginity on eBay with a starting bid of $10,000 (at least she put a high value on herself). Lucky Cary, the man who won the bidding felt sorry for her, so he gave her the money, but didn’t collect on the service.

I wish you all a wonderful Mother’s Day, whether you are a mother or not.

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Gilbert Fiorentino may not be a household name, but millions of online shoppers recognize the name Tiger Direct.

In a nod to the corporate excess and bad culture, as represented by John Thain and disgraced CEO Dennis Kozlowski, we now have Fiorentino.

The truly shocking part of this story is found in the comment section; the stories from employees whose descriptions of their work environment will raise your hackles even as they make you cringe.

Dell sued TigerDirect for trademark infringement for “repeated and blatant” violations regarding the resale of its computers and in 2008 the Florida Attorney General’s office sued for failing to pay advertised rebates to consumers.

But this isn’t just another CEO running amok.

Fiorentino may have founded Tiger Direct and be CEO of CompUSA (bought out of bankruptcy), but Systemax owns the whole shebang.

And it is Systemax that turned a blind eye for all those years as Fiorentino created and maintained a culture of intimidation and abuse of both employees and vendors for more than a decade.

“He was making a lot of money for the company and I think people looked the other way for a long time. … If he wanted it, he took it, for whatever reason,” –William “Cully” Waggoner, a former employee who was fired in 2009 after five years with the company, but won a court settlement challenging the action. A blind eye until a worm turned and made that fateful whistleblower call.

Now Systemax claims it wants to change its corporate culture.

A memo last week to employees talked about embracing changes like a more “open management style” and elimination of competitive postings of hours worked by each employee. “The prior management regime was not the reason for the Company’s success – you were.” –Systemax Executive Committee

This is the same executive committee that was blind all those years.

If you believe them I have a great buy on a gorgeous orange bridge that would look terrific on your front lawn.

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Tuesday is April 26^th, but more importantly it’s my birthday. There are some pretty cool people born on the 26^th and I chose a few to share.

Marcus Aurelius was a big believer in MAP, “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

William Shakespeare provides a great description of my two best friends, I hope you have people like this in your life, “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

Bernard Malamud had great insight into how one learns, “Stay with it. . . ultimately you teach yourself something very important about yourself.”

Carol Burnett’s thoughts about life really refer to MAP, “Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.”

I was surprised to find that John Audubon and I have more in common than our birthday—we see our lives similarly, but I’m tempted to substitute ‘weird’ for ‘curious’, “I cannot help but think a curious event is this life of mine.”

Finally, since I was generous enough to share my birthday with Marc Andreessen, I wish he would reciprocate by sharing some contacts with me. (Sorry, couldn’t’ find a good quote.)

Image credit: RampUp Solutions

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“Joe” called me today. He said he was thinking of leaving his company not because he wanted to, but because everyone thought he should.

He explained that everyone who knew him kept showing him articles and telling him that he was a born entrepreneur and should start his own company.

Joe said he had worked for everything from large companies to startups and as long as he had a good manager and liked the culture he was happy. He worked hard and felt he was fairly compensated.

Joe said he had discussed it with his family and they said he should do what made him happy and they would support that decision.

However, he didn’t want to end up looking like a loser because he didn’t do it.

Boiled down, here is my response.

• Contrary to current media coverage people who work for companies are not losers and entrepreneurs are not the be all and end all of success.
• Few, if any, knowledge workers at any level work 8-hour days, disconnect and go home.
• In the current recession, entrepreneurs are to the 21^st Century what consultants were to the recessions of the 20^th Century.
• Having entrepreneurial MAP does not mean you want or have to be an entrepreneur.

The last point is especially important.

I saw yet another list of 10 traits entrepreneurs and I had to chuckle. Here it is

1. They Are Not Stopped by Fear
2. They Know When to Ask for Help
3. They Are Persistent
4. They Are Passionate About Their Businesses
5. They Are Willing to Market and Sell
6. They Know Their Numbers
7. They’re Disciplined
8. They Have Integrity
9. They’re Great Communicators
10. They Think Long-Term

I chuckled because these are the same traits that all good people have when adjusted for their position and experience.

They are also the traits that the best managers look for when they are hiring. There are, however, many mangers too insecure to appreciate them.

Many years ago I read an article about the guy who invented the tiles used on the Challenger spacecraft to protect it when it reentered the atmosphere. He wasn’t an entrepreneur, he was a Lockheed engineer. He didn’t get a bonus for his work, it was his job. He didn’t care; he was happy at his company, was proud of what he did and liked being part of something larger. He was a winner.

The lesson here is that great people work for existing companies and great people start companies and both win.

Joe is a winner.

The losers are those who disparage other people’s choice.

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Study Richard Branson as an entrepreneur.

Study him as a leader.

Study him as a manager.

Study him as an example of how to live your life.

Don’t just study Branson; study those around him, such as Stephen Murphy, Virgin CEO since 2006.

Studying both allows you to see how Branson differs from so many of his counterparts.

According to Murphy, “He [Branson] is a listener. He will say ‘I hired you to listen to you. I am not hiring you to tell you what to do’.”

Branson is known as Doctor Yes while Murphy is nicknamed Mr. No; together they make Virgin far stronger than either could separately.

Murphy balances Branson’s “screw it, let’s do it” attitude, but recognizes Branson’s positive mindset, “When there are nine good reasons not to do something, Richard is always the person who focuses on the one reason to do it.”

Branson is a master delegator, not just the responsibility, but the authority and once he delegates he lets go.

Study Branson to learn the value of controlling your ego or, better yet, being confident enough to let your people shine, knowing that giving them the spotlight doesn’t reduce your own place in the sun.

Last year I wrote a very short post on following and Branson seems to fit.

So when you are deciding whom to follow, who’s vision to trust, skip the shiny baubles and silken words and look to see who keeps turning the spotlight on others.

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People, especially those in management/leadership roles, have advisors, mentors and other people they consult; they read blogs, attend seminars, access company training and all these sources constantly inundate them with management advice.

Everybody listens, especially when the technique is coupled with a brand name, usually a CEO.

And that’s OK as long as you remember that you are not a copy of the person giving the advice.

Their advice is a result of their MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™) as formed by their upbringing and their experiences.

If the shoe fits, wear it.

You have different MAP, different upbringing and different experiences, so to use what you learn to your best advantage you need to know you.

Duff Goldman, who parleyed his passion for cake into a multimillion dollar business, including a show on the food channel and celebrity status, knows he is fallible, but has turned that fallibility into an asset.

“I kind of know what works, and I kind of know what doesn’t work. I have a good idea for how to make money and how to hold onto it — how to hopefully not make too many mistakes. But I know I’m going to make mistakes. My confidence comes from the fact that I’m very comfortable with being nervous. I’m very comfortable with my fear, because my fear comes from a very real place. It comes from a place that will make me perform above and beyond what I think I’m capable of doing.”

Duff Goldman knows himself.

If the shoe fits, wear it.

Along with the personal aspect of advice is the cultural one, both local and company.

Just as you don’t manage in China as you do in the US as you do in Russia you don’t manage in Groupon as you do in Apple as you do in Intel.

Management ranks (and divorce courts) are littered with those who tried to lever themselves into situations that didn’t fit or force everyone else into their worldview.

If the shoe doesn’t fit you get blisters and bunions; if the fit is bad enough you end up lame.

The take away is simple.

If the shoe fits, wear it; if it doesn’t fit, adjust it; if it isn’t adjustable, find shoes that fit.

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