Managing Leadership did an interesting post that started like this

Our initial axiom seemed to be, well, a no-brainer, but it generated some perhaps surprising topics for discussion. Here it is again, with its first corollary:

• The dumber they are, the smarter they think they are.

• The smarter they think they are, the dumber they are.

The first addressed the common problem of dealing with people whose high regard for themselves is not warranted, and whose false confidence sometimes even seems to be a peculiar by-product of their incompetence…

That attitude — not theirs, but ours for noting it — is actually the target of the corollary: more often than we would care to admit, those self-deluding knuckleheads are, well . . . us. And that leads us to the next point. Here is the second corollary built from our base axiom:

• The dumber they think they are, the smarter they are.

Good stuff and oh-so-true. If you have any doubts check out the article links in something I wrote at Leadership Turn (and here if I could find it:) citing Cornell’s Dr. David A. Dunning who studies this phenomenon professionally.

It’s a fascinating conundrum and countering it takes effort, self-awareness and a willingness to hear out all sources when seeking feedback on your own performance—lip service alone won’t help.

You also need to remember it when giving feedback to others—partly because they have the same problem, but also because your feedback may not be accurate.

It’s sort of like looking in a mirror that’s reflecting a mirror that’s reflecting a mirror on and on. It’s part of the human condition, so don’t fret. Just remember that just knowing about it and recognizing that you’re not immune is not only your best protection, but also the best way to keep the problem in check.

A friend who is in stealth mode for his startup took a moment out of his 18-hour day (no exaggeration) and sent me the following, the first is advice to me and the rest is for Kay.

Miki, be more of a firebrand and iconoclast (gee, I’m usually told to be less of these:) in this and I think you’ll have more fun at the exercise.

If Mark Twain could give advice to an entrepreneur: (I’m channeling Samuel Clemens)

Like remodels, startups cost 3X your budget and take 2X your time estimate.

Play rugby, not Football: everyone must punt, tackle, pass, catch

Marry up. Hire people 5x better than you at what THEY do.

Like 3 year olds, be passionate, humble, impatient, grateful…daily.

Like gypsies, channel your customer.

Superb advice, I recommend it to everybody, not just entrepreneurs.

If this post seems out of place this week then you haven’t been following our b5 Apprentice Challenge. I have to post this today if I intend to stay in the running for (sound of trumpets, roll of drums) an honest-to-goodness b5media T-shirt! Can you think of any better motivation?

And no more team (my team took four out of the first five Challenges <smirk>) it’s me on my own, but you can help by voting for me at Tax Girl (or for the other contestants if you’re mad at me:), my editor-cum-judge’s blog.

The background is that Kay, the intrepid entrepreneur, had a blowout Christmas season thanks to our fabulous advice (details at the first link) and now I need to give her the best business advice I can in 50 words or less.

Obviously, this advice will be of just as much use to all of you as it is to Kay.

So without more ado here’s the best business advice you’ll ever receive (in 43 words)

• Spend less than you make;
• under promise and over deliver;
• never be afraid to ask;
• hire people smarter than you, listen to them and then make your own decision;
• treat your customers the way you want to be treated; and
• plan tactically and strategically

That’s it, practice these six actions every day and I guarantee that your business will flourish!

Speaking of unethical leaders, Conrad Black, ex-CEO of Hollinger International, was sentenced to 61/2 years in prison yesterday. Prosecutors had asked for as many as 30 years…saying he had not shown “one shred of remorse” for looting the company…

Unlike Jeff Skilling’s denial of guilt after his conviction, Black said, “I do wish to profess my profound regret and sadness at the severe hardship of all the shareholders at the evaporation of $1.8 billion in shareholder value under my successors.”

Of course, his successors were only there because Black and his buddies stole $6 million—tip money, assuming he ever tipped.

In the end, Mr. Black and his three colleagues were found guilty of taking illegal payments from the company in two schemes adding up to $6.1 million — a relative trifle in the world of billionaires once inhabited by Mr. Black where, at its peak, his own net worth was estimated at more than $400 million.

But this kind of thing isn’t limited to moguls or big city people.

San Diego, CA The U.S. attorney’s office announced late Wednesday afternoon that a grand jury has indicted a 63-year-old woman on charges alleging that she embezzled more than $120,000 in military veteran’s survivor benefits over a 10-year period.

Adelanto, CA — The mayor of this high desert down was arrested Tuesday along with his wife for allegedly stealing more than $20,000 from Little League coffers over three years.

A comment on yesterday’s post mentions the possibility that it may be inaccurate to generalize about ethics and religion since the ethics survey focused on business, which is most likely to be in urban areas and he wondered if the survey included non-profits and churches.

That got me thinking about an article I read recently about a woman who embezzled from the Little League in a small town in eastern Washington. So I googled “embezzlement and “Little League” and there were 324,000 hits in English.

Then I tried “embezzlement and church” and got 427,000 hits.

Unethical behavior is alive and well everywhere, but it’s nice to know that the perpetrators sometimes get caught and even punished.

I ran into another list of what turns Gen Y (AKA Millennials) off when it comes to leaders and I have no doubt that it’s accurate, with the exception of number nine. Here it is

1. Inflexibility.
2. Judgmental attitudes.
3. Close-mindedness.
4. Fear of and an unwillingness to use technology.
5. Unwillingness to listen to and respect Gen Y’s opinions, ideas and views.
6. Intimidation.
7. Being told they have to “pay their dues”.
8. Lack of professional and leadership development through the company.
9. Emphasis on traditional dress (coat or suit and tie are out).
10. Lack of intellectual horsepower.

Regarding number nine, I think it depends totally on the field one’s perusing. I doubt that even the most militant Gen Y-er expects a career in investment banking, law, consulting and a number of others to be sans frequent donning of suit and tie or heels and stockings.

What I don’t see is anything that’s new and wouldn’t apply to most people.

• No one wants to work for a boss who is inflexible, judgmental, close-minded, disrespectful and intimidating.
• New technology has been a thorn for “them” and a sore spot for “us” for hundreds of years—mainly because people always resist change, not necessarily because of age, but because of comfort level—they push it for the same reason.
• The ‘paying your dues’ attitude has been the plight of newbies for hundreds of years.
• People at every age and level want good professional training and mentoring available to them.
• Intellectual horsepower by whose measure? That’s about as subjective as you can get. Plus, I’ve found few people consider someone who disagrees with them to be brilliant.

Actually, I haven’t heard Gen Y complain about anything that different than Boomers and Gen X, for that matter, rant about.

Boomers and Gen X were just as much a disruptive force in the workplace-of-that-time as Millennials are today.

Granted the willingness to stick it out has shortened considerably, but even the willingness to walk if you’re not happy is based to no small degree on a healthy economy where the next job is easily available.

Add time and a few age-driven responsibilities—kids, mortgages, aging parents—to the mix and soon they’ll soon be the establishment with another generation ranting about their unwillingness to change.

The demands of each generation force change upon the workplace—always has and always will.

After I wrote my post yesterday I got to thinking that there’s a major disconnect going on. Here’s why:

• As mentioned yesterday, the 2007 National Business Ethics Survey® found that “Over the past year, more than half (56 percent) of employees surveyed had personally observed violations of company ethics standards, policy, or the law. Many saw multiple violations. More than two of five employees (42 percent) who witnessed misconduct did not report it through any company channels…;”
• An ABC poll in July of this year found that “Eighty-three percent of Americans identify themselves as Christians. Most of the rest, 13 percent, have no religion. That leaves just 4 percent as adherents of all non-Christian religions combined Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and a smattering of individual mentions.” and
• A trio of Gallup surveys shows that “more than three-quarters of Americans believe the Bible is literally the word of God or inspired by the word of God.” (Note: I’m not happy about the source on this one.)

That means that the same people who identify themselves as Christians/religious and the ones who take the Bible literally are the same people who are either violating the ethical standards or not reporting the violators.

You can see my quandary, unless you believe, as I can’t, that all the shenanigans and lack of reporting are being done exclusively by the 13 percent who claim no religion.

Quandaries give me headaches, so all suggestions, ideas, comments, etc. will be greatly appreciated.

The Ethics Resource Center announced that ethical standards have nose-dived back to where they were in 2000.According to the 2007 National Business Ethics Survey (may require free registration)

Over the past year, more than half (56 percent) of employees surveyed had personally observed violations of company ethics standards, policy, or the law. Many saw multiple violations. More than two of five employees (42 percent) who witnessed misconduct did not report it through any company channels…

Dr. Patricia Harned, President of ERC says,

“Employees at all levels have not increased their ‘ethical courage’ in recent years. The rate of observed misconduct has crept back above where it was in 2000. And employees’ willingness to report misconduct has not improved, either.”

Although ethics are situational and people’s perception of their own adhesion to them often inaccurate you still know exactly what constitutes lie/cheat/steal within your own world.

Dr Harned goes on to say,

“The good news is that the rate of misconduct is cut by three-fourths at companies with strong ethical cultures, and reporting is doubled at companies with comprehensive ethics programs.”

I believe that there are three critical pieces needed to build a strong ethical culture besides comprehensive ethics programs.

• An ethical MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy)™ and the willingness to pass on all candidates whose history or commitment to the company standards seem at all iffy no matter how dire the situation.
• An enforced guarantee that the messenger is never killed no matter how unwanted or unpleasant the message is.
• A pledge to walk your talk and acceptance/change rather than rationalization of criticism when your actions are called into question.

What do you think is needed?

Fudge, fibb, prevaricate, lie.

“Liar, liar, pants on fire!” Kids rarely turn in the culprit since that would be snitching, yet that doesn’t stop them from glorying when the liar is caught. But what about when kids grow up?

Seems as if it doesn’t change a whole lot.

Depressing as it is, according to the Ethics Resource Center ethical standards have nose-dived back to where they were in 2000.

According to the 2007 National Business Ethics Survey® (may require free registration)

Over the past year, more than half (56 percent) of employees surveyed had personally observed violations of company ethics standards, policy, or the law. Many saw multiple violations. More than two of five employees (42 percent) who witnessed misconduct did not report it through any company channels…

According to Dr. Patricia Harned, President of ERC,

“Employees at all levels have not increased their ‘ethical courage’ in recent years. The rate of observed misconduct has crept back above where it was in 2000. And employees’ willingness to report misconduct has not improved, either…

The good news is that the rate of misconduct is cut by three-fourths at companies with strong ethical cultures, and reporting is doubled at companies with comprehensive ethics programs.”

What do you think?

Is this the situation at your workplace?

Back around 1998, I was at a VC/entrepreneur event and in the course of a conversation I commented that I’d been working with startups for 20 years. A young idiot (as opposed to an old idiot) scornfully informed me that I couldn’t have been since startups were a result of the Internet and the web.

I guess idiocy still flourishes since I was recently informed by a thirty-something idiot that startups and innovation are the province of techdom.

But innovation is actually the provenance of minds that think outside of conventional parameters, with or without tech. They are minds that see beyond what’s being done now to what could be done, sometimes with a new product, but just as often with a new process.

Brothers John and Brendan Ready are two such minds. Their lobster fishing profession may be hundreds of years old, but that hasn’t stopped them from innovating not the catching, but the sales process.

They created Catch a Piece of Maine where you can buy all the output of a trap for $2,995 per season. That money buys you at least 40 lobsters a season, plus each shipment also includes clams, mussels, a Maine-made dessert, bibs, cooking instructions and a gift card, plus free shipping sent wherever and whenever you want.

Lobstermen who work with the Readys benefit by getting free traps and a premium of 40 cents per pound for the lobsters caught in them…So far, the Readys have sold the rights to about 30 traps. Their customers include financial institutions, CEOs of small companies and a few individuals. About a third are from Maine with the rest scattered about, as far away as California.

The Ready brothers have been lobstering since they were 16, started their seafood business three years ago (at ages 22 and 25) and now thought up this great value-add.

To my mind it’s the best of an all-around win, the Ready’s grow their business, the lobstermen earn more in a very hard profession, and the buyers have something totally unique to share among friends, clients and business associates.

What’s not to like?

There is an almost surreal disconnect between those evangelizing/teaching leadership, succession planning, management development, etc., and the real world.

Eric Jackson is a good example. He says that

The “Sales Funnel” is one of the most tried and true tools in business today. For every prospect you put into the top of the funnel, only a small percentage will drop out of the bottom of the funnel as a closed sale. Unless the funnel is constantly replenished at the top, it will experience moments when no sales drop out of the bottom. Every CEO, VP of Sales, and sales rep understands the importance of constant vigilance over the funnel – or else deal with the consequences of dry spots as they go on.

Yet, most organizations approach the issue of succession planning and leadership development as if it was two weeks before the end of the quarter and they realized they needed to close some business. You could make a few calls to drum up some sales – just as you could tap the executives that are immediately closest to the position that requires a new leader – but your odds of being as successful with the last-minute approach are quite low, compared to if you had been working sales opportunities and future leaders for many weeks or years in advance of needing them.

Of course, he’s right and is backed up by management gurus in universities and consulting firms across the board all counseling the same thing, albeit in a variety of ways.

But the reality is where it becomes surreal.

In an article on the phenomenal turnover in chief marketing officers, Business Week compares them to other C-suite positions.

Now, compare these numbers to the idea of constant development in order to have a deep management bench and you tell me why, let alone how, CEOs are going to focus on development and succession issues when their average tenure is 44 months.