Last week Craig, a senior manager I know, referred one of his direct reports to me.
During the annual review Craig had warned “Jim” his department’s turnover was unacceptably high and that he was tying 15% of Jim’s annual bonus to his hitting the retention numbers they discussed and agreed upon during the meeting.
Jim asked Craig if the company would be willing to pay for a coach, because he was unsure exactly how to improve retention and hadn’t found books on the subject of much use.
Craig said the company wouldn’t, but he knew someone affordable and called me.
I agreed to have an exploratory conversation to be sure that we could work together and that I could help.
When I talked with Jim he said he believed that in order to do what Craig wants he needed to “get rid of more dead wood and bring on people who will jump on his ideas, aren’t afraid of hard work and understand loyalty.”
However, doing so would preclude any chance of his meeting the retention numbers, especially since, based on past experience, he would be forced to turn several of the new hires, too.
After hearing a good deal more about what he had tried that didn’t work, I explained how I work, costs, etc.,
I warned him that I’m pretty blunt and suggested he check out this blog for a window on how I think and my approaches and that we both think about it to decide whether we could create a productive relationship that would achieve what he wanted.
Jim called yesterday and the upshot is we will be working together to solve his retention problems and I have his permission to share parts of that with you over the next few months.
Most entrepreneurs and early joiners don’t focus on the future when swept up in the excitement of being acquired, but that is an error if they believe in the long-term viability of their creation.
As with much of M&A what goes wrong is usually found in the two cultures—or rather in their mismatches.
MySpace wasn’t killed by Facebook, it was killed by a parent that sacrificed its future on the alter of immediate revenue and no understanding of its market.
But who is really hurt in this process?
Not the founders and pre acquisition employees who have the opportunity to cash out much, if not all, of their options.
Certainly not the original investors, who typically enjoy a high return on their investment.
Sometimes the acquirer, who may end up with losses that damage the corporate bottom line and a sale price below what was originally paid.
Certainly the current employees who are laid off.
But the true hurt, the hurt that lingers for the longest time is the hurt to our country’s competitiveness.
Small biz is wonderful, but small biz can’t drive the economy or create the jobs needed to rebuild our middle class. It is the startups that move from small biz to enterprise that do that.
The problem is that investors don’t care about anything except cashing out; entrepreneurs aren’t allowed to care if they want to and corporations just don’t get it.
Read the MySpace story; it’s a cautionary tale with multiple lessons for both entrepreneurs and acquirers.
The iPad is all the rage, but did you ever wonder what would have happened if Steve Jobs had to pitch the concept to investors in order to build it? Apparently, our English friends at the BBC did.
They created this fake video of Jobs pitching his idea on a popular show called Dragon’s Den (‘dragon’ is the Brit term for angel investors.)
The idea that carrots aren’t the best management approach isn’t new, but he points out something that is often overlooked.
We forget that mastery is something human beings seek because we’re human beings. We like to get better at stuff, because it’s inherently satisfying. That’s why people do recreational sports, why people play musical instruments on the weekend, why people do crafts and things.
However, I do believe that rewards have their purpose, not as the motivation to do something, but as the acknowledgement that it was done well.
If that were not true then all of the various competitions associated with what people do on their own time for pleasure wouldn’t exist.
We humans have a strong tendency to compare what we do with similar things done by others.
We treasure not only the prizes, trophies and ribbons of our more formalized efforts, but also the everyday comments when others recognize how well we do it.
From the outside you may not see much difference between carrots and acknowledgement, but when you are on the receiving end the difference is glaring—and the difference is in the presentation.
Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”
Managers who cling to carrots instead of acknowledgements are crazy.
Typically heroes are leaders; not because they hold a high level position or are well compensated, but because they take initiative, often to extremes.
But even “extreme initiative” pales to insignificance as a description of 63 year old Dr. Hawa Abdi, better known as Mama Hawa.
For 20 years Mama Hawa has run a hospital and in May faced down Somalia’s most fearsome militant Islamist group.
Hundreds of women from a sprawling refugee camp on her property to protest, adding to a flood of condemnation from Somalis abroad that forced the militants to back down.
Hundreds of women from the sprawling refugee camp on Dr. Abdi’s property dared to protest, adding to a flood of condemnation from Somalis abroad that forced the militants to back down. Dr. Abdi even insisted that the gunmen apologize — in writing — which they grudgingly agreed to do.
What unique combination of genes, MAP and circumstances produces a Mama Hawa? Why has she flourished, while others flamed out?
What can you learn from her regarding initiative, drive, determination, leadership, inspiration and communication?
Take the time to read her profile and analyze it for the multiple lessons it contains.
Then start applying them to your own life one by one.
A few weeks ago I read an article in Business Week about corporations using security surveillance to check on people taking sick days. It was a list of high profile absences that I wanted to share with you and that gave me the idea for Oddball Facts as an occasional alternative to Quotable Quotes.
Of course, sometimes employees are at work when they aren’t; in other words, the body is present, but the mind is absent, which can have dire results.
Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, radio operators, Titanic: The duo were tasked with handling radio messages for the ship’s 2,220-plus passengers. Unfortunately, they didn’t heed significant iceberg warnings.
Typically, inexcusable absences focus on line workers who call in sick when they aren’t; most people assume that it’s more prevalent in lower levels and mostly on unimportant days, but that isn’t always the case.
There’s a commercial running these days for a cold remedy that features quarterback Drew Brees; the take away is that some people can’t miss a day’s work. But consider another sports figure that didn’t see it that way.
Manny Ramirez, MLB superstar: Playing for the Red Sox in 2003, he was out sick during a series against the Yankees. Though not sick enough to stop him from socializing with the Pinstripes’ Enrique Wilson at the Boston Ritz-Carlton bar.
Remember Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned? He didn’t have anything on this CEO.
Jimmy Cayne, former CEO, Bear Stearns: The Bridge Grand Master famously departed for a tournament as his firm—and its nearly $400 billion in assets—flirted with bankruptcy and sent Wall Street into chaos.
Many companies allow employees to work from home, even management on occasion, but how long would Wall Street tolerate the president of a troubled company who worked a third of the time from home, let alone a vacation home? Not long, you say? It didn’t seem to bother them when it was the President of the United States.
George W. Bush, former President, brush-clearing enthusiast: During two terms, Bush spent 487 days at Camp David and 490 at his Crawford ranch. One-third of his Presidency was thus spent “working from home.”
Entrepreneurs come in all shapes, sizes and ages, but, contrary to the conclusions you might draw from media hype, most aren’t all that young.
“In every single year from 1996 to 2007, Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 had a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity than those aged 20-34.”
Another entrepreneur myth is that they all work 80 hour weeks and think of nothing but their company forsaking friends, family and any kind of balance. Yes, entrepreneurs work incredibly hard, but those who don’t want to burn out add balance to their lives knowing that they perform better when they take time to recharge their batteries—and some go to extreme lengths to unwind and recharge as described in this Forbes Personal Best segment. (Check it out, the videos are spectacular.)
What I’ve found over the past year is that some of the most successful men and women on the job, are just as successful outside of the office, living their lives to the fullest. They say it’s incredibly important to live a well-balanced life in order to keep their creativity fresh and focused.
What does a laid off 40 year old Manhattan real estate attorney have in common with a low caste Indian child?
Both got mad, both were unhappy with their world, both went against accepted norms and in doing so are changing their culture—although the Indian change is seismic, while the NY change is more on the silly level.
India: “I just believed that we all are equal human beings, so why do we have differences, as far as social status is concerned, economical status is concerned, social recognition and honor and respect?” (Think beauty contests, roller-skating and English classes.)
NY: “I was prepared to fail when I started this. Now people come up to me on the street and call me Cupcake Dude. Cupcake Dude! Are you kidding me?” (Think rum-soaked lime cake with mint white-chocolate ganache)
Ask people why they blog or “work” social media and you’ll eventually hear that they want to “build their influence” or “extend their reputation and have more influence.”
Much of the commentary around “leadership” cites “vision” and “influence” as hallmarks of a leader.
I know these terms have made me vaguely uncomfortable, but didn’t pin the reason down until recently.
The pinning came during a conversation I had with a client. She was looking for ways to increase her influence with her team. When I asked her the specifics of what she wanted to accomplish she said that she wanted to lead them to do things differently.
Long story short, after more discussion the bottom line was she felt that having more influence would mean that her people would do things her way.
Add that to a recent comment by a blogger that he blogs to share his knowledge and influence people and I had my ah-ha moment for identifying all the vague discomfort I feel when I hear that word.
The definition of influence is the capacity or power of persons or things to be a compelling force on or produce effects on the actions, behavior, opinions, etc., of others.
Notice there is nothing that states the effect is to homogenize others with yourself, although most people see that as implied.
Perhaps I’m an anomaly because I see influence as a goad; a goad that drives people to think, reconsider, reformulate and possibly change along lines they consciously choose as opposed to blindly adopting thoughts/ideas/attitudes/actions—whether mine or someone else’s.
The term/title is being applied to a multitude of people, from the consultant/coach making ends meet until businesses start hiring to the bleary-eyed kid in his dorm room hoping to be the next Facebook or Google; from the preteen mowing lawns to the Boomers using severance pay to follow their passions; from the person using the proceeds from the sale of one startup to launch the next to the woman using a micro loan to lift her family up from poverty.
Some are entrepreneurs by choice, some by chance; some run and leap into new opportunities with a battle cry on their lips, while others drag themselves kicking and screaming into the fray, but all are fascinating.
All face one particular challenge and the need to overcome it is great, because these days there are fewer choices, fewer options to pay the bills, fewer paths from here to there.
It’s motivation and it’s the biggest challenge faced by every working living person on the planet.
Whether you are a solopreneur, a founder/member of a startup or one in a cast of thousands you need to keep yourself and your people motivated.
While clear visions and strong passions help, motivation is in the doing—not the talking or the planning.
This is especially true for entrepreneurs, because the fewer the people the fewer the places to hide.
There’s no way around it, being an entrepreneur means full responsibility and full accountability, but it also means undiluted pride in the results.
Please join me Saturday for a look at a few of the more unusual entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
Last week Craig, a senior manager I know, referred one of his direct reports to me.
Typically heroes are leaders; not because they hold a high level position or are well compensated, but because they take 
A few weeks ago I read an article in Business Week about corporations using security surveillance to check on 
Ask people why they blog or “work” social media and you’ll eventually hear that they want to “build their influence” or “extend their reputation and have more influence.”
