A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all ‘If the Shoe Fits’ posts here

How did John Landgraf, president and general manager of FX Networks, turn the channel from an also-ran to top ratings earner?

Not the way you might think; not by his vision or impeccable taste; not by having his finger on the pulse of the public or because he can see around corners.

He did it by not doing it.

Landgraf spent time on the creative side and when pitching/producing he kept hearing the same thing.

“I always got the same dumb note from the networks. ‘Can you make the character more likable?’ ” he recalled last week in a phone interview. “Not make them more exciting, more compelling, more interesting, no, it was always make them more likable.”

When he got the FX catbird seat he didn’t ask for ‘nicer’ he asked for solid stories.

In other words, he did it by letting go of the power to make those decisions.

“We write a check to fund the production and they send us the shows. By trusting the people you work with — sharing the authority — and being willing to fail, things have gone pretty well for us.”

This is something that every entrepreneur needs to learn.

Success comes not from having the power to make decisions, but from the ability to give that power to others.

 “Power is only of value if you give it away. You have to be willing to give it away, to entrust your career, your reputation and your future to others, to make something that is remarkable.”

Image credit: HikingArtist

I love words. They are one of my very favorite things, so I thought it would be interesting so see what others thought of them.

Edward Thorndike believes words are for the long term, “Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure.” Sadly, it’s not just the wise ones that last through time.

Rudyard Kipling thinks they are addictive, “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” (I agree.)

Long before I wrote this, Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought, and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.”

Americans point proudly to the words contained in the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, but as Ralph Ellison reminds us, “If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to bind, imprison and destroy.”

Philip K. Dick explains that further, “The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words.” (Manipulation was our focus Friday.)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe hit the nail on the head when he said, “When ideas fail, words come in very handy.” Just ask any politician, parent or, for that matter entrepreneur.

Common wisdom, AKA anonymous, offers critical advice that is too often ignored, “Don’t use a big word where a diminutive one will suffice.”

Finally, smart people, as well as the wise, keep Adlai Stevenson’s words firmly in mind every time they open their mouths to speak, “Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.” Obviously politicians are neither smart nor wise.

Flickr image credit: AuthenticEccentric

I love words. Words are why you visit and how we get to know each other.

There are hundreds of quotes about words and writers, so I picked a few of that would give you more insight into moi.

The first thing you need to understand is that, for me at least, writing is easy; as Walter Wellesley “Red” Smith said, “There’s nothing to writing.  All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”

My goal has always been the same—to effortlessly pleasure my readers, but, as Nathaniel Hawthorne points out, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.”

Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug,” and I dearly love a good lightening storm.

Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The wastebasket is a writer’s best friend,” but today the delete key is for most of us, although not all.

I often get asked why I keep writing when I get so little feedback from my readers and I can do no better than quote E.L. Doctorow to explain, “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”

Finally, for all those who think that I and my fellow writers, past and present work hard just to supply you with great words, sans footnotes or attribution, with which to dazzle your professors, bosses and friends take heed of the words of Jen T. Verbumessor, “Imitation is the highest form of pissing me off.  Quit stealing my content and violating my copyright.”

Hat tip to the Quote Garden for making my search so simple.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/enochprattlibrary/4266345242/

Do you know the 7 most important words a manager at any level should know?

The 7 words that make the difference between engaged, turned on, motivated people and those that spend their time polishing their resumes?

The 7 words that make you a hero to your team?

The 7 words that enhance your reputation and improve your paycheck.

The 7 words that are equally applicable in your personal life?

Did you know that interchanging just 2 of the 7 words can turn you into the boss/parent/friend from hell?

Have you figured out the 7 words?

Hint: the 7 words describe two critical actions that we all do every day in one way or another.

Still don’t know? The 7 words are

PRAISE IN PUBLIC AND CRITICIZE IN PRIVATE

Practice these 7 words faithfully and watch the the positive changes happen!

(My apologies for the lateness of this post, but technology doesn’t always work!)

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Image credit: ZedBee|Zoë Power on flickr

Do words really make a difference? Can just one word change people’s perception of a person or event?

I’ve read several items lately on the importance of influence in leadership. Several even make the point that it’s the ability to influence that marks a person as a leader.

Personally, other than socially acceptable definitions, I don’t see a lot of difference between influence and manipulation.

Both influence and manipulation seek to produce an effect without any apparent exertion of force or direct exercise of command.

But if you say someone has a lot of influence it’s a compliment; call the same person a master manipulator and you’d better duck.

It’s a good example of the real power that words have to inspire or crush even if their meaning is the same.

And it’s important to remember that words come with baggage that goes well beyond their actual definition.

That baggage was one of the main reasons corporate marketing departments made so many mistakes when moving from one culture to another.

• Braniff translated its slogan relating to seat upholstery, “Fly in leather” to Spanish; only it came out as “Fly naked.”
• Coors slogan, “Turn it loose,” means “Suffer from diarrhea” in Spanish.
• Clairol, introduced a curling iron called the “Mist Stick” in Germany and learned the hard way that mist is slang for manure.
• Gerber started selling baby food in Africa using US packaging with the baby on the label until they found out that in Africa the picture on the label indicates what’s inside since most people can’t read.

There are hundreds of similar mishaps. They made marketing departments a laughing stock, forced companies to hire locally, helped change the headquarters mindset and encourage global companies to be truly global.

The point of all this is to encourage you to take a few extra minutes to think through not only what you want to say, but also what your audience will hear when you say it.

That effort can make the difference between going up like a rocket or down like a falling star.

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Image credit: flickr