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

William Henry Harrison was the ninth President of the United States; he served from March 4, 1841 to April 4, 1841. He is a great example of why your mom told you to dress warmly when it was cold and experts warn against being too long-winded. Harrison listened to neither bits of wisdom. His inaugural speech was nearly two hours long, in fact, the first sentence alone was 100 words, in spite of Daniel Webster’s editing it for length. (Can you imagine it before editing?) Wearing neither coat nor hat Harrison gave the speech on a cold, wet day, caught pneumonia and died a month later.

“I contend that the strongest of all governments is that which is most free.” The same can be said of companies.

I’m sure the 1% and 1% wannabes will argue this, “All the measures of the Government are directed to the purpose of making the rich richer and the poor poorer.” I’m also not sure if it’s intentional or unhappy coincidence.

Although I agree with Harrison’s statement, “There is nothing more corrupting, nothing more destructive of the noblest and finest feelings of our nature, than the exercise of unlimited power,” but I don’t think the power has to be unlimited. However, whatever limiting factors exist must pay attention and be willing to get involved. Join me Wednesday for a look at what happens when they aren’t engaged.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

I read a review about a new Lincoln Steffens biography and it was interesting enough that I looked for quotes and added (as usual) my own interpretation.

There’s been a lot of discussion on the value of college, mostly as a result of the recession. Steffens thoughts are from long ago, but they certainly resonate today, “It is possible to get an education at a university. It has been done; not often”

I puzzled over this one and finally decided that there is one incorrect word. “Somebody must take a chance. The monkeys who became men, and the monkeys who didn’t are still jumping around in trees making faces at the monkeys who did.” To make sense it should read, “Somebody must take a chance. Some monkeys became men, and the monkeys who didn’t are still jumping around in trees making faces at the monkeys who did.” Or, if it was rewritten for today’s entrepreneurial media frenzy, it might read, “Somebody must take a chance. Some people became entrepreneurs, and the people who didn’t are still jumping around in trees making faces at the people who did.”

Did you know that Steffens is responsible for the truism, “Nothing fails like success?”

He also said, “Power is what men seek and any group that gets it will abuse it.” Totally accurate, but these days it should read ‘any group or individual‘.

But when all is said and done, remember, “Morality is only moral when it is voluntary.”

Wikimedia Commons image credit: Rockwood, New York, New York [Public domain]

Today is the start of Women’s History Month, click over, I think you’ll find it an interesting experience; the interview with Cokie Roberts is especially fascinating as she explains the political power of women before they could vote.

These are an extraordinary group of people. The characters that emerge in this book in ways that you have never, never, I can assure you seen them before are people as divergent as Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison, Sacagawea Sally Hemmings, and a cast of just an enormous number of women particularly women who take center stage very quickly — Aaron Burr’s daughter —

And if you think politics is a dirty business now, you’ll be blown away by what was said/done to a politically active wife, such as Dolly Madison.

I hope you’ll take time to dig around the Women’s History Site over the next 30 days. It should be interesting.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Bob Sutton is Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford and a Professor of Organizational Behavior, by courtesy, at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, but he is best known to the majority of people as the author of The No Asshole Rule.

He is also a genuinely nice guy, has a prominent email link on his blog and actually responds when you write him.

The blog is called Work Matters and it’s one of those ‘if you read nothing else…’ things. In the left column Bob has listed “15 things I believe” and my favorites form today’s quotes along with links for context.

Which ones would you choose?

Getting a little power can turn you into an insensitive self-centered jerk.

The best test of a person’s character is how he or she treats those with less power.

The best single question for testing an organization’s character is: What happens when people make mistakes?

Saying smart things and giving smart answers are important. Learning to listen to others and to ask smart questions is more important.

Image credit: Stanford Report

I read a great description of politics in You Run, a short story by Sarah Shankman, “politics is one long power plan; an exercise in ego”. That seems to be a good description of what leadership is to many people.

It certainly describes the MAP so prevalent in the business scandals of the last two decades, as well as that of the titans of Wall Street who contributed so heavily to the current economic mess.

It’s also a major characteristic of the more mundane populace in general, as witnessed on social media platforms.

• The foremost cyber-goal is to be on the first page of Google search results based on designated criteria.
• The more friends you have on Facebook the more desirable you appear.
• Garner enough followers on Twitter and you are suddenly a leader.
• Technorati assigns authority levels to bloggers.

Every social media rates its members and people work mightily to improve their ratings.

For those who aren’t celebrities of one kind or another or are verifiable in the real world, this is done based on the ancient principle of “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine.” (As you might guess, this isn’t my forte.)

That means the ratings can be manipulated—and they are.

There are dozens of classes, webinars, coaches and businesses, along with hundreds of books, all focused on ‘managing your online persona’. They teach all the tricks to raising your authority level, acquiring more friends and followers, and the achieving first page status on Google.

But there are no classes, webinars, coaches or books that explain how to tell the wheat from the chaff, i.e., sort through these impressive exercises in ego to find real value.

What do you do? Please share your approach to finding and validating the authenticity and value of your cyber-connections.

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Money makes the world go round. It’s one of the main causes of divorce and, right now especially, is on everyone’s mind.

I tend to agree with George Bernard Shaw that “Lack of money is the root of all evil.” That or an insatiable desire for more and more of it.

Way back in 1877, Russell H. Conwell said, “Money is power, & you ought to be reasonably ambitious to have it.” The problem these days is that people substitute ‘all out’ for ‘reasonably’.

I don’t know who said the following or if they are just folk wisdom, but they certainly are accurate.

“All I ask is a chance to prove that money can’t make me happy.”

“While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.”

“While money doesn’t buy love, it puts you in a great bargaining position.”

I also like Lord Mancroft’s comment, “Money can’t buy friends. But you can afford a better class of enemy.”

But Francis Bacon really hit a homer with his statement, “Money is like muck, not good except it be spread.”

According to Samuel Butler, “All progress is based upon a universal innate desire on the part of every organism to live beyond its income,” which is a good description of our current situation.

Then, of course, there is Emile Henry Gauvreay’s almost perfect description of the attitude that got many of us where we are today, “I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending their lives doing things they detest to make money they don’t want to buy things they don’t need to impress people they dislike.”

If you want to significantly improve your life you should embrace Bacon’s words, while eschewing Gaureay’s.

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Power is interesting—an almost tangible phenomenon.

People crave power relative to their image of themselves. What seems like a small amount to you may be enormous to another.

According to Margaret Thatcher, “Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.”

Alice Walker warns that “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.”

Of course, a lot of people have just quit thinking, so they don’t have to worry about their power.

Francis Bacon tells us that “Knowledge is power,” but doesn’t mention that knowledge requires more than book-leaning and texting.

Napoleon said “Power is my mistress. I have worked too hard at her conquest to allow anyone to take her away from me.” Wow, he would make a great hedge fund manager, don’t you think?

Abraham Lincoln warns that “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

Sadly, most have failed the test.

As usual, the best wisdom about power is old.

In the mid 1600s Blaise Pascal said, “Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just,” but it will be a cold day in hell when that happens.

But It was Lao Tzu who best summed up power 2500 years ago when he said, “He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”

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