Today’s blog entry, another chapter in my ode to M.E. series is in reference to a comment that dhs left on the blog yesterday….”the difficulties for a manager to divorce personal from professional…”
around 8 years ago …. when I was just a good sales man and leader at my previous company, I assumed I knew more than my boss. I will not ramble on about the “Jack Murphy syndrome” this has been discussed a couple times previously.
However ….
My previous boss did not meet sales people nor just about any employee. He did not go office to office to do training and give his personal input into the teams. He DEFINITELY did NOT waste his time over personal staff issues.
I remember sitting around talking with my “best friend,” I remember saying something like… “if I was the CEO….I would be more accessible. I would be more involved with the sales. I would lead more from the front … blah blah blah blah….”
Many years later, I reflect and see how naive I was.
Surely, what helped me launch naseba successfully so quickly was my “accessibilty” to all employees. As well as the fact, I led by example from the front. I think most people will say that I am good motivator - and I bring out the best in many people.
Whether people think naseba is successful or not - comparitively speaking, none of our competitors achieved as much in their first 5 1/2 years as we have. We did not have the dotcom boom to assist our growth either. We started in France, one of the most anti-entrprenuerial countries in the world
In the beginning, this “hands on” and personal time investment, for the most part created strong loyalties from employees - who gave 200% to the company. Even to this day, we have ex-naseba employees that still have a keen interest in what we are doing and are loyal readers of this blog.
As we have expanded, this style of management has caused me many head aches and surely held the company back from achieving more.
Just to explain…
I am very personable…. and live my life by the idea of “make it happen…” and in the past I have gotten very involved challenging each sales staff to make their lives happen.
When you give people your attention - and focus on their success … in a word, you become “personal” with them, it works great - until the day you are too busy, thus you can not give them the same attention nor time and focus.
Once the personal attention and focus that I was able to give to certain employees is gone - there is a “let down”
When they do not succeed - it becomes personal — they push the blame off onto me or onto naseba. “Scott is an asshole … Scott doesn’t know what he is doing…blah blah blah…”
When you get close to someone you manage, they become very difficult to manage — I have found that decisions & discussions get “personal,” when you have to say something to the staff they do not like to hear….. and some even become “super bitches…”
I have been told that it is believed by people in the company as well as outside … “if scott likes you …. you will make more money, and your job is safe.” This has created a situation where people are more concerned about me liking them - than them actually making their jobs happen.
Processes, roles, and responsibilities ….
Unfortunately, even if I can get more sales out of our sales people than anyone else in the company, I do not have the time, nor is this my role anymore ….
Corporate culturally, this change in reporting has created several problems because some people were so used to having me sort out their issues before that they can not get their heads around having reporting lines … “Fabien said no …. so what, I will go to Scott, and sell him on saying yes….Scott really likes me….blah blah blah.”
This above example is surely, my fault - and in a word, my “failure” as a leader last year was that I did not have better processes in place.
Yesterday, Ackash fired one of his staff because the kid just did not show up to work on Tuesday (it was his birthday so he felt he could just not show up to work)
But because I had sat in this guys training school for 30 minutes…and I noted in front of Ackash that I thought this kid has a lot of potential…..when he got fired, the guy shows up at my office and asks me for another chance.
Ridiculous.
However, this is a problem/consequence that my style of management created.
There is something in my personality that has created “stalkers” throughout my life … a girl stalked me in high school; an old girl friend in college as well as several previous employees, and recently, culminating into the blogger stalker.
My previous boss told me on a few occassions that I gave my people too much of my time and energy…and he further this thought always by reminding me “they do not give a damn about you…”
Unfortunately, as we have expanded and developed, I have learned first hand that what he said for the most part was spot on.
Sitting on the other side of the fence from the team is a whole new ball game. It comes down to having clear processes, precise roles/responsibilities - and then through KPI’s clearly defining what is expected from each team member - whether they are the sales director - or the coffee boy.
In the end - results do not lie. Whether I like someone or not — if they do not perform, or they prove disloyal, no matter how much talent that person might have - no matter how much they might think Scott likes them; no matter how much they like me …. it is a business - not a family.
My suggestion for anyone who reads this blog - focus on being the best you can be … do not worry about being liked….do not worry about being “cool” …. do not worry about what other people are doing….
Focus on your own success and just f…ing sell.
2 Responses to “ode to Marcus Evans V…”
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May 16th, 2008 at 11:55 am
One of the best blogs … This will surely remain very close to my ideology in life whenever i move up the ladder…Thanks for sharing this Scott.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Straight out of a management text book or a jack welch hard back quoting from the me V blog entry.That is (refer below) exactly what an organisation is broken down into and should have :
“Processes, roles, and responsibilities ?.”
And I would like to add everything else is secondary and expendable…
CSR can you highlight what type of management style works for you. The idea is not to clone your inherent skills but to explore what works for one. Honestly how many of your sales managers if they looked back at lets say yester year 06 and compare themselves to today;they did realise how many things they could have done better in managing… In short managing the set prcesses better and being responsible in the given role.
So, does a nurturing style work or a more autocratic straight to the policies and procedure rule type of style. Once again the idea behind this request is not to change but to explore…