Bleacher Seat Not Available Anymore

When times are booming, we get slack, lazy; we lose our bearings. We have employed people hanging around our companies because, well, they're great or cool or funny or smart. It's like a client I heard say to me once, "We're doing so great that we sit around and try to figure what it is that we're doing so great, but we can't figure it out. I guess we're just great." Yikes.

But when times get tough and all of sudden you have to figure out who stays, who goes, who makes a difference and who doesn't; that's a totally different story.

No longer can a good company afford to have a person in the "bleacher seat" - you know, the person that "helps out" or "touches" a project, that doesn't really have responsibility, but has opinions and watches what goes on. We can't afford a person that flits in and out of a client relationship or an assignment. That person is radioactive - he or she hurts the project, the relationship and the company. He or she weakens a good company.

You're either involved, engaged, accountable - or you're not on the team, the project or in the company. It may sound harsh, but how can we rationalize a position with no consequences, no commitment and no purpose?

Eliminate the "bleacher seat" and make sure everyone in the company is in the field, playing to win and make a difference.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com