I need a team beneath me

I worked with a good guy for a long time. He constantly talked of needing to have a great support team so that he could do his job. He felt his boss was close-minded and cheap and would have nothing of it. I asked exactly what kind of team he needed.

As he described the team, it occurred to me that he wanted people who were actually better than he was at his job. People who would do the things he was paid to do, only better and at a lower salary. Having this dream team would afford him the opportunity to work the minimum number of hours, sit back and watch them perform, bring in results and ultimately, make him successful--without him having to break a sweat.

As you can guess, he didn't work out at this job. He went on to another job and then finally bought a business with dozens of employees. He talked to me years later and told me how hard he was working, how many hours he was putting in and how hands-on he was.

It's tough when you take ownership of your job or a company. You have to be hands-on enough to be in touch, but hands-off enough to allow others to grow and do what they do best.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
labov.com

Collusion

I'll let you off the hook if you do the same for me
I won't mention how bad your project is going as long as you keep quiet about mine

The above are examples of collusion that we deal with every day in business. But there are other, less obvious, examples of collusion such as allowing a person to not do their job because they had to attend to someone else's job. Or to excuse poor performance because it involves a difficult client or under-performing employee.

Without realizing it, we excuse others and allow them to break promises so that we can do the same. This undermines our best intentions.

As tough as it seems, it is not okay if you break your promise, even though you're dealing with someone else who didn't live up to their promise. If we faced every situation like that, we'd be forced to solve our problems, not to endure them and accept them.

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com

Foolish thoughts

Foolish thoughts:

Maybe it's all coming together (whatever it is)
Maybe someone will appreciate what I have done
Maybe I'll be paid for what I'm worth
Maybe I'll finally be satisfied (with whatever, fill in the blank)
Maybe this new product will turn our company around
Maybe waiting for the new manager to be hired will solve it all
This time, the government will get it right
Maybe this one blog will make the difference

Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com