Bad Executive

Executive Advice: Don’t lose your cool

I used to be a huge hot head.  I was known for being somewhat explosive.  Like most “up-and-comers” I had more passion for our company than I knew what to do with.  When people made mistakes, or people didn’t get “it”(whatever “it” may have been) I would lose my cool and raise my voice.  I would almost always dismiss this person’s ideas.

You really do get more bees with honey.

It was one of the hardest lessons I had to learn in my career, and it was one of the most valuable.  Keep your head about you at all times.  It’s NOT OK to freak out.  Freak-outs, losing your temper, yelling, finger pointing, rash decisions, freezing up are all acts of panic and fear.  A “Bad Executive” never panics.  Instead they keep their cool and keep control of their situation.

“Tell yourself to ‘stay calm.’  If you have ten seconds to make a decision think for nine”
- Jeffrey J. Fox - How To Become CEO

You will never impress anyone by attacking them.  You will never get too far ahead by blaming everyone else.  Instead, take a deep breath.  You probably may need to quell your employees.  The masses will whip your frenzy for you.  There is a reason you are the boss, at least in theory.  It’s because you are better able to deal with the problems that might pop-up (again, in theory).  The person in charge should always seek to calm everyone down as well as solve the underlying problem.

FIRST calm everyone down.  If yours are like mine they will cackle like chickens until you stop them.  SECOND think about the problem and find a solution.  THIRD make your solution clear to the chickens and send them back to the coop.

Here are some basic steps in dealing with those things that make you blow your top:

1. The cause. Identify what causes you to fall under pressure, so that you will be able to focus on the root problem and avoid other distractions at the moment.
   
2. Prioritize. Perhaps you are facing a lot of dilemmas all at one time, so you have to know which one significantly hinders your level of functioning. Prioritize according to importance and urgency.
3. Formula. You have to determine a solution that is specifically designed for the particular problem that you intend to eliminate.
4. Schedule. Create a schedule and carry out your plan one step at a time.
   
5. Attitude. You have to give yourself time first to relax and let go of all the current problems. Do not panic, as it will only make matters worse.
   (roughly taken from this rather droll article)

No matter how you do it, KEEP YOUR WITS ABOUT YOU.  It’s why you are there and if you can’t you are even more a part of the problem.

“The most important skill in staying calm is not to lose sleep over the small issues.  The second most important skill is to be able to view all issues as small issues.”
-Paul Wilson

On the flip side, if you find this type of tantrum come your way, NEVER retaliate.  As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t even respond.  Instead you should laugh.  If you laugh you never give up the control.  In the process you are telling everyone in earshot you cant be rattled by someone losing their temper.  If you don’t you are just another cackling chicken.  Executives run the hen house, not roost in it.

Executive Advice: When Eating in Other countries

joeshua:

So a little advice on world cuisine.

1) Try the local fare as it may be the only time to have something authentic.  2) be adventurous. What have you got to loose besides your lunch?. 3) Do NOT force the local fare out of the colon. You may pay dearly later. 4) Last but not least, McDonalds are everywhere and so is Burger King. Don’t worry.

Executive Advice: family comes first

I was reminded of an important lesson tonight: your family comes first.

Make no mistake!  Your time, sweat, blood, tears, thoughts, efforts and labor belong to the company…but everything else, you owe to your family.  By family I mean wife, husband, partner, significant other, kids, parents…or all of the above.  Keep your family happy at home and your days go faster, your reports are easier to do, your meetings are more enjoyable at work.  I don’t know why this is true, I just know that it is.

While you are expected to have your ‘berry on the ready at all other times, family time means put it away.  No cell phones, emails, stupid reports, things to review…just quality time with the ones you love.

Disclaimer

What the hell am I doing here?

Mostly I think I’m trying to figure it all out just like everyone else.  As a young new media executive, I realized quickly that no one really teaches you how to be a good executive.  Most people fight and push incredibly hard to get there only to realize they have no idea what they are doing once they are there.  Some are completely lost on what to do next while others get drunk on the power and the “role”.  Regardless, they all want to make their mark and prove themselves in the job and there is no manual for what’s next.

I wasn’t bred into being an exec.  I didn’t go to business school and I didn’t come from an affluent family.  Instead I went to the school of hard knocks and learned early on you have to work for everything, and it doesn’t hurt to be smart.  What I know I learned by watching, reading, asking, studying, doing and redoing. 6 years into it I admit I have done a fairly poor job of recording those findings so I can access them later.  I remember the most important ones and have the notes and books on all the rest, but this is 2008 and I want to be able to search them, sort them, and socially share them.  I hear you can do those things on computers these days. 

My success is the only reason I am qualified to share any of my thoughts or advice on getting ahead and being a good exec.  I dropped out of Ph.D. program in Neuroscience to follow my entrepreneurial dreams on the web.  I never looked back, I took a lot of calculated risks and I was very successful…especially at surviving the late 90’s bubble.  I ended up as the youngest Senior Vice President at a fortune 500 company (top 100 actually).  I’m successful, I’m happy, I’m building wealth and I’m pushing my company to innovate and excel.   Along the way I’m also mentoring several young executives coming up in the ranks behind me.

In all of it, you have to have a little fun.  Hence the “bad” advice.  I’m sure i’m at least a little crazy.  I have been called a genius, though it’s usually prefaced with words like “twisted.”  I’m a little dark, and my humor is a little dark.  I find most of human behavior absurd and hilarious on some level.  I hope my humor comes through in what I write here.  I took me a while to not take everything so gravely serious, so now I practice taking a lighter view. 

Also, I try not to define myself by what I do in my career.  One dimensional executives almost never succeed.  It’s a huge chunk of my life for sure, but it’s not everything.  I have a great girlfriend and partner whom I share my life with.  She motivates me far more than anything else in my life.  I’m also a DJ, I love to race cars and watch them being raced, I love to play games, exercise & travel.  I am a gadget freak and the guy most of my friends go to for tech support. I swear a lot, I collect pop art and I have an avid fascination for cosmology and the origins of the universe.  

Also, I have a freakish obsession with sneakers.  I have somewhere near 200 pairs total, though the total number is under heavy dispute.  Every day I hope to take a picture of one pair, and post it here.  I try to wear every pair at least once.  If they aren’t my sneakers, and going on my feet that day I’ll make a note of where and when I saw them.  Mostly they are mine, I just wanted to chronicle my collection online.  Also, I wear them to work in my job as an executive every day.  They add a little of that fun that I thrive on at work.  They make people look and smile, and they make me stand out from the rest of the up-tight, tucked in mob that make up my peer group.

That’s my disclaimer.  If you don’t like anything i’ve written here or disagree with my opinions or don’t find my humor to your liking then feel free to leave me a comment and tell me so. Or just go away. You decide.