#279: Abuse of the P word

We are quick to get angry when CEOs abuse their power and rightly so. But I get even angrier when employees abuse privileges.

Its not easy being a CEO. There is a dark side that others don’t always appreciate. It is the burden of decision making. When you are unsure of what to do, you ask your boss. Or your boss’ boss. Ultimately this delegating upwards ends with the CEO. That’s why it’s lonely at the top.

I work with two CEOs who are feeling a bit lonely. Both have designed their organizations to be flatter, with fewer rules and more freedom. And yet, both have a couple of employees who are abusing these privileges, mainly by slacking off.

Both CEOs now feel that they have failed for not being tough enough.

That’s when I get really angry, when a couple of lazy, immature employees see fit to poison the workplace of adults. And this at a time when even bad jobs are scarce.


I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#278: Assemble your team

Believe it or not, I used to play rugby in my younger days.

I liked it because whenever I touched the ball, I had fourteen muscled guys backing me up. If I fumbled a pass or missed a tackle, they stepped in.

Having those fourteen guys made it easier for me to take the gaps that could win the game. In other words, they gave me the confidence to take the necessary risks to succeed.

I have never heard of a heart attack happening during a game of rugby, but it does seem to happen often on the golf course. In golf, you’re on your own and the stress is yours alone. Nobody shares it, nobody backs you up.

Here’s my point.

If you are struggling during this recession, please don’t do it on your own. Going it alone increases your stress and decreases your tolerance for creative risk taking. Be sensible, ask for help, assemble a team to back you up.


I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#277: Believing your own recession

Are we in a recession? Maybe, maybe not. Because economic data is always out of date, we never actually know.

Why then do so many people behave as if they do know for sure? (Time out. Have you lost your job? I’m sorry. The rest of my little tirade is not aimed at you.)

In many ways business people are simply running with the herd. It’s fear that does it. Not fear of the recession so much as fear of being the odd one out. Your fear makes you give in to peer pressure. You don’t want to be left out or left behind. And so you make nonsense decisions based on other peoples’ perceptions of reality.

Be warned. By running with the herd you run the risk of actually triggering your own personal recession. You start believing your fear.

It’s weird walking around with a happy face when others act so depressed, but I’d rather be weird than in a recession of my own making.


I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#276: Have cheese with your whine

I recently said that I could see a silver lining in this cloud of bad news. I see it in the return of good manners and polite behavior as people afraid of losing jobs and companies afraid of losing customers start behaving better.

But every silver lining has a dark cloud. Many dark clouds have turned up their volume lately because they think that their time has come.

I’m talking about the moaners and the whiners. We meet them every day and sometimes them is us.

What do you do when you run into one? Do you grin and bear it? Do you engage and argue? Here are my two favorite strategies. First I try the law of two feet. Yes, that’s right. Walk away. Don’t participate, it just encourages them.

And if I can’t get away, what then? I ask the moaner if he wants some cheese to go with his whine.

Devastating, yes, but so effective.


I’m James McIntosh at nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#275: The recession is in the past

Tell me, how do we define a recession? Let me remind you.

We have a recession when the country's gross domestic product, its GDP, shrinks for at least two consecutive quarters. A depression is more severe and lasts longer.

The really important part of this definition always seems to get lost when so-called experts talk about recessions and depressions.

Did you spot it? It is that bit about ‘for at least two quarters’. Why is that significant? Well, it tells you that we never actually know whether we are in a recession or not. You see, a recession is always in the past. Economic data is historic because it takes months to gather.

So how do we know that this quarter is part of the recession? We don’t.

Until you do know, you have two options. Act as if your business is still in a recession or behave as if the recovery has begun. It’s your choice.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#274: The worst thing about this recession

You know what’s the worst thing about this recession? Okay, okay, there are many ‘worst’ things about this recession, but here’s the worst thing I’m facing right now.

It’s this feeling that no matter what I try, it is not going to make a difference.

The worst thing is not the actual feeling, but that often I catch myself agreeing with this feeling. I think, ‘what’s the use’ even though I know that this thought, unchecked, will soon lead to a belief of ‘nothing I do will matter’.

And we know how difficult it is to change a belief.

So, how do I fight this feeling? I think of the people who built the Panama Canal, of how often they faced ‘what’s the use’; of John Stevens, the Chief Engineer, who said, “Do something (even) if it is wrong, for you can correct that, but there is no way to correct nothing.”

Then I get up and I do something... even if it might be wrong.


I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#273: The overpaid CEO backlash

It begins. The overpaid CEO public relations backlash. Trying to convince us that they are worthy, not greedy.

Oh, to be so insecure that your main measure of public success is how much money you make.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some worthy CEOs out there who are not overpaid for how they do what they do. And I’m not talking about those high-image CEOs who supposedly earn only $1 per year. I am talking about average-Joe CEOs, like the one around the corner who took a 60% pay cut to protect jobs in his firm. And the one who drove a 12 year old company car while he rescued a faltering public company and saved thousands of jobs.

Come on people, it’s not the size of your wallet that matters, but the size of your contribution. Let me make that easy to remember: It’s not how much you make, it’s what you make for your take.


I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#272: Time to be friendly

Well, well, well, there is a silver lining in this cloud of bad news. Read and see if you spot it.

Years ago I was meeting with a manager in his office when his telephone rang. He ignored it. Being polite, I suggested that it would be okay if he wanted to answer it. “No”, he said, “You took the trouble to come to see me. If this caller wants to talk to me, he can wait or do what you did, visit with me.”

Let’s scroll forward to recent times. I’m an outsider in a meeting when a cell phone rings. The meeting falters as almost everyone grabs at their cell phones. I look at the CEO; he shrugs.

Well, I’ve seen signs recently of a return to good manners and polite behavior. Why? People afraid of losing their jobs and companies afraid of losing customers are behaving much better.

And we seem to have more time on our hands to be friendly. I like it.


I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA

#271: Manage your leadership gap

Let’s talk about what I call the leadership gap. Do you think that leaders should be good at what they do or great at what they do?

Be careful, it’s a trick question. The right answer is... both.

You should be great at what is weak in others but important to the success of your organization.

And you should be good at what you need others to be good at. By ‘good’ I mean slightly better than them.

Here’s why. Most of us are not motivated by ‘great’ because we believe that ‘great’ is out of our reach. But we will aim to be good, even to be better than the leader, because we know that good is possible.

The trick is never to make the leadership gap so big that no one can follow you. Better to lead from only a few steps ahead. Else you will be admired from afar by people who are no longer followers.



I’m JamesMcIntosh@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2009 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio: Monday - 7:19am and Saturday - 8:19am
88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA | 89.1 FM WCNV, Heathsville VA | 90.1 FM WMVE, Chase City VA