CEO – Lighten Up!

By Larrywomack.com 

Why is it you pay your employees the least amount of money it takes to keep them on the job?  Why is it you agree to a plan and change your mind in the middle of the execution of the plan, even if the plan is working?  Why is it you want instant gratification from the business and you expect those who work for you to wait for theirs?  Why is money the only measure for success you use?  Why is it you used to enjoy your work and now you don’t?

Why is it that many successful entrepreneurs eventually become invincibly ignorant and engage in self- and company-destroying behaviors?  A bad attitude, especially from the boss, is the worse thing that can happen to a company.  It is infectious.  Yet many CEOs who have achieved a modicum of success turn sour and take it out on those who are trying to build on his or her achievements.

All these questions have the same answer:  insecurity.

When the company was small, the entrepreneur controlled most of the activities because he did most of the work.  The larger the company gets, the more difficult it becomes to control.  Most CEOs who find themselves in this predicament are insecure about their ability to make good judgments and to successfully manage the affairs of the growing company.  To mask their insecurity, they turn to controlling, sadistic, bullying, or abusive behavior to make sure employees know the CEO is still in charge.

They turn to management-by-stupidity.  Stupidity is the deliberate cultivation of ignorance.  Though the company may continue to grow for a period of time, failure is just around the corner for the ignorant leader who won’t admit to himself or herself that instead of being in control he is actually out of control!

Just as a bad attitude from the leader is the worst thing that can happen to a group of people, a good attitude can change things for the better in the wink of an eye.  Remember, your employees want to be on your side.  They want to go home every day with a sense of accomplishment.  They want to do a good job and get appropriately recognized and rewarded for it.  They want you to succeed.

If your people aren’t doing the work you want them to, chances are they’re not working for the right boss.  Make work challenging, rewarding, and fun.  Eliminate fear, ignorance, and divisiveness from the workplace.  Get help for yourself and become curious again.  “Curiosity,” wrote Leonard Rubinstein, “is a willing and proud confession of ignorance.”  Exchange your bad habits for good ones.

Believe you can be successful without using and abusing others.  Out of our beliefs deeds are born.  Out of our deeds we form habits.  Out of our habits grows our character.  On our character we build our destiny.  Lighten up!                                                                                                  

Is Ignorance Really Bliss?