I always wanted to be successful. I guess everyone does. Nobody gets up at 7:30am and says, “I want to be a failure.”
But being a success was something I felt compelled to do. I actually read the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. (More for amusement than instruction, of course.) The play, a funny satire based on the book, is about office politics (way before Dilbert) and it’s now in revival on Broadway.
Here’s a short excerpt from the book:
1. Start in a lower-level position at a company to get your foot in the door. The mail room is often a good place.
2. Get out of the mail room as soon as possible. Don’t take a promotion here, or you could be stuck your entire career. Suggest someone else for the job; then go after a position in another department.
3. Get on the company president’s good side. Making him think you went to the same college will work well. This can put you in line for a vice- presidency.
4. Get a brilliant idea. This is especially true if you became Vice President of Marketing. Otherwise, you’re in big trouble.
5. Endear yourself to the chairman of the board. This is needed especially if your big idea proves a disaster. Not only could it save your hide, it can put you in line to replace him when he retires.
These tips from the book couldn’t possibly help me when I purchased Shamrock in 1989. Then it was just me and seven employees. I literally was the company president, the VP of marketing and the chairman of the board — all rolled into one hotshot! No one to suck up to! That’s when I quickly realized I had to endear myself to these seven employees, because I’d never survive without their expertise and input.
Each year I learn, over and over again, that my success as a manager is measured by the success of the people who work with me.
I also realize that, over and over again, I look to hire people who are happy to start at the bottom (in the proverbial “mail room”) if that’s what it takes to get a foot in the door. But I look for people with a fire in the belly who want to be challenged and move up to the next rung and then the next. Once these folks are motivated I stay out of their way and let them keep climbing.
FINAL THOUGHT…
A manager’s success in business does not come from a My Way or the Highway Philosophy. That kind of thinking is just plain stupid. Success comes from listening to the ideas of the people on your team, and working together — cheering one another on — to achieve the goals you’ve planned for. Oh, and there’s nothing wrong with remaining in the mail room, as long as that’s where you want to be, and you’re doing a damn good job there.
