simplerich

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Google+ lately and am finding the conversation over there excellent. I’m getting a lot more traction there than here. Funny how that works. One of the things I’ve noticed over there, and the Internet-at-large honestly, is a lot of people claiming to be entrepreneurs as their job.

I call foul. If a person is truly an entrepreneur they’re starting up a business. They have a stake in it and they are trying to get it off the ground. I would think if they were engaging in a social network they would want to advertise their business, you never know when you’ll find someone interested in helping a fledgeling business take off. These people aren’t talking about a business though. They’re talking about a mindset and that mind set isn’t a job.

There are entrepreneurs I look up to. Myspace Tom is one. He was Myspace for a lot of years. He didn’t say he was an entrepreneur. He said he was Myspace. Today he says he’s retired but he continues to look for an idea he’s passionate about that he’ll do next. He doesn’t call himself an entrepreneur. He recognizes that it’s not a job to be an entrepreneur. It’s a calling. It’s a way of life. It’s the way you’re wired. It’d be like saying you’re a Libra (well… except that Libra isn’t all that real but you get my meaning.)

Imagine you’re an entrepreneur starting up a new business selling widgets and you’ve got three employees in your start-up. You’ve invested all your money in it. Mortgaged your house, cashed in your 401k and your wife’s 401k and you’re making a go at it with all cylinders. Would your business card say “Entrepreneur” or would it say “Widgetopia!” My guess is it would say “Widgetopia!” And that’d be in 20 point type.

What’s it mean to your employees, those three people you stay up all night with working with to get things done by a deadline, what’s it mean to them if your business card says “Entrepreneur?” It means to them as soon as you can get the business off the ground and sold for a profit you’re going to hit the road. You’re not in it for the long haul. You’re in it until you can monetize them and run. It’s one thing to have the entrepreneurial spirit or to think like an entrepreneur. It’s another to claim to be one all the time.

I wonder if they’re really entrepreneurs or if they’re dilettantes? If they don’t have the attention span or commitment to do the running of a business. Or maybe they’ve got an idea that’s good enough to sell during a bubble, but not sustainable and they hope to get out before anybody notices? Or maybe they’re unemployed and don’t want to say that. I don’t know what it is. But I don’t know if “entrepreneur” as it’s used today by those people calling themselves “entrepreneurs” means what they think it means.

I get that it’s today’s go-to buzzword way for a person to indicate they’re creative, think outside the box, and are able to do a wide variety of tasks to get things done. But it’s not at all indicative in it’s spirit of sticking to a project. It doesn’t portray to an employer, a person who is in it for the long haul. If you want to be thought of as creative just use that word, and then show it. BE creative. BE thoughtful. BE civil. BE polite. BE the person you’d want other people to think you are.* Don’t just say it. And, if you DO say it, use the word correctly.

I was training a new employee at work today. Today was her first day. She used to be a customer and would only come in when I was working because I made her feel welcome, comfortable and special. She said she wanted to work at a place that employed that kind of person. She and her mother came in almost weekly for about six weeks. They wound up sending me a thank you note and bringing me a plate of goodies after they were done doing their party they were doing. It was VERY nice.

At shift change today my clerk that’s been there six months and the new girl were talking and the six month employee said, “Rich is the best manager I’ve ever had. You know some places have like good cop assistant manager and bad cop manager? Well Rich is totally good cop and he’s the best manager I ever worked for. He really cares about his employees and it’s awesome.” The new girl said, “Whose the bad cop?” The six monther said, “You don’t need a bad cop when everybody looks out for each other. The assistant is more gruff or short or rough around the edges, but he’s not a bad cop. Rich likes to think he is but he’s totally not.” I was counting my drawer down while they “girl-talked.”

I interrupted from my counting, “Don’t believe her, I’m a jerk if you mess up.”

Six-monther said, “You won’t want to mess up. It’s like you let him down and he doesn’t yell at you at all, he just goes all quiet and talks about how he knows you can do better and how did he mess up in the training or the communication of what he wanted and by the end of it I’m all, ‘Just yell at me! I’m sorry!‘ He’s great. I don’t ever want to work for anybody else. I wish I could have trained you one day, but I’m not management though.”

I interrupted again, “If the schedule had worked out I’d have totally let you train her. You’ve got an excellent work ethic, you do your cleaning really well, the customers really like you. I’ve got total confidence in your ability to be an excellent example to anybody I hire.”  That’s true too. I wasn’t just saying that. She’d have done an excellent job.

“See! Isn’t he great? Now how awful will I feel if I mess something up tonight?” Six-monther laughed, “I won’t though. He makes it easy to do good.”

Now, I’m not saying this because it makes me look good or makes me look like a push-over. I’m not… but there are a LOT of ways to manage and expecting good things, encouraging good things, and rewarding good behavior works for me, a LOT better than just punishing bad behavior. Which I DO do when it needs it. But it’s nice when an employee is bragging about how great it is to work at a place. I’m super excited for my crew and for the new employee being excited to join a crew that’s excited to have her and doesn’t see her as a threat to their hours.

“Rich, I didn’t get my assigned task done but I’ll finish it tonight when I come in. I didn’t feel good. Don’t be mad.”

That was a note that greeted me recently when I came to work. I was confused. In the whole time I’ve worked with this employee I’d never been mad at them. I couldn’t think of a time I’d been mad at another employee in front of the one who left the note and drew a complete blank. I’m not saying I never get upset or angry with employees. I do. But it’s NOT for doing an assigned task. I also almost never get angry with an employee for breaking a rule (unless it’s one of the fatal four that’ll get you fired at once).

What I get is disappointed. If someone doesn’t meet my expectations I’m disappointed in them. They let me down and the rest of the crew and themselves. That’s often what they mean when they say “Don’t be mad.” Which is strange. How is it that they confuse those two things? I’m not going to go all philosophical or anything, but anger and disappointment aren’t the same at all in me. It’s possible there are people out there who, when they’re disappointed, they lash out… angrily at those around them but I don’t think that’s something I’ve seen in a good manager and I fancy myself at least somewhat in that camp.

If you’re curious what WILL make me mad it’s when an employee tells me they’ll do something and they don’t. If they say they’ll take on a job and they don’t. If they say they will work X hours and then they back out of it… That irritates me because it’s a lie and a violation of trust and it does more that disappoint me it undermines my trust in the individual.

I guess the only other thing is if you call in five minutes before your shift and say something like “I’ve been throwing up since Thursday…” Then why the heck didn’t you call before now?!? I’d have had time to find someone to work. ARGH! That’s pretty rare though.

When I’m training a new employee part of the conversation I have with them is about volunteering for things and offering to do things and how important it is for me if they say they’re going to do something that they do it. If they want to impress me with almost no risk of it back-firing if they wind up unable to do it… do something without telling me ahead of time they’re going to do it. But don’t, oh my… DON’T!!! tell me you’re going to alphabetize the widgets in descending date order and then not do it. That’ll make my hair stand on end. I won’t yell. I won’t rant. I won’t shake my fist at the heavens… OK. I might do that, but not when there’s anybody here. But I will be upset. Telling me you’ll do something and not doing it makes me mad. Failing to meet expectations doesn’t make me mad. It disappoints.

I’ve been asked if I’m mad if I have to fire someone and I’m mostly not. Mostly I’m disappointed they chose to not do the job. One of the things they used to go over at supervisor meetings was that we needed to hire better people and I always looked around the table wondering who out there was intentionally hiring turds. None of us do that. All the background checks in the world won’t tell us if an employee is a good one or not. The calibre of employee isn’t decided by whether or not they’ve passed a background check. Adding the background checks hasn’t decreased turn-over or employee theft. It’s added an expense and delay in the hiring process but that’s it. So when it comes to hiring I tend to hire people I think are capable of doing well. When they don’t and they wind up being let go… I’m more disappointed than angry.  Again… unless they’ve done one of the fatal 4 things… that irritates me because I tell them what those are every day of training and I tell them every day what will happen if they do them so it’s just STUPID of them to do those things… and the part where they obviously think I’m stupid and won’t catch them… that’s the part that makes me mad. I hate being treated like I’m stupid.

So… if you don’t do your cleaning list I won’t be mad. I might take disciplinary action if I think it’s warranted, but I won’t be mad when I do it.

I got the call. I just got back from a special project week and now I’m going again. I had  a week back at my store. When the manager’s gone everybody’s schedule gets jerked around. Everybody takes on more work. Everybody feels it.

Hey all,

Last trip for a while, honest! I’ve been called back to that store I just left. Evidently they can’t find the pencils or something.

Thank you for holding it together for me while I was gone last week and thanks in advance for doing it next week as well. I appreciate the work you all do to keep things going well in my absence.

It makes me proud as a manager to have a crew that steps up and allows me to take a week off TWICE in a month to go do special projects… not just to go, but to not worry about our store. I know y’all will take care of the store, the customers, and each other while I’m gone for another week.

Thank all of you. It really means a lot to me!

Rich

So, they’ll all step up. They’ll all get more hours and more work and I think… when I get back… I think we’ll have a crew meeting as an excuse to all have pizza together so I can tell them what we learned at the new store. We? Yeah.

The COO (Chief of Operations) asked me and my assistant manager to go out and help. He’s there now so he ran my store last week, is working there this week and is running my store again next week lol. It’s good to be wanted but I bet he’s going to want a nap soon. I was thrilled when the COO asked for him by name. It’s a pretty big deal when someone three levels up knows who you are and wants you to come help and then shows up and works with you, side by side… for days. Yah. My assistant was thrilled. My boss was there and said he did really well so I’m beaming like a proud dad. I couldn’t be happier for him, not threatened by a competent assistant manager at all. It’s why I picked him!

A group of us sat around a picnic table after a long day of working together. Two of us were eating ice cream. Two were smoking. Easter was around the corner and Rhode Island was turning green as the last of the snows were melting out of the ditches and shadows. It was March and basketball was a huge topic of conversation. The Celtics were doing well and Rhode Island considers them their local team evidently. We had on light jackets and the sun was warm on our faces. We’d locked up the new store and met at the hotel before we were going to dinner at a diner that was reportedly amazing. (It was. Greek salads! nom nom nom!)

“How long have you worked with Mongo?” I asked the person who’d come up from our Connecticut store with Mongo (who was moving there to manage the new store we were opening.)

“He’s worked at the store as assistant manager for I think a year? Maybe a little over a year.”

“Were they a good assistant manager?” One of the people who’d come from our corporate office to help asked. At these store projects we try to bring a couple of people from corporate, get them out from behind their desk, let them help build a store from ground up (well, walls in), and meet and work with us field folks. It’s a morale thing… and important for them as well to know what we do and where we do it. We tend to get tunnel vision with our jobs.

My ears perked up as the person answered with alacrity, “Oh yes. I was thrilled when they promoted Mongo.” The speaker was the manager, we’ll call him Roy, who Mongo had worked for. So the speaker is the manager. Mongo is the assistant manager (Yes, we took the store’s entire management team to another store. There were other stores nearby and they were used to helping each other out.)

My eyebrow went up. “They promoted him? You didn’t get to pick your assistant?”

Roy looked at me like I’d burped out loud in a nice restaurant and then patted my belly and grinned. “No. I might only promote my friends. My supervisor picks who gets promoted.”

“Oh. That makes sense. So you tell him your choices and he picks then. I can see that.” I couldn’t, but I wasn’t about to say so.

“No. He picks.”

“Ah. But Mongo was good then.”

Roy nodded and lit another cigarette, “Way better than my last one. The last one was always after my job and out to prove something. Mongo’s not. He just does what he’s told and isn’t a threat at all.”

“What happened to the eager beaver go-getter so that you got Mongo?” I asked, morbidly fascinated.

“I finally ran him off. He’s running some store at the mall now.” He said with a slight grin.

I stared at the person from the office who quietly stared at a knothole in the table and licked her ice cream trying to catch her eye. I swear I could see her ears growing as she mentally tried to record all this for later. I died on the inside a little.

“Oh.”

“Well how would you like it if your employees were always after your job?” The manager asked, a little defensively.

“Well.” My boss shifted at the table and flicked her cigarette into the sand bucket. “I’m going to go to my room and we’ll meet here at 6:30 for dinner right?”

“I have two employees who want my job right now and I’m trying to find another one who wants it. The manager of one of my stores is sort of coasting and so is their store and I think it can grow more with someone with a little fire in their belly.”

“You want people who want your job?”

The office person was looking at me as I took a bite out of my ice cream cone… vanilla, from McDonalds. “Yes. If I’m not the best employee there they deserve it. If I don’t have someone pushing me from the bottom where’s my reason to get better? If I ever want to get a promotion or a transfer I have to be able to say I’ve got a line of replacements to choose from. If I only hire people worse than me I’m stuck… even worse… if they only hire worse than them it’s a spiral of death. It’ll kill a store. I want people who want my job because I might want my bosses job one day.” She was still there and heard it. Roy’s head snapped over to her for a reaction.

She shrugged. “The day he’s better than me he can have it. I think I’m better than he is so far.” She turned and went inside with a shrug.

Roy shook his head, “I don’t think that’s any way to run a business. It sounds cut throat. People jockeying for positions instead of settling into their jobs and doing them.”

The lady from the office inhaled to say something, closed her mouth. Ate some ice cream and pushed herself away from the table. “I’ll be back down in a few. I’m going to freshen up.” I said I was going to do the same and followed her in.

As we climbed the stairs, “You know that’s not how we do things don’t you?”

She said, “I know it’s not how the midwest is doing things. But wow… just wow.” She could say that because it was the midwest district supervisor who’d been there when I said I wanted her job.

“Yeah.”

“His takeaway from all that was that being good at your job and wanting to grow with the company is destructive?”

“Some people are just comfortable. They’ll never be great managers, but the doors will open on time and whatever you tell them to do will mostly get done.”

“Would you want him working for you?”

I laughed as she slid her keycard into the door. “The one I’m working to replace is just like that. I can’t stand it. I don’t mean everybody has to want my job… but the idea that they’d only hire someone worse than them? Ugh.” I shuddered.

“No kidding. See you in a few.”

So we went to dinner and any time anything like that came up again I talked about basketball. I don’t know anything about basketball but I don’t care about it at all so people’s opinions on it didn’t make me want to scream and run out of the room. I was a young supervisor when that happened. I had 5 stores and had had them for about a year. I’m not sure how that conversation would go today. I might try and make it into a coaching opportunity… but maybe not. I had another week working closely with them. Maybe I’d just keep my mouth shut to keep the peace and make sure their bosses knew.

None of those people are still with the company except the lady from the office and my boss. We’re a stronger company for it.

(My blog software tells me that my use of the word “lady” here is bias language. It was a female human being who was there from the office and since she’s still with us I didn’t feel I should use her name… so, I didn’t. What should I have called her if not lady? She is and was a lady.)