Leaders Do Stupid Things To Kill Their Business

All About Me

I once watched a franchise owner purchase a brand new set of vehicles for he and his wife.  Hers was a small premium model sports car and his was a bright yellow Hummer.  They took delivery of those two new vehicles six months apart from each other.  That was not the bad news.  The worst news that hit their business model came because they also took delivery of the second vehicle two weeks after they had sent a series of business 'change' notices to all of their franchisees about some cost increases they were placing on the franchise fee's.  It appeared almost too obvious.  It appeared as though the owners get two new costly rigs landed in their garage while the workers get dinged for the rent.  It was a stupid series of moves.  Within one year, six franchise managers opted out of their contract with that owner and three others ended up in court to litigate against the owner on several other business issues.  Today, a once thriving franchise model is all but destroyed.  Leaders do stupid things to kill their business.

I know that the purchase of the new rigs was not the prime reason why so many franchisees were disgruntled enough to make such rash decisions about leaving or challenging the place where they work.  I know much more was behind the motivation to jump ship.  However, the timing of the two premium automobile purchases just added gasoline to a small fire.  An explosion occurred that may easily have been avoided if the new automobile purchases were delayed until after everything else was settled or modified to franchisee satisfaction. The timing was way off target.  It was a stupid move with stupid results.  In my business career, it rates as one of the more stupid moves I have witnessed in a business model.  That once thriving business model is all but gone and the two owners of that franchise business model are now divorced.  One drives a used car and the other one drives a three year old pick-up truck.  Both of those owners have fallen off the face of the visible business world.  Leaders do stupid things to kill their business.

I am not here to rub up against the wrong things my associates of the past have performed.  I do not benefit from that kind of writing.  However, if you benefit from seeing how some things may negatively affect your success efforts, then by all means let's chat about those things in a realistic way.  If we pull out 'real' examples of how things may turn out when stupid thinking becomes too persistent to avoid, by all means, let's get a real understanding about how wrong things can really go.  I know how much I fight against myself to parade my victories around the sphere of influence I draw.  I work on that problem every single day.  It is a "war within" that I continue to fight in the management efforts to control the ego portions of what I do.  I fight this war.  I am a guy who thrives on making victories happen in the life of a business model.  That is what I do.  I also am filled with the male ego enough to make sure I get noticed for the victories I placed on that trail.  That egotistical urge has come to the table and has also destroyed some of the good work I have been able to produce.  Leaders have these urges to do stupid things that kill their business efforts.  I am no exception.

I can sit at my desk, day after day, and quietly convince myself that my decisions were always warranted and just.  Even when they were not.  I can easily convince myself they were totally justified.  Every one of them.  Even if only one of them was destined to destroy what I have worked so hard to build.  I can easily convince myself it was justifiably good to make that destructive decision anyway.  I have made many decisions just like that in my business past.  I will also fight against myself in the near future with similar decision making patterns.  I will face the "war within" on my stupid decisions to support my rotten ego.  After all, it is my ego that helps me to muster up the courage to drive my business models to the success they enjoy.  As a natural result, I will trust the doings my ego performs.  Many of those ego driven decisions work well.  Unfortunately once in awhile, one of them comes to the surface and does some major business model damage.  Leaders do stupid things to kill their business.

I have participated in that role enough times to know how badly it can turn out.  It can make your money growth completely disappear.  Once discovered, I have learned from experience that changing back the wrong decision is not as easy as one might expect.  To the disgruntled business fire that was going on to the franchisees, it would not have helped that franchise owner very much if he immediately returned the two rigs back to the auto dealerships.  The damage had already been done.  Going back on a bad decision does not always work well.  That is precisely why it is so important to refrain from making stupid decisions in the first place.  There may be no 'make-ups' or no gainful possibility for 'overs.'  Leaders do stupid things to kill their business models.  I can provide a long list of evidence for the things I have personally witnessed.  Some of them have been my own.

All About Me

We allow our egos to grow up and become big boys and girls.  Those grown up egos come to the business table with more power than we should ever allow.  Sometimes those egos get way out of control and we do not notice how much control they own.  As a result, we get sideswiped when our egos make big nasty mistakes.  When that happens, we become the leaders who do stupid things to kill their business.

I fight against myself on this subject.  I call this process the "war within."  The enemy is self.  We become the warrior who builds it well and as a result, we then fight the same warrior for trying to destroy what we built.  It is a very simple game we play within.  All of us have it to some degree.  Some deny it enough to give it a good head of steam and later discover how damaging that head of steam can become.  Leaders do stupid things to kill their business.

Leaders grow up to become stronger about their opinions in order to get new ideas onto the working table.  Leaders need this process to incite others to try doing better at what they do. It is a self propelling process.  When leaders discover the power of that ability, they learn how to do it more often.  Doing it more often will eventually lead that leader to believe that everything they inject into their business model can and will win big.  This is not necessarily true.  However, the leader does not know that.  The leader has wired their mind-set into believing that all of their business decisions are good ones.  That franchise owner believed it was a good idea to purchase those two new vehicles at that time in his business life.  He did so against the suggestions and recommendations from his wife and his general manager not to do it.  His ego had grown up out of control without him recognizing it and he did it anyway.  It fueled the big move from his disgruntled franchise's and caused an immediate disaster to arrive for his once growing business model.  He never recovered.

I once traveled the trail doing business seminars.  I would talk about specific topics and share ideas on how business owners could begin to help themselves win more often in the business game.  It was a fun experience.  Those who attended were the ones who wanted to make some changes.  They were there because someone convinced them that checking out new ideas on how to operate better would be a good idea.  Most would not admit that truth, but at least they were there.  Even though they had taken the first step to begin their recovery and improvement work, they still had their egos sitting along side of them to protect their fragile worth.  Many of them still remained strong in their denial to admit that their businesses were struggling due to their own mistakes made.  We strongly protect our egos.  Night after night I witnessed hundreds of business owners do exactly that to their own business minds, protect the ego that drives the bus.

I had developed one of my presentations to be titled, "M.E."  I would begin my introductions with normal 'get-to-know-each-other' verbal stuff.  While I was walking about the front of the stage during that introduction process I would casually write on a white board those initials, "M.E."  I would talk for about fifteen minutes on my introduction and the purpose of the session plan.  The big initials would remain on the white board during all of that process.  I would watch the lay of the land in the room and begin my work when the group seemed to be settled in for a good session.  Once the neutralization process was completed, I began doing my teaching work.  I started to get into some of the more important issues of the day.  I started to work towards the discussion for improving how these business owners could increase their bottom lines.  The race was on.  The seminar kicked in.  Then out of nowhere, I would stop talking.  I would pause for a long moment.  I would allow the room to become so quiet you could hear the traffic on the freeways outside, through the concrete walls.  I remained still.  I would wait a little bit longer in my silence.  Then I would slowly turn around and start walking towards the white board.  I would look up to those two initials and pause.  With one hand pointing up to the initials I would turn slightly towards the audience.  I would ask, "Does anyone know what these two initials represent?"

I was once taught that whomever asks the questions is the person who is in charge.  Did you know that?  It is true.  The person asking the questions is the one who is in charge.  Never forget that truth.  If you need to win an argument, just keep asking the questions.  Never tell, never describe, never talk...just ask questions.  You will remain in control when that happens.  It is true.  Go try it out.

Another cool rule about asking questions is to remain silent until someone gives an answer.  Once you ask a question, remember this simple rule.  The person who speaks first after the question is asked, loses.  If you ask the question, shut up until someone else speaks.  If someone else asks the question, you do not need to answer.  Remain silent.  Discipline yourself to manage your leadership with these helpful techniques.  They work.  However, once you discover the power these techniques offer, do not abuse that power.  If you abuse your power as a learned leader you will eventually get to meet the law of compensation.  That will not be a friendly meeting, I promise.

I would ask, "Does anyone know what these two initials represent?"

After some long silence, someone would offer their opinion because the look on my face said, "Come on, someone give me an answer!"  If they got it correct, I would honor them with a lot of praise for knowing what those initials represented.  If they did not get it correct, I would reveal to them what they meant.  I would slowly write on the white board what I described they are.  I would write, "Male Ego...ME."  Then I would finish turning around to face them in total silence again.  I would watch them giggle and view the dynamics of their response.  My seminar lesson would immediately shift into this new topic.  How do we successfully manage the Male Ego?  Those were usually my best seminars.  There is always a period where the meeting after the meeting occurs.  This seminar always produced the best meetings after the meeting.  The discussions were crazy about how damaging each owner produced an egotistical process in their own business models in the past.  Some of them were very funny descriptions.  We are all guilty to some degree.

I do not think the owner of that franchise example above could have eventually avoided the business crash he had to endure.  However, he may have had a better chance to 'get it' if he had not set everyone on fire with his egotistical ways.  In the end, his ME got him.  It tackled his life and his business world and spit them out damaged forever.  Leaders do stupid things to kill their business.

By the way, you got some extra tidbits today.  Ask questions to gain control and make sure you do not become the first to speak after a question is asked.  Consider those leadership tips a Christmas bonus.  I was feeling generous today.  Oops, there goes my ego again!

Until next time...