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CEO's Diary: Not so much fun

27th Sep 2007
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Man at desk

Staff meetings are tedious

September 27 - Thursdays are regular working group meeting days here.

Increasingly I'm trying to go to these on an 'as needed' basis and am encouraging others to do the same. Minutes should cover information supply - physical presence is not needed for that.

But today I had to be at a session on our staff terms and conditions which in small but significant ways we're trying to change, giving a bit (e.g. some extra holiday, which always goes down well) in exchange for some more flexible working on some issues.

It was long, slow and just a little bit frustrating because we brought in the team deputies in each case as the bridge between management and the people on the ground, and those guys may be good at what they do, but focussed decision making is not their thing.

Frequently I wanted to yawn as another 'non-issue' came up. But I didn't. This is what has to be done.

* * *

September 26 - I've been out with Newc today. Compared with everyone else around me right now Newc is like a breath of fresh air.

Let me explain. Newc does not seem to think. He does. I'm sure there is a process involved in determining his actions, but it would take someone a lot more skilled than me to work out what it is. It's as if he sees what he perceives to be a problem and simultaneously is given divine insight as to the solution, and so enacts it.

Well, maybe it's not quite like that, but don't ask him about strategy. That's defined as 'making money' which would be enough to drive my mentors mad. That's a 'consequence' they would say. Newc would be impolite about that, he just gets on and does it. I have to say that I like his style, albeit that it has real limits, which is one reason why we now own his old company and he works for us.

But there are times and places for everything and when you want something done Newc does it, if the gods tell him its OK. Clearly they have done so with my new business idea. Having sourced all he needed he's now gone on, without any real authority to seek an order or two, subject always (and this is Newc's perpetual saving grace) to there being a margin inherent in the deal.

He just hasn't quite had the nerve to do two things and these are why he dragged me out. The first is to sign up a deal. But before allowing me to do that he took me along to see two other people, both of whom he assures me are working on spec (and I'll trust him). One is a designer, the second the person who he would like to work with us on the legal dimensions of what we're doing. He's not a lawyer, he's just worked in this sector since it developed on the back of legislation more years ago than he wants to remember. Together they've specced (OK, only in outline, but well enough) and in association with Newc an idea to promote this whole idea on a web site. The client answers a series of questions which determine their need, the style of design is chosen from the web and the job is costed, subject always to a site audit if the value is over a set level to make sure that, first of all they've got the answers right and second we think they're good for the deal.

It's lovely stuff. Crude in its current form, but knocking the socks off what anyone else is doing and giving us a straight lead into an online system (if we can make it work) that takes us straight into a new market. I loved it. I can forgive his impetuousness if that's what he's doing behind my back. After all, that is his job.

So we cracked off down to see a potential order and I let him take it. The designer and legal guy are working together to place this for us as sub-contractors right now to make some return on their effort. It will work, I'm sure.

And then I came back and told Newc to do some serious costing now, and do no more until he has.

And this suggests the way we need to go on IT too - we need a consulting partner who has the team to make this sort of thing work, fast. An in-house tech can do the day to day stuff.

That was fun.

* * *

September 25 - In the absence of Mrs ex-CEO the ex CEO still demanded his board meeting so the Chair and I met him this morning. He wanted a wide ranging discussion. The Chair kept him strictly to the tabled agenda and motions. The ex-CEO kept protesting throughout that this was unreasonable. I reminded him that this was the tabled business. If he wanted other items discussed he had been given the opportunity to request them and had not taken it.

90 seconds business took 30 minutes as a result. He was not happy, not least because every time he called for a vote the Chair cast that of Mrs ex-CEO and as such the CEO was given a choice on every occasion. He could, for example, vote against a dividend and thereby lose out personally or accept the level she had approved. Similarly, he could block our spending on fixed assets and so harm the business, or agree, as she had done.

He agreed to everything, of course, but with a greater degree of truculence than usual. This is not good.

Afterwards the Chair again asked me what I wanted from the business. In light of comments here about an MBO I discussed this with him but I really do not have enthusiasm for it. I enjoy what I do. I like my salary. I love this company. I think the shareholders are a bore but compared to any other scenario I have a great opportunity to manage this show with relatively little risk. I see no reason to change that unless I have to. Ownership is not an ambition for me. Running a really good company for all involved is.

I'm a natural stakeholder. I'm not a shareholder.

The Chair is convinced. It's off the agenda.

* * *

September 24 - My mentoring does not seem to cease right now. I was moaning at the weekend that there was no time to think. So my wife turned the television off, right in the middle of the rugby match I was watching.

I was a little thrown off my guard, but protested immediately. She was insistent. "Do you know how much time you spend watching that thing?" she asked. Again I protested. "I'm highly selective" I replied. "Yes, selective so long as something is on".

I think this a touch unfair. But she persisted. In her opinion (and on reflection she has a point, if exaggerated a bit for effect) my television watching has gone up a lot in the last year. I've done no serious DIY project in that time. I've paid someone to do it, although I'm actually quite good at them. I've pretty much given up my hobbies (although I protested there is no time with work, children, homework and all the other gubbins that they introduce to life to do such things) and I now just vegetate in front of the television.

I tried to negotiate a conclusion to the game. My wife was not impressed with my argument that I really did need to know the result. I admit, she was probably right.

So we talked about it. And she asked, how the heck were we to keep control of the box with regard to the children (something we still try to do) if I spent too much time in front of it? Let alone how do I show them the importance of reading and active pursuits when I slump for my entertainment?

So I've resolved to be much more selective to create more thinking and reading time.

Better now than on 1 January. I might have a chance of keeping to it if I do it now.

* * *

September 21 - The Board pack was sent.

Mrs CEO sees no need for a meeting.

Can we approve the standard dividend and fixed asset spend by email and note receipt of all information?

"Oh yes please" I said, by return trying not to sound too pleased.

And then had the usually weekly debrief with the team.

There's relative calm in the camp right now.

At least as far as I can tell no one is too fed up with me and no more than usual with each other for all the usual reasons (like East wishing that one day Promo really would carry his team, which is still a touch unfair - he's far less expereinmced).

Now I need some thinking time at the weekend.

I might even get it. I am ever an optimist.

* * *

September 20 - We have, inevitably, to face a board meeting soon. As far as possible, and as often as possible I like to put these off or see them cancelled because there is nothing so dispiriting as watching a dysfunctional family at work, and sure as heck my two shareholders are the epitome of a dysfunctional former family now gripped in an enmity that knows few limits.

But we've had our half year and by custom that means the result should be discussed and I should present my opinion on prospects for the rest of the year whilst routine matters, like paying a dividend and rubber stamping the planned capital spend for the next three months should be approved.

As far as I can I now deal with all this by preparing a pack distributed in advance, with as much (and occasionally too much) in writing as possible so that they either get bored with reading it all, or think I've covered every angle possible to limit the number of inane questions that will arise.

Assembling that pack has been my task today. #3 is good. I can now rely on her for the accounting data but I also require reports from other key team players (East as my deputy, Newc for marketing and Office for personnel issues) and I do most of the slog of the overview and discuss projected outcomes against expectation. I see no reason why this should be delegated to #3 since this is a commercial judgement I am, at the end of the day, paid to exercise.

Having done it all I do also share it with my team so that they recall that we are working for people they rarely see and even more rarely relate to.

I guess it’s that absence of a relationship that I always find slightly depressing in this. I don't think I run a money making machine. We do real things for real people using real human initiative to achieve the result. The shareholders just see cash. It's a cultural mismatch, but one I have to live with.

* * *

September 19 - In the North. Two reasons. One is I have to visit this team every now and again. It is only fair. The second is they need reassurance. They have new work on, but they don't want to be exposed to losses either.

When it comes down to it most people worry about their ability to put food on their tables and a roof over their heads. It may be basic, and much of the time we tend to ignore it and obsess about minutiae. But if there's doubt about the capacity to do this basic stuff then it rapidly comes to the forefront of thinking.

Actually, I'm not worried in this case. The North has still been surviving on a fair number of sub-contractors. We're slowing down recruitment now to make sure if we are exposed our own people are definitely not at risk.

So, OK, I'm shifting the risks to the subbies. But isn't that the price they pay for a better day rate? I think so.

The outcome looks straightforward: people seem happy with this explanation. I am too. It's genuine. It always helps.

* * *

September 18 - Panic over? Who knows. Does anyone like the prospect of a bad debt? I don't.

But we've done some sensible thinking, decided our risk is low, we'll keep talking to the client, won't rock boats right now but will expect strict adherence to terms and see where it goes. The team seem happy with that. We can sell that here to those who have customer contact.

And there's no harm in talking risk sometimes. This game is never free of it. It doesn't keep me awake it night (not much does except crying children - who my wife has always seemed able to ignore) but it's a critical part of my role to cover this angle, even if no one else has it as explicitly in their brief.

Newc's the only other person who really gets this. He's the only other person who has run a company on his own. Maybe that's it. Risk taking requires responsibility for carrying the can before it really becomes personal. I'm not sure I ever understood that in my 'employee' days i.e. those when I was not CEO. I genuinely think it's one of the reasons why I earn my pay.

And I also think that sheltering others from some of the risk is also part of the job. People don't do their best when overly stressed. Risk can create stress. I need to provide an environment where stress is of the right sort i.e. the desire to achieve, not the wrong sort i.e. the fear of failure.

I'm taking that on board. I've even read some of the comments here on this issue. I think this is a fine balancing act. I'm pretty sure my mentors realised I needed this lesson right now. Topics just seem to be coming up that have helped me contextualise it. Or rather, perhaps they were always there but I didn't see them this way.

* * *

September 17 - What do you do when a significant customer is facing a well publicised financial crisis over which you (or apparently they) have no control?

We had a meeting as all good companies should. And we drank some tea. And discussed limiting exposure, but decided in the end to accept the word of those who say the company is solvent.

I hope they're right. It won't do us any good at all if they aren't.

* * *

September 14 - It's been all mad rush.

The member of accounts I upset returned and is smiling. That's the good news.

Newc now thinks the new business idea is fantastic and wants to do it. I want to slow him down to think about our strategy. So we're in conflict (even if he';snot aware of it).

I had to see the ex- CEO who owns half the company to give him an update on trading and all his questions ended with a request for an increased divided, a request he knows I can't grant, this being in the gift of his ex-wife who will not concede it.

Then I had to spend much of yesterday in a meeting with the new client who placed a large order with us a couple of months ago for a progress review, which was a waste of my time but was required to show our gratitude for the size of their cheque. Actually, give and take it's going OK.

So is cash flow.

But time is in short supply. How the heck do I get time to think about strategy when all this is happening? Why are the most important things the last things you do?

If I'm lucky I'll get time between running the weekend child taxi service to do some thinking. But only if I'm lucky.

* * *

September 12 - A fascinating session with the Chairman and my friend.

They let me feed backon the last week, and said they'd reflect on what I had to say. But that was not what they wanted to talk about.

It's clear they had a plan. They asked me what I thought the three fundamental questions in management are? I didn't know, but I'm not witless so I struggled for a bit.

It was obvious I was not hitting all the buttons, so I asked them to put me out of my agony. I actually think they've spent hours looking at this because they said just about everything in management can be solved by asking three linked questions.

The first is "What do you want to do?" That's about setting your strategic goals.

The second is "How do you plan to achieve your goals?". That's about business planning including, but by no means exclusively, budgeting.

The third is "Is what you're doing going to help us achieve our plan?" That's the question you can ask of anyone, anytime, anywhere to get them to justify why they are undertaking a certain course of action. Of course, it does pre-suppose they know what the plan is and understand the goals.

That, they said is all there is to management. The first one is the job of the CEO. The second one is the job of the board. The third one is for everyone, every minute of every day.

Rather annoyingly, I think they have a point. There's no doubt that it's easy to walk about in a daze even as CEO and never address question 1. But if you don't absolutely nothing else will work.

So these questions make clear who is responsible for what and provide a framework in which anyone can manage: as my friend (who is a Christian, as some have guessed) put it, the last one is a bit like the "What would Jesus do now?" question that some Christians ask themselves when in a fix. It gives an instant appraisal framework with which to assess planned courses of action.

As they say my job is first to set the goals, second to make sure the board buy into them and create a plan to fulfil them, and third to ask people continuously whether what they're doing will achieve what I want. They may not do it the way I want, but that does not matter. The question is does it achieve what I want. If it does, and it's safe and it's legal and complies with our ethical standards, then I should let them do it. Sure, those are important caveats and I need to train people in those things. But that done I have to delegate.

You can imagine how easy it was to (literally) chew on this for some time over a meal, and much coffee.

But I have to admire their ingenuity. I'd not have reduced it that far in a million years. But as a management lesson it's pretty good. I'll try it.

I've just got to decide what I want to do.

Now, how do I do that (only kidding, a bit).

* * *

September 11 - I'm not sure I've recorded what happened with the member of accounts suffering from stress.

She came in to see #3 and me yesterday. #3 conducted the interview and I agreed that if at any point they wished me to leave I would. Actually, that did not happen.

The upshot was that, according to our staff member I had hit her hard when she was feeling vulnerable. I'm aware that this job does for her, to reasonable degree, fit around home life (and I have no problem with that). But as someone predicted here, the end of summer holidays was causing stress, and she told us something that we were not aware of before: one of her children has special needs and she was really anxious because they were changing schools.

So she couldn't add another stress on top of what was already running, knew she'd made a mistake, didn't really blame me at all, but thought we'd be annoyed with her and literally ran away from it.

So, OK, I definitely got the wrong end of the stick. In fact she had no grudge against us whatsoever, she was just showing a lack of self confidence under pressure. Most of us have at least felt that on occasion.

So, we asked, what would you like to do about it? The answer was easy: she wants to come back.

Is there any support or help you need, we asked? Yes, she would like to do a refresher course on accounting. Would we pay for night classes for a year? Oh yes. we'll do that alright. Just let me sign the cheque right now.

She was happy. We're happy. She's back in tomorrow.

It just shows how important communications are: neither #3 or I had any idea of this stress. #3 was dumbfounded afterwards. Why, she asked, are people so frightened of they or their children not fitting the mould?

I can't answer that right now but I am off for another chairman and friend session tonight.

But at least I have some positives to report.

* * *

September 10 - Newc can be annoying. I mean, I spent ages looking at the business I'm interesting in us entering, doing patient research and seeking to find logical answers to satisfy my doubts.

He's quite different. I give him the job last week and this morning he tells me he's been calling all and sundry, has gotten himself a pile of price lists and quotes (some he went to get) without in any way seeking to disguise who he is from or his intent, and now has a plan of action which he has dumped on my desk.

Now that's just silly. That's just not taken long enough to be taken seriously, but as he put it, what the heck do I want? Minutiae which will be wrong, or a gut feel?

His gut feel is he likes this opportunity. His gut feel is we don't need to buy anyone's business. He thinks there are three key issues to make this work.

The first is we have to be sure of the law in this area. It's related to, but not quite the same as the area in which we work. We'll either have to expand knowledge of buy it. He thinks we'll buy someone in. He has a cost estimate. He says he has found the right place to find someone.

Then he thinks we need to be able to design a solution. Likewise, he says we can buy that skill. That might be outsourced itself at first.

Then we outsource manufacture. He has checked the possibility. He's got quotes for doing so which suggest there are margins (pretty cheeky of him to do this, bold as brass, but he seems to have asked the same companies to quote on a supply to us and a manufacturing cost for us to onward supply to a customer to establish the available margins they might forego, which he's sure he can improve).

Finally, he can see no problem with our people installing this stuff with little extra training, but we'd need a dedicated person to oversee this at the beginning as our people are trained on the job.

So, he wants three people and a budget for getting out there to sell.

See what I mean about annoying? Now he's put the ball firmly back into my court. But I have to admit, on this occasion I'm not complaining. Much.

* * *

September 7 - I had a thinking day.

I wanted ideas. I needed stimulation. I went to a bookshop. A good one. the sort with a coffee shop attached.

I tried to find a book on management that I related to. I failed. Miserably. Why? Well, I guess I got answers in a way.

First, I don't want to be a millionaire. Sorry. But it just doesn't seem that important to me. I like my income. Don't get me wrong. I like some of the comfort it brings. But my wife and I have always tried to live within our means; our mortgage is manageable. I don't want to move. I don't want to retire soon. I am making adequate provision for a pension (I hope). So what the heck do I need a million or two for as some of these books seek to offer? I don't even buy a lottery ticket, partly for that reason.

But it made me realise I also have no great desire to own this show. Fact is I'm not en entrepreneur. I'm a manager. Big learning point I guess.

And then I don't want to run a mega-corporation. Which seems to be what a lot of the other books are targeted at. I mean, who cares about how Branson runs Virgin? I don't. I don't want his beard, his lifestyle, his pullovers and haven't got the charisma he's accredited with. So why read about it?

That at least told me something about my desired management style. I don't want to be the sort of autocrat who writes a megalomaniacal book about how wonderful they are. Somewhere I clearly embrace team spirit.

Which left some 'how to' books. But I can prepare a cashflow, thanks a lot.

And at that point candidly I was despairing of the whole process. Because if this is what management is meant to be I don't buy it. It's not what business is either. Business is about people as far as I can tell.

And I began to look for books on that theme, but left it in the end. And I went off to muse on what I'd learned. I'd only bought coffee, but I'd realised that to me the heart of this role is about making a team work for mutual benefit. And maybe I need to learn more about how to do that.

It's not a bad report back I can make to my mentors.

* * *

September 6 - It's rare that I say this, but I really did not want to be at work yesterday. Let me add though, it was not that I did not want to work. That's not a trait from which I often suffer. Indeed, my wife would say I have an over-developed sense of duty. I just wanted to work away from my team.

The conversation I had with the Chair and my friend on Tuesday evening had challenged me and I wanted time to reflect and think about the consequences. If nothing else it has made me realise that I have had almost no management training in my whole career, and don't know many others who have either. All I know has been learned on the job, much as a result of reacting against what I think bad practice. The promotion of good practice has not been something with which I am familiar. That's not true of either of those who appear to have appointed themselves my mentors at present. The Chair has made a job out of training, and seems to have some idea about management. My friend has held senior roles in the sorts of places with budgets for training senior staff, an activity that pretty much seems to pass the SME sector by.

But with all that on my mind I had to deal with a host of routine issues. These included an IT meeting. At least this was of benefit. The IT manage I inherited when I got here almost four years ago has, at long last, quit. One of the world's less dynamic individuals he has held his post on the basis of an ability to reboot machines for people who lack that capacity and by pretending to many that any form of enquiry of our database was a dark art form that only he could undertake. Of initiative he showed little. So the ITgroup (chaired by Newc - all these groups have chairs who are not heavily involved in the issue they deal with so that they can concentrate on managing the group whilst the people with primary interests can concentrate on the issues) had the task of deciding what we really want from a new IT manager. Options ranged from not having one and outsourcing it all to employing a super-duper geek. I tried to do the sitting back and listening bit and I succeeded for a while. And when I took part I sought to contribute as a user, not the boss and former head of accounts which it is too easy to be.

Did we get anywhere on this? Candidly, no. We're not sure what we want as yet. Right now the big issue is making sure that the dark mysteries of the database are documented, and that this still runs. For that we agreed we really need a dedicated database manager who will ensure reports are produced when required in the format people want. This is vital, an that search has begun. But that's not the same as an IT manager. What do we need them for, or would we be better off buying in skills? This decision was deferred.

Maybe that was the right thing to do. We don't need to make radical change right now.

But what I want is a day off to think now. And I've sent my apologies to today's appointments. I'm having a thinking day.

* * *

September 5 - Another long evening. It's obvious that the chair and my friend have been discussing me, but to be candid I should not complain. I could, but as they pretty quickly made clear (without having to spell it out) they've got my best interests at heart.

The chair knew of what has happened in accounts in the last week or so. Mt friend had told him a little of our discussion. They together decided it was time to talk to me.

Their message was robust, but again I have to say that was not the way they spelled it out. In fact, the fact they did not need to spell it out was the core of their message. Which could have been annoying except that they did it so well.

Their issue with me is that a year or so into this job I'm beginning to think I'm the boss as of right. And they gently cajoled me into trying to see it otherwise. Sure I'm the boss, but in their opinion (and it's one I think I'm going to need to listen to more than once) the biggest mistake I can make is to believe that as I'm the boss I'm right. Since they've managed more companies, more successfully than me I'd be mad not to listen.

I can't recount it all. But using the current issue as a case study they asked me to explain what I'd done and quietly teased out from me that in reality I'd jumped to a conclusion. I'd assumed that someone who'd made a mistake on a journal was not competent and that asking for help was a sign of weakness. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was a sign that they knew the limits to their competence. Maybe they had just tried to help too much. Maybe I should have interpreted that as a strength needing development.

And sure it was appropriate for me to make enquiries about the effectiveness of controls, but had I needed to rush in a like a bull in a china shop, or could I have waited for #3 to return, asked her opinion and got her consent for a course of action which I probably should have delegated to her anyway, because I knew it was within her competence? Or had I indicated a lack of faith, again, as a result?

And what if I had reflected a bit more? Might I have actually seen that this employee is really under stress? Have I made that worse? They don't know: they have not met her. But had I considered it?

At it's core was the key point, which was had I listened to and consulted others before deciding what to do? Had I acted as King or as first among equals, given their status as leader by consent, not by rank? Which was likely to get the team to follow me? The answer was pretty obvious.

So was I, in effect losing my touch as a boss which had served me so well at first but which I might now be throwing away?

This wasn't a review. It was far too supportive to be that. I genuinely felt both these two cared. And they stressed, I'm the right man for the job. But they want me to do it as well as I can. And they think if I listened more, understood more and usually acted slower I might be better off.

Less haste, more speed I guess.

A lot to think about.

* * *

September 3 - (well it's September 4 now) - Time is running away with me. I wish it wasn't.

Yesterday I had to go with Promo to the client his team has secured to ensure that the service agreement is wrinkle free. This took hours! They were pernickety in the extreme and much of what they wanted was a little non-standard. That's why my support was needed. A second opinion on viability remained essential before we finally said yes. But we did. So it's really in the bag.

During the day I got news that the recalcitrant member of the accounts team has sent in a sick note for a week. The cause is 'stress'. Since we all suffer from this I always find the description a little unhelpful. But the good news was she has agreed to come in and discuss things on Friday. I guess that's sort of progress.

And in the evening I got a call from the Chairman. He has asked to see me later today to be followed by a session with him and my friend, the one who gave me the once over. I admit I was a little surprised to find they had been talking to each other although I was aware I had introduced them. I gather as a result they have done some work together, something of which I was quite unaware. And now they'd like to have a discussion with me.

I feel irritated. Why's that? I like these guys. Why don't I like the idea that they've discussed me? But it makes me feel uncomfortable. And I'm not sure it should.

So I'm going to brief Newc on everything I know about the market sector we want to enter. New business is his job. We can't over-expand the teams at the moment, they're already under a lot of pressure and Promo's success only adds to that so he should be diverted into new operations instead. It may just give a more objective view on this as well. Just because I want this does not mean it's a good idea.

But I'm still wondering what the heck tonight is about.

* * *

For previous installments of the CEO's Diary, see:

August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003

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Replies (17)

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avatar
By Chris Smail
07th Sep 2007 15:33

MBA?
Have a look at some of the distance learning MBAs...

Thanks (0)
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By listerramjet
07th Sep 2007 08:51

oh no you don't!
" Right now the big issue is making sure that the dark mysteries of the database are documented, and that this still runs. For that we agreed we really need a dedicated database manager"

The last thing you need is another gatekeeper!!!

Thanks (0)
avatar
By neileg
04th Sep 2007 11:36

Mmm...
I suspect that your unease is not too dissimilar to the feelings of your number 3 in accounts. You feel a bit undermined, because you haven't been consulted. But at least your pal and Chair are going to talk to you about it...

Thanks (0)
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By AnonymousUser
04th Sep 2007 11:54

Values
You are irritated because you are uncomfortable, I would guess. And perhaps you are uncomfortable because you know you are going to have to talk about values. As an avid reader of your blog, I can see you have a very clear and strong set of values, but it's always uncomfortable to have to discuss them and know that you might have to defend them.

Your friend's choice of book and your comments about Sunday attendance suggests he might know a bit in a religious context about spiritual direction; the principles of that don't need to be confined to a religious context.

Alternatively you could just go into the meeting, kneel down by his chair and say 'Bless me Father, for I have sinned' and take it from there... ;-)

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By listerramjet
05th Sep 2007 13:15

I think
you are very lucky to have friends like that!

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By AnonymousUser
06th Sep 2007 12:50

Stressed employee
Now that you (by your actions) have built wrong, your relationships with #3 and #9 (3 squared) and #3's authority/relationship with #9- how do you rebuild it right?

Do you need to apologise to either/both as part of that rebuilding? Accepting responsibilty for mistakes and failures and demonstrating learning from these is an important example to give.

What kind of framework do you intend to establish for these relationships in future? How do you make sure your future actions align with your words here?

Would you have intervened this way in another department? Or is this because it is finance and #3 was your direct report way back when you were CFO? Is there some letting go of finance you need to do here? Or do you need to think about how you interact with all around you?

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By User deleted
07th Sep 2007 18:49

Clive Woodward....
... is quite into making the team working for a mutual benefit. "Teamship" he calls it. Might be worth looking at one of his books next time you're in that bookshop.

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By geoffemtacs
08th Sep 2007 19:56

Scoring Goals
I don't think it's a management book you need but something on game theory. Because that's why you're doing this - you're playing games. You want to make the company successful, not because you'd get rich, not because you'd have thousands of people hanging on your whim, but because you want to Win the Game.

That's why you enjoy ideas such as moving into different markets, buying companies etc. You're getting to roll the dice in a way and fulfilling a need that is no longer satisfied by just managing a company that is standing still. It's possibly what's going on with one or two [***]-ups managementally, you feel the urge to act when sometimes outcomes would be better if you left things be.

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By batemap
10th Sep 2007 15:27

helpful books
You might find the one minute manager series of books helpful in clarifying your ideas. Nothing earth shattering, but cheap, quick and easy to read, with down to earth advice that does work - if you can put up with the way they tell you!! I work as an interim FD and use these to develop internal staff to replace me and work as reasonable team leaders and people managers. Hope this helps.

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By AnonymousUser
10th Sep 2007 17:46

Management book
If you are interested in a book on people management, I'd recommend
The Art of Japanese Management by Richard Tanner Pascale and Anthony J. Athos. I think the management issues that you have come up against are dealt with in it.

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By AnonymousUser
13th Sep 2007 15:40

Special needs
The local 'partnership with parents' group should be able to help if there are problems with the new school - www.parentpartnership.org.uk to find the local one.

If the special needs are on the autistic spectrum (where moving school is always a big worry) there's a lot of advice at www.mugsy.org

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By User deleted
16th Sep 2007 22:23

Personnel
So the member of the accounts team that you upset is back and smiling. That's good to hear about #3. What about the woman who went off sick...?

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By AnonymousUser
17th Sep 2007 16:08

A clue...
So who else is now desperately trying to remember where those other clues were about what the CEO's company did (there were some after the Belgian problem, and some with the new version of the product) prior to going down to look at the local branch of Northern Rock...?

Mike Truman

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By AnonymousUser
26th Sep 2007 09:45

MBO
YOU might be happy to maintain the current status quo. But given the shareholder issues, how can you guarantee that this situation will continue to exist indefinately?

It might be wise to thoroughly investigate the MBO option so you have a B plan ready to roll if the shareholder relationship worsens. What would you do then, after an MBO if circumstances forced this upon you?
If you wanted a plan with an eventual exit strategy, how about an MBO, followed by a growth strategy for the business before floating on AIM in a few years time?

Are there any other alternatives that could be explored to resolve the shareholder issues?

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By amr
20th Sep 2007 17:01

Does anyone like the prospect of a bad debt?
The simple answer is credit insurance - no business should be without it. There is no need to take risks. With online instant decisions plus automated collection procedures when things start to go wrong and 90% of the debt paid out if collection fails, it's a 'no-brainer'. When the insurance company will not cover the debt and you have to turn down a customer for credit, you can be the 'good guy'. All you have to say is "We insure all our debts. I'm sorry, the insurance company says "No", so it will need to be payment up front". Customers just accept it and pay up front, or walk away and take their risk with them.

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By Martin Tingle
21st Sep 2007 08:08

Debt Insurance is good...
...if you can get it but is never the whole solution. Credit insurance is not always available. Can anyone tell me where I can get cover on GM at present? Insisting on cash up front from such customers would have the same effect as giving notice to withdraw supply.
The one time I was involved with a claim on such a policy the insurer's insisted on a percentage of ongoing trading with the new owners of the old business to reclaim their losses. I argued that this was effectively a backdated premium and unfair but they refused to budge. We changed insurer the following year.
So insurance can help but isn't the whole answer to risk. You have to keep on top of the account, resolve disputes quickly, keep to credit limits, have the guts to put your major customer on stop and work to increase your customer base so you are not overly dependant on one account.

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By User deleted
23rd Sep 2007 01:47

time for an MBO ?
reading your comments, it seems you may have become disenchanted with working for absentee shareholders (although that is what happens in quoted companies) Have you considered buying out the former CEO and his wife ?

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