Escape from Cubicle Nation

You weren't meant to have a boss by Paul Graham

One of the things I am really enjoying about Twitter is quick access to really great stuff around the web.  Via following Hugh McLeod of Gaping Void, I found this gem by Paul Graham.  It is called You weren't meant to have a boss and is thought-provoking, especially for programmers.

It is also perfect fodder for the first chapter of my book:  I have a fancy title, steady paycheck and good benefits.  Why am I so miserable?

How do you know when is the right time to quit your day job?

As the saying goes, if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me "When is the right time to leave my day job?",  I would be rich. 

Just the other day, I received the following email:

"Can you recommend a good strategy for leaving the "cube nation" when there are limited job opportunities should you fail at your own business?  Is there a formula to determine if you should stay at your day job? This is my situation and I know there are others who feel the same way.

The company I work for pays the best and offers the best benefits for technology people (which is my background and experience).  Most people I meet on the street have tried for years to get in my company. When I hear this I think I'm crazy for wanting to leave.  I know I could leave and possibly return, however I have already done this once and feel I might not get a second chance to return. 

So essentially I'm frozen by the great pair of "golden handcuffs" with the fear of never getting a good pair again."

This is a very typical situation for many cube dwellers.

For starters, this decision ranks right up there with:

• How do I know if this is the right person to marry?
• Should I buy this house?
• Is it safe to sink $20,000 into this stock?

All of these decisions have both emotional and practical components. And they all involve great risk. Because they are totally dependent on your individual tolerance for uncertainty and change, there is no magic answer, as much as I would love one. But here are some things to weigh if you are considering quitting your day job:

1.  What is at the root of your fears?

If you are like most people, "When is the best time to leave my job?" is not the question that gets your heart racing.  Underneath that question are concerns like:

• What if I fail miserably and fall on my face?  How will I get over the embarrassment?
• What will be the impact on my relationship if I finally follow my dreams?
• Will I lose my entire savings and end up eating leftover bits of hamburger from trash bins?

Napoleon Hill, in his 1934 book Think and Grow Rich names six basic fears that hold us back from success:  fear of failure, fear of poverty, fear of criticism, fear of old age and ill health, fear of loss of love, fear of unknown. 

The thought of quitting your day job plays into most of these fears.  It is no wonder that most people sit in a perpetual state of "wait and see" instead of plunging head-first into self-employment.

So as a first step, be honest and dig down to figure out what is at the root of your fears. Then take action to address the problems and concerns.  Think you don't know what you are scared of?  You may just be afraid of the truth.

2.  How much do you loathe your day job?

• On a scale from 1=I don't love my job, but it is fine for now to 10=I feel violently ill when I drive up to my building, how do you rate your day job?
• The question of loathing is a key determinant in the timing of your departure, because if you have a high loathing scale, it is very probable that at least one of the following things will happen:
  • You will develop serious health problems like high blood pressure, migraine headaches, ulcers or an autoimmune disease
    
  • You will do something very inappropriate like attack someone in a meeting or skip an appointment with a very important customer
    
  • You will get laid off (for seemingly "business, not performance reasons," when we all know better)
  • You will get fired
• Unfortunately, there is no correlation between the degree to which you hate being an employee and the degree of success you will have as an entrepreneur.  I have a non-empirical hunch that some of the best entrepreneurs today were not management-hating grumblers, but rather generally positive and productive employees with bigger dreams than the confines of a corporate environment could handle. 
• Bottom line?  If you hate where you are, you better start making plans to leave before someone makes them for you.

3.  What is your financial situation?

• Do you have at least 6 months worth of expenses saved in the bank?
• Do you have low debt?
• Is your partner or spouse willing to step in and support you while you are in the start-up phase of your new business?
• Are you aware of all the costs involved in starting your new venture?
• Are you up-to-date with your taxes?
• Are you willing to scale back on expenses,including steps like moving to a lower-cost city or trading your Executron mansion for a smaller house?

While none of these conditions are mandatory prerequisites for going out on your own, they will certainly help you feel safer about cutting off your regular income stream.  If you are in a less-than-ideal financial situation, you may want to spend at least six months focusing on this area.

I also suggest talking with a trusted, objective financial adviser who can help you sort out different options, like whether to use savings or debt to finance start-up costs, what to do with your retirement  and health insurance plans and how present your financial situation in a way that will be attractive to lenders or investors.

4.  Is there any "there" there?

Obviously, a key part of your success as an entrepreneur depends on having a viable business idea. Have you done the following things?

• Chosen a target market and specific niche?
• Determined the major problems or concerns faced by people in this market and developed your product or service to address those needs?
• Evaluated your competitors?
• Shared your idea with a successful, more experienced entrepreneur?
• Developed and deployed a prototype or sample of your offerings and gotten good response?
• Had success in any other self-directed parts of your life like volunteer activities, fundraising drives or lemonade sales?

Of all these elements, I recommend testing your real product or service with real people to see if it works.  Make sure you are not betting your livelihood on an idea that has never made it out of your head.

5.  What other employment options do you have if your self-employed gig doesn't work?

The reader quoted in the beginning of this post stated:

"I'm frozen by the great pair of "golden handcuffs" with the fear of never getting a good pair again."

While I know that this can feel true, when you look at all of the ways that you can make a living, this is obviously not the only job opportunity on the planet.  And fearing not getting a good pair of handcuffs in the future makes me think of a correlated analogy:

"He may be a low-down, cheating husband, but he is MY low-down cheating husband."

Ick.  Don't live your life that way.  You are worth more than that.

Be creative in researching your options for generating income.  You may be surprised that instead of feeling trapped and limited, you have endless opportunities, including living the globe trotting lives of my virtual buddies Lea and Jonathan.

6.  How close are you to retirement?

For those that have worked for many years in one company, or who will receive significant, long-term  financial benefits by staying another two or three years in your day job, consider this:

• Sometimes it is worth staying in your job now to have lots of freedom later.
• You can make the most of these last years of employment by building out the infrastructure necessary for going out on your own.
• Much depends on your loathing factor, described in point #1.  I knew a miserable, dedicated employee who put up with tyrannical, abusive bosses for most of his 30+ year career because he wanted to have security post-retirement.  In his last week as as employee, he was riding the subway into the city.  With no warning, he clutched his chest, slid down in his seat and exhaled his last breath on earth on the floor of a commuter train.

7.  How supportive is your partner/spouse?

If you are in a serious relationship, you know that career decisions are never only about you.  Your spouse will feel ramifications in every aspect of his or her life, including financial, emotional and work/life balance.  Although living a dream may seem like a good idea, you may find that as you change, your relationships change too. For tips on how to have the "I want to quit my job" conversation with your spouse, look here.

Even if you checked every single box on this list and find that you are mentally and physically able to quit your job, your business can still fail miserably.  I am sure I will hear (and hope I do) stories of wildly successful entrepreneurs who started their businesses without testing anything, in a financial cesspool and against the virulent protests of their spouse.

Your inspiration to quit may come from a much more improbable source, that lies somewhere between a small hunch and a profound spiritual revelation.  Many people who have made the leap say that they just "knew it was the right time."

For my dear friend Steve Darden, the inspiration to quit came through his son Seth, who woke up from a nightmare one evening and called out for his Dad.  Steve was a hundred miles away, staying in another city so he could fulfill his dream of managing a large agency.  Haunted by the loss of his own father when he was just 3 months old, Steve realized that he was sacrificing his role as father for a job.  He quit, and never looked back.

For those who made the leap, please share how you did it.

Ode to print journalists

I have been reading about the death of newspapers for sometime now and have seen the decline myself by anemic daily editions that land at my doorstep.  But it wasn't  until I read the following line in Seth Godin's book The Dip that I got nostalgic:

"If you work at a big-city newspaper, you can see that there's no light at the end of that career-choice tunnel.  Circulation is dropping, and it's going to drop ever faster.  Most papers have little chance of replacing their traditional businesses with an online alternative.  As a result, every day at most papers is going to be just a little bit worse than the day before.  Every day you stay is a bad strategic decision for your career because every day you get better at something that isn't that useful-and you are another day behind others who are learning something more useful.  The only reason to stay is the short-term pain associated with quitting." (p. 55)

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is home to the San Francisco Chronicle, or what we affectionately call "The Chron."   In its heyday, The Chron had a host of colorful columnists like Herb Caen, Charles McCabe ("Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art") and Art Hoppe.  What they wrote could not be considered one-way journalism, as they were tapped into the heart and soul of their community.  Their tips and comments came from hand written letters, or, even better, by catching their ear in person at any number of local watering holes like the Washington Square Bar and Grill (otherwise known as "The Washbag").  It was considered a great honor to be quoted in Herb Caen's column, a feat accomplished by my own mother, who hand wrote a note to him during the controversy over the renaming of the Orange County Airport in 1979 ("They are not going to be able to name it the John Wayne Airport since they would have to remove all the left wings on the planes!")

Some advocates of social media celebrate the fall of traditional, "elitist" journalism, citing the open, free and democratic ways of blogging and citizen journalism.  "I can swear, dammit, and there is nothing you can do about it!"  "Watch me publish a piece with a typo and fix it 2 minutes later!"  "I can build up a readership of tens of thousands while your monolithic, dinosaur organization shrinks and shrivels."

Here is the sad part.

There is beauty, grace, grit and skill in good journalism.  I don't imagine that most bloggers have had to contend with a cantankerous editor who rips holes in first drafts of stories, nor with the intense heat to produce smart, interesting and relevant work with crushing deadlines. 

Journalists have a strong grasp of language, know why to avoid dangling participles, know the difference between complement vs. compliment (thank you Matthew Stibbe) and never confuse their active and passive voices.

Undoubtedly, some take an elitist attitude and think that they are the only people qualified to report the news.  But many, even most, have a strong spirit of pride and true love of a good story.

So while the medium of print journalism is on the decline, I like to think that the profession of journalism will be resurrected in a new and useful way.

I was tipped to the sad state of San Francisco Chronicle veteran staffers by Ben Casnocha's del.icio.us bookmark,  Rancor plagues Chronicle employee buyouts.  It says:

"One Chronicle staffer who did not want to be identified said departing workers received 'no acknowledgment, not even a sheet cake, from the managers. No thank you notes. No speeches. Everything but armed security guards. It's ugly.'"

How disappointing to think that this is how we are sending off friends who scoured the hills and back alleys of San Francisco looking for stories, who spurred lively discussions between spouses and kids over bowls of Wheaties and who spent years of their life drinking strong coffee and pulling their hair out so they wouldn't miss a deadline.

I try not to get too nostalgic when industries ripen and change, since I think it does a huge disservice to employees who remain, who, instead of preparing for the next stage of their career, become bitter and resistant.

But I can't help but feel that we are cutting off a vital appendage by dismissing all traditional journalism as "last century."

No matter how excited I get with an incoming link from Guy or Hugh or Kathy, my parents are still most impressed by a page 14 mention in The Chron.

I appreciate the smell, feel and spirit of a really good story told on newsprint.

So thank you, journalists, for slogging it out in increasingly unbearable news rooms.  There is light at the end of the tunnel as we will always need good writers to explain, shape and give context to our daily lives.

I live for these emails

The absolute best part of writing this blog is when I get emails like this from my readers:

"I wanted to let you know that I've left my University job of 12 years to do workflow consulting. I read David Allen's book "Getting Things Done," which made a huge improvement in my life and lead to a crash-course studying modern productivity techniques. I then created my own seminars and started doing one-on-one consultations, with great feedback. So far I've been working in the Northeast with people from mid- to large-sized organizations, including senior staff and faculty at UMass, and the results have been exciting. I'm now getting requests from around the US, so it looks like it's time to expand."

In this particular case, I am so thrilled that the person writing is my long-time devoted reader and often thoughtful commenter Matthew Cornell.  He has been talking about leaving his "employee gig" for a long time and starting his own business, and he took all the right steps to make it happen.  He didn't leap without looking, he carefully researched his market and planned his business, he started a blog on his topic of interest and cultivated a body of readers eager to learn from him and he was helpful, supportive and friendly to other bloggers in the spirit of true camaraderie, not self-interest.

Matthew, congratulations for making the leap!  You are in good company, joining the other EfCN readers who made the leap as well, like basquette and Timothy King.

If anyone out there is in need of some serious help with work flow consulting to manage the overwhelming volume of "stuff" inundating your life, check out Matthew's new business!

I know we are all cheering you on Matthew - congratulations.

 

Bob Knight: the perfect mascot for "The No Asshole Rule"

I have had an advance copy of Stanford Professor Robert Sutton's book The No Asshole Rule:  Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't  for a couple of months now and have been waiting for the right time to weigh in with my thoughts.  You may say that Robert and I bonded over the word "asshole" - he was pointed to my Open Letter to CXOs post by a colleague in Australia and, after connecting, we have shared thoughts about  civil and uncivil workplace behavior. 

There have been some excellent, thoughtful reviews of his book already by people like Guy Kawasaki, David Maister and Sigurd Rinde.  What more could I add?

Then, while watching ESPN while on vacation, I saw that Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight was about to achieve the "winningest coach" (is that a word?) designation.

I will qualify this post by saying that I don't know much about basketball, or basketball coaching techniques.  The fact that I briefly dated the center of my high school basketball team and he went on to win the state championship the same year is pure coincidence (but true - San Anselmo Sir Francis Drake High Pirates - go team!).

I do know a lot, however, about assholes, having worked as a consultant in Corporate America for many years.

Robert Sutton defines assholes through two simple tests:

Test One:  After talking to the alleged asshole, does the "target" feel oppressed, humiliated, de-energized, or belittled by the person?  In particular, does the target feel worse about him or herself?

Test Two:  Does the alleged asshole aim his or her venom at people who are less powerful rather than at those people who are more powerful?

There are also some more specific indicators, defined by Bob as The Dirty Dozen:

The Dirty Dozen

Common Everyday Actions That Assholes Use

1. Personal insults
2. Invading one's "personal territory"
3. Uninvited physical contact
4. Threats and intimidation, both verbal and nonverbal
5. "Sarcastic jokes" and "teasing" used as insult delivery systems
6. Withering email flames
7. Status slaps intended to humiliate their victims
8. Public shaming or "status degradation" rituals
9. Rude interruptions
10. Two-faced attacks
11. Dirty looks
12. Treating people as if they are invisible

Following this criteria, the flamboyant, angry and chair-throwing Bob Knight is a card-carrying asshole.  What I found interesting was the conversation on ESPN's Quite Frankly, Hosted by Steven A. Smith, about whether or not  his outrageous behavior should muddy his designation as the most winning coach ever.

Steven Smith had two journalist guests on, whose names I didn't write down.  One called Bob Knight's passing to the top slot "a dark day in college basketball history."  The other journalist, from Bob's former hometown of Indiana, said that "If Bob's employers don't have a problem with his behavior, why should I?  College basketball is a billion dollar business and all that matters is winning games."

Herein lies my big beef with highly productive assholes like Bob Knight.

There is no denying that he is an incredibly talented coach who understands how to mobilize a team to win games.  But what is the collateral damage?  The journalist who stated that "all that matters is winning games" is overlooking a huge factor:  Bob Knight is coaching college students who are in the midst of learning how to be productive citizens, at the same time they are playing basketball.  You cannot tell me that his behavior will not influence some of them in both their basketball and business careers.  My niece is a student at Texas Tech, and I am sorry that she has to witness his antics on the basketball floor as she enjoys her team's games.

Over and over again, I have seen talented spoiled brats in senior level corporate positions stay in their jobs because their bosses were afraid to "mess with a winning formula." 

I also think there is a certain mythic reputation given to some superstars who are actually more admired because their wildly unacceptable behavior is untouchable.  It is usually stopped only by one of two factors:  criminal charges or a lawsuit.  Then you see the finest of corporate PR backpedaling as management attempts to show that they were "taken by surprise" by the allegations or "totally unaware" of the behavior until the charges were filed.

Robert gives some great, specific advice for avoiding assholes in the workplace, including his somewhat controversial perspective that sometimes we learn to "develop indifference and emotional detachment."  I don't think that he is advocating staying in a toxic setting if it is affecting your health or well-being.  The way I take the advice is to not give up your power to assholes in your workplace by leaving with your tail between your legs if you have valid reasons for staying there.  Be like an Aikido practitioner and use the force of their negative energy to gently direct them to their own demise.  If you engage in direct conflict with them, you will lose.

The most important lesson I take from the book as an entrepreneur is twofold:  Watch to make sure that I don't behave as an asshole, and avoid them in the form of clients, partners or mentors.  I have had mentors in the past who pushed me to be more aggressive, critical and in-your-face with my clients.  As I looked at their own lives, I saw that besides financial success, their highly critical behavior tended to leak into their personal lives and they had difficult relationships with their spouses and children.

There is nothing glamorous or powerful about making someone feel inferior, ashamed or humiliated.  As much as we hold up competition and winning in our culture, it should not be the only criteria for measuring success.

I think Bob Knight should have been stopped in his tracks a long time ago by his management and held accountable for his behavior.  His incredible talent and skill is overshadowed by juvenile behavior that is embarrassing to him and his family.  What a waste of a tremendous gift.  And what a disservice to the many young men he mentored as a coach.

If you are plagued by a similar figure in your workplace, you will enjoy Robert's book.

Fascinating BusinessWeek article - "Smashing the Clock"

My Arizona buddy Pete just sent me the link to a really fascinating article by BusinessWeek online that chronicles the bold experiment by Best Buy to "smash the clock" and not require headquarter employees to observe any kind of fixed time schedule.

In my rant to CEOs awhile back, my point #8 was "Focus on the work people do, not how or when they do it."  This is a concrete example of this philosophy in practice.

Excerpts from the article:

"One afternoon last year, Chap Achen, who oversees online orders at Best Buy Co., shut down his computer, stood up from his desk, and announced that he was leaving for the day. It was around 2 p.m., and most of Achen's staff were slumped over their keyboards, deep in a post-lunch, LCD-lit trance. "See you tomorrow," said Achen. "I'm going to a matinee."

Under normal circumstances, an early-afternoon departure would have been totally un-Achen. After all, this was a 37-year-old corporate comer whose wife laughs in his face when he utters the words "work-life balance." But at Best Buy's Minneapolis headquarters, similar incidents of strangeness were breaking out all over the ultramodern campus. In employee relations, Steve Hance had suddenly started going hunting on workdays, a Remington 12-gauge in one hand, a Verizon LG in the other. In the retail training department, e-learning specialist Mark Wells was spending his days bombing around the country following rocker Dave Matthews. Single mother Kelly McDevitt, an online promotions manager, started leaving at 2:30 p.m. to pick up her 11-year-old son Calvin from school. Scott Jauman, a Six Sigma black belt, began spending a third of his time at his Northwoods cabin."

It seems like this radically flexible schedule is having an impact on hard business metrics like productivity, employee engagement and turnover.  If indeed it is true and not hype, I am really encouraged and hope that some other companies try this approach.

Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, and for some, having a flexible schedule coupled with the perks of employment would be a good deal.

If you know anyone who actually works for Best Buy in this arrangement, I would be fascinated to hear from them.

Do you think it is hype, or would something like this have a real impact on your satisfaction level as an employee in a corporate environment?

My strange personal connection to the Patricia Dunn/HP Story

As I was browsing the magazine rack at the Newark airport last week, I saw the cover of Newsweek with the picture of Patricia Dunn, embattled Chairman of Hewlett Packard's board.  I read the story with great interest for the following two reasons:

• I used to work for Patricia Dunn many years ago at my last "real" job (ie as an employee!) at Barclays Global Investors.
• Hewlett Packard was my first client when I became a consultant, and I worked on a small project to redo the HP Way video

My memories of working for Ms. Dunn are slightly vague since so many years have passed, but I do remember that she was an excellent communicator, was impeccably dressed and was very smart.  At the time, she was second in command.  I would often organize new employee events where she would speak, and I always enjoyed hearing her story of how she started at the firm as a secretary, and made her way up through the ranks of management.  As a fresh-faced 20-something, not yet jaded by what I would learn about corporate life, I found her story inspiring and encouraging. On a personal basis, she was always kind and polite.

When I left Barclays and started consulting at HP, I was excited to step into the culture of a firm that was still very well regarded by leadership consultants and practitioners.  They had an amazing legacy of good management practices started by Bill Hewlett and David Packard, or Bill and Dave as they were remembered around the hallways.  Lew Platt was CEO at the time, and although it was clear that the culture was shifting and changing, there was still a pretty fierce and widespread support for the HP Way, the statement of values that Bill and Dave had articulated many years before.  And it was not just corporate HR folks that embraced it, it was the rank and file, from administrative assistants to programmers.  (the HP Way is spelled out here)

I am sure that the drama of the Carly Fiorini regime, the Compaq merger and other major organizational changes really dampened the spirits of longtime HP'ers who liked to believe that the legacy of the founders could live on despite the turmoil.

But this latest fiasco just leaves me baffled and sad. 

What, exactly, was the board thinking?  Did the thoughts, feelings, perceptions and trust of the employees they were supposed to be representing ever come up?  Why did it have to come down to a bizarre and covert sting operation to get them to talk openly with each other?  Who were they accountable to? 

All this highlights how insane the senior levels of  corporate leadership can get when left to the modern day business practices of greed, hubris, polarization and conflict.  I know that I should not be surprised at this behavior anymore, but I still am.  I am disappointed that someone I respected was involved in such a royal mess.

And can you imagine the repercussions?  How will any senior leader be able to stand up with a straight face and talk to employees about the importance of trust, ethics and basic human decency in the workplace after the public antics of their board?

What a sad day for HP.  I have to believe that Bill and Dave are peering in on the mess and wondering how the boardroom of their beloved company turned into such a nasty place.

I almost successfully crashed the World Business Forum in New York

After my whirlwind event on Tuesday night at the launch of Greenstone Media (more stories to follow, once I get my hands on a couple of pictures for the post ...  just to give a flavor, have you ever been to an event with Gloria Steinem, the lead singer of Twisted Sister and Deborah Norville all in attendance?!? ), I spent the night in New York and had a whole day to walk around Manhattan enjoying myself before boarding a plane back home.

I took off from my hotel and wandered down a few streets, finally ending up in front of Radio City Music Hall.  Thinking they would have some popular musical act playing, I walked closer to look at the billboards out front.  To my amazement, it was the World Business Forum.  Always nosy and curious, I thought I would try to sweet-talk my way in and see who was speaking.

The burly security guards at the outside door asked me what I was doing, and I coyly said I wanted to go register.  After searching my purse, they let me through, then I asked the registration people if they had a written program.  Much to my delight, they sent me inside the lobby.

Now I was feeling downright conspiratorial.  I walked up to the information booth and grabbed a program.  I opened it up and found out the following people were speaking that day:

Jim Collins
Malcolm Gladwell
President Clinton

I adore Jim Collins, having heard him speak before, would love to hear Malcolm Gladwell for the first time, and President Clinton ... who wouldn't want to hear him speak in person?

As I watched the exceptionally-dressed, arrogantly confident and Blackberry and cellphone-carrying international participants, I had a fantasy of crashing a session.

At the time for the question and answer, I would boldly stand up and say:

With all due respect (name), do you actually believe that any of the participants here are going to implement the great ideas they learn on people, innovation, creativity and philanthropy?  Aren't they more likely to go on being MORE of an asshole now that they have rubbed shoulders with other top executives at a swishy event in New York?

Alas, my fantasy was rudely interrupted when I glanced down and realized that I was wearing jeans, a distinctly non-power suit attire that would foil my plan to wiggle my way into a session without paying. (morally wiggle, not inappropriately wiggle, just to clarify!  :)

So, dream dashed, I walked out of the event and went on to other New York adventures.

It was a sweet fantasy while it lasted.

There must have been a few surprised Intel employees amidst the cuts

I read the news today that Intel plans to cut 10,500 jobs, or 10% of its workforce.  Savings are said to be about $3B a year after the inevitable couple years of adjustment. 

Whenever I read things like that, I can't help but think about the dramas unfolding tonight in the kitchens and living rooms of some of those that were laid off.  Despite all the impending signs, I can bet with total certainly that there were some affected employees totally unprepared for the news.  They went home with a dazed look on their face and realized:

• They have no savings
• They have no idea how long they can go without working
• They don't have any "gig" on the side to bring in some extra cash
• They have no idea what their next career move is going to be
• Their network is solely made up of work colleagues from Intel
• They didn't think that their job would be on the line this time around
• They have no idea how to market themselves

The power of denial is very strong in many of us (myself included sometimes!).  Until you actually receive notice that you are losing your job, you rarely do anything to prepare for it.  So if you don't want to find yourself in the same place as some of those poor souls today, please do the following:

• Get your financial house in order.  If you get stuck or overwhelmed, call a professional.
• Get out of your comfortable circle and meet some new people.  Go to an interesting conference where there are people from all kinds of companies and industries.  Take a night class at your local university, volunteer in a professional business association or check out some new online forums.
• Start working on a side gig.  I think that the way the world and the economy are going, we ALL are going to have to know how to generate income from more than one primary source.  You can start small - do one consulting project.  Sell a piece of your artwork.  Get a paid gig with your garage band.  Invest in a rental property.  You need to start experimenting with different ways to make money so that you don't paint yourself in a corner if your job goes away.
• Take your training and learning seriously.  This is not the time to slack off at your job, it is the time to drink great mouthfuls of the fire hose of information spraying at you.  Don't be the smart-ass student in your communication skills class, be the teacher's pet.  Take on new and different projects that develop new skill sets.  Complete certifications, take advantage of tuition reimbursement and attend all relevant in-house training that you can.
• Spend time thinking about your next career move.  If it is your own business, start working on it.

Please don't fall victim to the "I didn't see it coming" syndrome. A pink slip (especially with a severance check stapled to the back) can be a great blessing if you are prepared. 

Good luck soon-to-be-former Intel'ers!  I hope your transition is better than I imagine.

Take baby steps when planning a business while still employed

This month's Get a Life issue focuses around a topic hot in the minds of potential entrepreneurs:

How do I find time to plan my business when I have the responsibilities of a day job, errands and family?

Here are some ways I came up with (details in the article link above):

1. Create a master list of all the tasks for your new venture to free your mind of keeping track of too many details
2. Remove one non-essential task from your week and replace it with "startup only time"
3. Make sure you alternate "must do" tasks with "want to do" tasks
4. Get a "mastermind partner"
5. Take a class where you have specific assignments that will force you to accomplish tasks on your list
6. Get assistance from an outside agency or coach
7. If small steps don't work, take a chunk of time off to work on your project

I know I have some people who have made the leap to entrepreneurship successfully as well as hard core Getting Things Done aficionados as readers.  What other tips can you think of to free up some time in your day to work on your dream venture?

Downloadable version of "My Declaration of Independence" now available

A number of you asked for the downloadable version of my Flash movie My Declaration of Independence to play at those moments when interminable meetings and cube life get the best of you.

My web guru put the download link on the home page of my Ganas site in the right-hand column.  Download away!

My secret wish ... that you "accidentally" play it instead of your canned, boring presentation at a huge, important company-wide meeting.  :)

(Your freedom from your corporate job may come quicker than you think if you do that, so be prepared!)

Happy anniversary to me!

OK, please allow me a moment of tremendous self-indulgence ...

I was talking with a reporter today and he asked me how long it had been since I left my corporate job.  I scratched my forehead, looked at the calendar and did the math - and realized that the last day I wore pantyhose as an employee of a large corporation was ...

Ten years ago today!

August 15, 1996 was the day I walked out the door of my corporate job, never to look back.  I was 29, very tired (I was in the middle of a bout of pneumonia) and not sure what was next.

Boy am I glad I made that decision!

I just had to share that with you.

A special boost for wannabe entrepreneurs: My Declaration of Independence

Just in time for Peru's Independence Day (What, you didn't know that it was tomorrow?), we have put the final touches on my Flash movie/inspirational message My Declaration of Independence.

I sat up in bed late at night on June 21 (Summer Solstice) and thought "Wouldn't it be fun to create a little multimedia message to uplift the spirits of those who feel trapped in their corporate jobs?"  Since we were close to the 4th of July, I thought of the theme of creating your own declaration of independence.  My good friend and former business partner Darron Padilla was crazy enough to volunteer his Flash development efforts to bring my idea to life.  Thank you Darron for your generosity of spirit, time and energy! 

My aim at sharing this message is to broaden the circle of support for aspiring entrepreneurs and bring more people in the dialogue at this smart and generous community here at Escape From Cubicle Nation.  So if you know someone who would appreciate or benefit from the message, please pass it on!

Here is the link again!

 

P.S.  As fate would have it, the one picture that I took myself was of the Mom and her kids in Peru, weaving high atop the mountains.  I visited this inspiring group of entrepreneurs a couple of years ago and was excited by their story.  Because it was difficult to find a market for their beautiful handwoven bags, shawls and blankets, these native artists were forced to leave their ancestral lands high in the Andes and go to the big cities to look for work.  Many men had to separate from their families, and they often fell into depression and poverty.

With the help of some enterprising Peruvian and American entrepreneurs, a collective was formed and a distribution channel was opened so that they had a market for their wares.  The result is a powerful, creative and enterprising group of families who are able to live where they have deep roots, pass on an ancient tradition to their kids and make a good living for themselves.  Now that is something to celebrate!

Fortune admits Jack Welch is wrong - ranking employees really is stupid

I try keep posts which rail against corporate life to a minimum and focus instead on concrete tips for helping people escape their job and start their own business.  (Although a good rant is cathartic at times!) Lord knows there are enough people blogging about how miserable it is within corporations.

But when I picked up this month's issue of Fortune magazine, I simply had to comment.  The cover has a smiling face of Jack Welch, ex-CEO of GE and star of the Executive speaking circuit.  He has a gigantic circle and slash over his face and the cover proclaims: 

Sorry Jack!  Welch's Rules for Winning Don't Work Anymore (But We've Got 7 New Ones That Do)

They take to task some of his long-held management religion that states short-term profit is king and swashbuckling, charismatic CEOs will boost company profits.

The rule that I am most delighted to see smashed apart is this:

Rank Your Players, Go With the A's

I am very intimate with this process, having consulted with executives and managers that were being forced to implement such a system within their company.  Most often, a senior executive read one of Welch's books or sat next to a colleague in first class who waxed poetic about the system and decided to implement it without considering the impact on their employees.

Here is the premise:  Create a system where all employees are ranked in groupings of A, B and C according to performance.  Support and nurture the "A's and B's" and ignore or fire the "C's."  In a perfect world where everything is fair, politics don't exist and communication between managers and employees is open and honest, this would work fine.  As Jack himself said, "(ranking) has been portrayed as a cruel system.  The cruel system is the one that doesn't let anyone know where they stand."

The problem is, ranking rarely does anything to support an environment of superior performance, energy, passion and excellence.  Rather it turns into a nasty popularity contest, with the employees that have the most vocal and well-connected managers winning the coveted high rankings.  An employee may have an off year due to many different factors, often outside of their control.  The designation of "C" ranking (sometimes a "3" in companies that use 1, 2 and 3) can have a devastating effect on someone's career.

I had the privilege of working with an extraordinary woman in one of my projects that had experienced a series of events that landed her the first "C" rating of her 20+ year career in a large corporation.  The year before, she was encouraged to take a position that was not within her area of passion or interest, and she struggled to deliver results.  She had two major personal blows in the same year, losing a sibling, and having to work down the hall from her daughter's abusive ex-husband who took every chance he could get to threaten and intimidate her.  She admitted that it was not her best performance year, but if you looked at her track record, it was obviously a huge exception to two decades of solid performance.  Once she got the rating, however, it became like a scarlet letter hanging around her neck .  She was refused job interviews in other parts of the company, because they told her they wouldn't consider "C" candidates.  Since she was just 5 years from retirement, she felt like the grim reaper was trying to hasten her exit from the corporation.  Thankfully, she did some serious networking and research and landed a job that perfectly fit her skill set.  Her performance improved dramatically and she is now 2 years away from a well-deserved retirement.

It boggles my mind how much time and energy is wasted on implementing systems that fundamentally don't make sense in the real world.  If you were to ask most employees what they thought of the idea of ranking these days, most would stick out their tongue and give a huge thumbs-down.  If you want to get great performance, here is a simpler route:

• Discuss work expectations with your employees.  Include specifics as to quality standards, quantity of output, expected customer satisfaction, etc.
• Ask them if they feel they are able to accomplish the work. If so,
• Check in frequently.  Ask them how it is going.  Ask them what is getting in their way of accomplish their goals.
• Remove the things that get in their way.
• Check in some more.  Have open, honest expectations about how things are going.  Be supportive, but don't sugarcoat your observations.
• At the end of the year, there will be no surprises.

One of the greatest benefits of being on my own for a decade is bypassing the whole ranking system.  Instead of sweating bullets trying to be an "A" instead of a "B," I just do the very best I can to serve my clients.  If they don't like what I do, they fire me.  Nice and simple.  Haven't been fired yet, so something seems to be working.

How to have the "I want to quit my job" conversation with your spouse

I have been very intrigued with a sub-theme that has emerged from many conversations with corporate employees who want to become entrepreneurs:

How can I tell my spouse that I want to quit my job without him/her getting scared and/or defensive?

I fondly call this "The Conversation" and pick up the same amount of anxiety as if they were telling their kids about the birds and the bees for the first time.

The short answer is that there is no way to predict or direct your spouse's reaction to your news since that is totally outside of your control.  But here are some ways to ensure that the conversation, or more likely series of conversations, goes well:

(Just to avoid endless s/he and him/her, I will use the male form of spouse in this article)

1. Choose a low-stress moment when you have time and energy for a long conversation.  It is not fair to drop a major bombshell when you won't have time to talk about it.  Don't talk about this right before bed or in the morning before heading off to work, as this will just stir up questions in your spouse's mind.
2. Choose a good place to talk.  I find it is a lot easier to have a deep, meaningful conversation with my husband when we are up and moving around.  We have had some of our best conversations on long walks or drives.  One of the Mars/Venus theorists (I don't remember who) said that men converse better while moving while women like to be sitting face-to-face, peering into the others eyes.  Because you should be concerned about your spouse's communication style, choose the place that he feels the most comfortable with. 
3. Minimize distractions.  Get your kids a sitter, turn off your cellphone and Blackberry and don't go somewhere like your favorite local cafe where you will be interrupted by lots of friends.  You want uninterrupted time.
4. Explain why you are so excited about starting your own business.  Make sure your spouse knows all about why this idea is so compelling to you and why you are excited about it.  Don't just talk about the business idea, talk about what it would mean to you personally to get enjoyment from your work.  Would you have more energy?  Would you watch less TV?  Want to help around the house more?  Become a 19-year old sex machine?  (OK, OK, now you are going overboard)
5. Explain the consequences of not following your dreams.  Everyone processes job stress differently.  Some people have a high tolerance for staying in an unhappy or stressful work situation if it means bringing home lots of money.  Others have very low tolerance and develop health problems including depression, high blood pressure, weight problems, anxiety disorders and low energy.  Make sure your spouse understands the consequences to you if you are unhappy with your work.
6. Expect a lot of resistance.  I have practiced change management long enough to know that even if someone perceives a change as a good thing (i.e. getting married, having a baby, getting a promotion and raise), he will still feel a certain amount of resistance.  It can be very, very scary for your spouse to think about losing his perception of stability (you know where I stand with the notion that jobs are more stable than self employment).  Don't get angry if he doesn't immediately support your idea. 
7. Ask lots of questions to understand the resistance.  Your spouse may say something like "If you quit your job, we will lose all financial stability!"  Make sure you really understand what he is talking about and ask "What in particular are you concerned about?  What amount of money in the bank would make you comfortable that our expenses are covered?  What is it about me being self employed makes you the most nervous?"  You may find that after asking a lot of questions that the original reasons he gave are not the real, emotionally charged reasons.  They can be things like "If you get really happy and successful, you may leave me!" or "If you do what you love, I will have to sacrifice all my happiness for you!" or "If you start your own business, you will destroy our family, just like my Dad did," etc.
8. Take his advice to heart!  Don't view this conversation as a one-way sales call.  Your spouse may have some very valid reasons for his resistance, and you should carefully listen to and reflect on what they are.  All of us knows a family member, neighbor or Uncle Joe who took the family savings and blew it on day trading or a hair-brained get-rich-quick scheme.  Make sure you aren't that person.  Even if you don't agree with all of your spouse's concerns, acknowledge and respect them.
9. Reciprocate.  Ask your spouse how he is feeling in his work life.  What would make him more happy and fulfilled?  What big dreams does he have?  How can you help him reach his goals?
10. Make a plan to continue the conversation.  You will definitely not resolve all your concerns in one sitting.  Plan on spending more time discussing the issues until you both feel comfortable with the plan. (Funny note on this:  I was just on vacation with my family and my brother-in-law said while teasing my sister "I don't understand why women need to process everything so much!"  Of course I jumped in to her defense and said "Men process ideas and emotions like simple arithmetic, while women process like advanced calculus."  It was a juicy, sexist comment intended to inflame family banter and get my brother in law going.  But I will say there is a nugget of truth to it ... as a woman, I need considerably more time to process and talk about decisions then my husband does.  It does not mean I am pessimistic or unwilling to change, I just don't feel comfortable with a decision until I have talked through all the risks and alternatives.  My sister and Mom agreed with me, my brother-in-law rolled his eyes.) 

Here is what not to say, as my friend Matthew Scott shared:

"I blew my first attempt at following my “calling” with my wife. I told her how unhappy I was in my work and something was missing in my life and headed for the coastline to “figure-it-out.” Well as you can imagine when your soon to be 40 year old husband says this you would freak out and imagine the worst. I could not understand why she was so concerned about me doing this and began to internalize my own head-trash of thinking she was ungrateful and did not want to jeopardize our “so-called” great life with my fancy title and big house. Boy was I a putz! So over-communicate in on-going conversation before you take any major action."

Here are a few other ways NOT to have the conversation:

1. Over the phone.  This conversation needs to be live and unplugged.  You simply cannot discuss such a meaty issue unless you are face-to-face.
2. In the middle of financial stress.  You will fan the flames of fear if you talk about leaving your job right when you are stressing out about bills or facing a huge property tax or tuition bill.  Try to pick the most stable financial time to talk about this issue.  If your financial life is continually in flux, you may want to address that issue first by reducing expenses and paying down debt as you will need a bit of wiggle room in the months you are starting up your business.
3. In front of your kids.  Although I do think it is good to share your plans with your kids, don't raise the topic for the first time over family dinner.  Depending on their age, your kids may get upset if they hear you and your spouse disagreeing and stressing about money.  They want to know that no matter what happens their life will be secure, so plan to have a joint conversation with your spouse once you both air your concerns and come up with a mutually acceptable plan.

What if your spouse is totally resistant and no amount of heartfelt conversation will garner his support for your dream?

This is where I must bow out and refer you to a more competent adviser like a couples counselor.  If your spouse or significant other is totally disinterested in your happiness, sounds like there may be some bigger issues in your relationship.

For those of you who have already had The Conversation, I would love to hear what worked and what didn't.

59 is the new 65 and other reasons to start your business NOW

On Monday, Donna Maria Coles Johnson and blog reader Mark Wooten both alerted me to a cover story in USA Today called Many Americans retire years before they want to which talked about the fact that many Americans are being forced to retire much earlier than planned due to layoffs and downsizing.  When workers are laid off at an older age, they often find it is much harder to get back into the workforce, which can be dominated by what are perceived as cheaper, smarter and faster employees.

On the same day, I read an article in The Arizona Republic that said more and more college students are taking entrepreneurship classes, since they plan to skip working for The Man altogether.

These stories support a theme I want to drive home:  This is not our parent's job market!

I had an experience with this that forever altered my notion of job security in a corporation.  In the early 90's, I was working in downtown San Francisco, right around the corner from my Dad, who had the position of corporate photographer for a large company.  He called me around lunchtime and asked if I could come over to see him.  (How great was it to be 25 and financially irresponsible and have Dad around the corner to take me to lunch for those times when I had no money and two days till payday?  But I digress...)  I walked into his office like I had done many times before and was confused by the empty desks and offices.  It felt like a bomb had gone off, vaporizing only human beings, family pictures and plants, leaving desks, chairs and company property intact.

My Dad told me that they had just laid off 10 of the 11 people in his corporate communications department.  He was the only one left standing.  They laid off an employee that had not only worked for the company for 21 years, her father and grandfather had worked for the company until retirement (not to mention her son and ex-husband).  He said that she was totally shocked when HR tapped her on the shoulder and told her she had 20 minutes to pack her belongings and walk out the door.  She never saw it coming.

That was more than 13 years ago.

Many years later, as part of one of my consulting assignments, I was asked to be one of the evil HR people that sit in a room with you when you are laid off.  It was one of the most distasteful experiences of my working career, and I vowed never to do it again.  But despite my discomfort, I was still surprised that many employees acted totally shocked that they were being let go.  The company was going through huge consternation.  Sales were down.  The internet economy had already collapsed.  The goddamn consultants were brought in. Who didn't see the writing on the wall?

Those that plan on lifetime security from a job are in for a rude awakening.  The sooner you get clear on alternatives and options for generating income outside of your job, the more secure you will be.

The subject interviewed for the USA Today article ended this way:  "There's no sense of retirement like my parents had," Yoder says, "You work 'til you drop.  I hear a lot of fear that their bosses are going to let them go."

I offer an antidote to this thoroughly depressing outlook:

• Plan to be laid off earlier than expected.  Don't count on working until 65 for the same employer.  Run many different financial scenarios for retirement, including being laid off at 55.  Create alternative plans.
• Start something on the side.  A consulting gig, EBay business, real estate investments, a book, anything to bring in more income and create a safe passage out in the case of an unexpected layoff.
• Get thee familiar with technology.  We all use email and the internet every day, but some of us are still resistant to technology.  It is an integral part of how business will work in the next few decades, and the younger generation eats it for breakfast.  You may never be as smart with a computer as your 8-year old son or daughter, but you don't want to become known as the one around the office who is always saying "I just don't understand all this technology!"
• Keep your skills razor-sharp.  Not all of you may be cut out for entrepreneurship and that's OK.  But make sure that you are still marketable if you are in the later years in your career.  My Dad was extremely lucky that he was able to work until 65.  Then he was laid off a month after being eligible for retirement, so in addition to his regular benefits, he also got a healthy severance package.  Then he started freelancing for his old employer, so he brought in even more money.  He is still going strong at 71, not because he has to, but because he loves what he does.  If he were a complacent, mediocre employee, he would have been let go in the first round of layoffs 13 years ago.
• If you are serious about starting a business, don't screw around anymore.  Shift your priorities, get the necessary resources in place and begin to make progress.  You are essentially putting your financial life at risk if you don't deal with this now.
• Get your financial house in order without beating yourself up.  If you have your head buried in the sand because you are afraid to see your financial situation, pull it out.  No one has a perfect financial history.  As Michel Foucault said first, knowledge is power. When you know where you stand, you can make a plan.
• Do not be afraid to share what you know and grow the next generation of business leaders.  I have run across some of the older generation who hold onto their knowledge like it was the last bit of bread in a famine.  Let's face it.  Someone who is secure with himself shares what he knows, he who is insecure and afraid hoards it.  Sure you will be taken advantage of by an ungrateful whipper snapper or two, but they will be the exception, not the rule.  If you are seen as someone who develops talent, you will have a better chance at keeping or landing a new job.

I thought of a metaphor for this whole notion of "This is not our parent's job market" as I was driving back from getting a latte this morning. In our parent's generation, getting a job with a well-known, large corporation was akin to marrying well.  Your "spouse" was considered dependable, honest, loyal and committed and would be with you through decades of marital bliss.  Nowadays, a job with a large corporation is like marrying a spouse with a long track record of a wandering eye, bankruptcies and many failed marriages.  You never know when he will eye the younger/fitter/more charming secretary and leave you broke and bitter.  The problem is, you know this going into the relationship and still believe that with your hard work and love, he will change his cheating ways.

Crimeny, people, the writing is on the wall ... don't try to change your employer, change yourself!

Pam's Interview on Small Business Podcast

I was interviewed for Small Business Podcast yesterday by Tim Bourquin of TNC New Media.  Tim conducts a few interviews a week about topics relevant to small business owners or owners-in-waiting.  We packed a lot into the 15 minutes:  how to prepare to leave your corporate job and start your own business, what holds people back from leaving, the pros and cons of quitting cold turkey vs. starting work on the side and lots more.  Here are all the ways you can listen:

Windows Media

Real Player

mp3 Stream

mp3 Download

Thanks for the opportunity Tim!

Catch me on the radio tomorrow, May 20

I will be interviewed on Startup Nation radio tomorrow, May 20 at 7pm Eastern Time.  Here is the info.  If you miss the broadcast on your local station, it will be available via podcast starting on Monday.  I am excited to be on national radio and look forward to hearing what you think.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

_________________________________

Update Monday, May 22:  The show is now available via podcast under the same link as above.  My interview is about halfway through the radio show.

Open letter to employees across the corporate world

It felt good to share my thoughts the other day on what I really wanted to say to CEOs, COOs, CIOs and CFOs across the corporate world.  In this "Eleventh Hour" of our world filled with scary things like war, terrorism, genocide and corruption, I don't want to silence my true voice anymore.  I want to make use of my life for things that matter and that have a real, measurable impact.  In that spirit, here is what I have to share with employees of large corporations everywhere:

I have met you in meeting rooms, hallways, on conference calls and on the internet.  You work for large corporations which you detest.  You arrive at your cubicle every morning with a vaguely sick feeling in your stomach and begin your day of work.  You have too much to do.  Co-workers left and no one replaced them, so you have inherited their job and all the work that went with it.

You pulled me aside after a training class or offsite meeting and shared your thoughts about your job.  "I hate my manager.  They do nothing but issue edicts from behind the closed door of their office, then take credit for everything I do."  "I am so stressed out from all this work that it is impacting my health and my relationships at home."

I did what I could to comfort you and give you hope.  But since I am helpless to change the overall state of corporations, here is my best advice:

1. Don't pretend your job is secure.  I know of no job in any industry today that is safe from market forces or lame managers.  You read stories in the paper every day about well-established companies (some that are making huge profits) that are cutting back tens of thousands of employees to "stay competitive."  But you still act angry and surprised when you get pulled into your manager's office with the HR rep and are told that your job is eliminated.  We are all self-employed, and if you don't get that fast, you are in for a rude awakening.
2. Make a long-term life plan.  You get so caught up with surviving each day that you have no idea what would make you happy down the road.  But it is this long-term plan that is going to give focus and structure to decisions you make every day on your job, and guide decisions about the next step in your career.  Get clear on what kind of work energizes you, the kind of people that you want to be around, where you want to live, how much money you want to make and how much time you want to spend at your job.
3. Pay attention to who you go to lunch with.  It is theraputic to bitch and complain about your job once you are out of earshot of your manager or coworkers.  But are you spending all your time with people who just complain and never do anything to change their life?  You are what you eat, say and who you hang out with.  If you want your life to grow in a positive direction, surround yourself with people who are eager to learn, problem-solve and support each other.  I don't mean you can never complain - just don't get stuck whining all the time.
4. Always have a Plan B, C and D.  Even if you have a great job right now, you should always know what your next step is if everything blows up tomorrow.  Network with people inside and outside your company to know what kinds of jobs or businesses you are interested in.  It is perfectly ethical to scan job boards even if you are happily employed (just don't do it all day on work time - a little tacky).  I know how busy you are.  That is not a viable excuse when it comes to something as important as securing your livelihood.
5. Don't think of your job as a paycheck, think of it as a learning opportunity.  Learning should be the primary thing on your mind at all times.  You can be in a hellacious job situation and still learn from it.  I was once on a great team inside a company that had questionable management.  When our recommendations were shot down for reasons we knew were wrong, we would discuss the implications and try to guess the outcome.  Most times we were exactly right, and would learn a lot from the experience. If you have taken the time to create a long term life plan, you should be clear what things you need to learn to get there.
6. Take responsibility for yourself.  Blaming "The Man," "The Company" or your manager for your unhappiness is a cop out.  You choose to be in your current situation, otherwise you would have changed it.  So don't give away your power.  If you are miserable, follow the advice above and move yourself to a better place.

I know that not all of you will choose to quit your job and go to work for yourself.  Entrepreneurism is not for everyone.  Whatever you decide to do, work doesn't have to be miserable.  It is up to you!

Open letter to CEOs, COOs, CIOs and CFOs across the corporate world

I am writing to you as a newly minted rebel.  My main purpose in life is to take your best, your brightest, most creative, hard-working and passionate employees and sneak them out the hallways of your large corporation so that they are free of the yoke of lethargy, oppression and resentment.

It hasn't always been this way.  I tried for many years as a consultant to YOU to explain the importance of treating your employees with dignity and respect.  I encouraged you to speak clearly and to the point, to avoid endless hours of PowerPoint, buzzwords and meaningless jargon like "our employees are our most valuable asset."  I was sincere in my efforts as I coached your managers and explained the importance of providing objective, developmental feedback to employees that was based on observable behavior, not personal generalizations.  I encouraged you to be open with your business strategy so that your employees could contribute ideas to grow your company.

After ten years, I give up.  I was banging my head against the wall trying to find ethical, creative ways to train your employees on the merits of your forced ranking compensation plan.  No amount of creativity could overcome the fact that it is a stupid idea and does nothing but create an environment of competition, politics and resentment.  Whoever sold you on that idea was wrong.

So now I want to help your employees leave and start their own business.  Regain control of their life.  Feel blood pumping in their veins and excitement in their chest as they wake up each day.  I honestly wish that it were possible for them to feel that inside your company.  But things have gotten so convoluted that I honestly don't think it is possible unless you take some drastic steps:

1. Don't spend millions of dollars to try and change your culture.  Corporate culture is a natural thing that cannot be manufactured.  No amount of posters, incentive programs, PowerPoint presentations or slogans on websites will affect the hearts and minds of your employees.  If you want to see things change immediately, stop acting like an asshole.  If you see one of your senior managers acting like an asshole, ask him to stop.  If he doesn't stop, fire him.  You will be amazed at how fast the culture shifts.
2. Stop running your company like the mafia.  By now, we are all aware that no job in any industry is secure.  They can be re-scoped, eliminated or outsourced at any time.  And that is the way it should be - no organization can be static in today's environment.  But despite this common knowledge, many of your managers act betrayed when their employees tell them they want to leave the company.  This is an absolute double standard and should be stopped immediately.  If you help your employees grow and develop in their career even if they plan to leave the company, you will create an extremely loyal workforce.  You never know where that employee who leaves will go next.  They could become an incredibly valuable strategic partner.  Their golfing buddy could turn out to be your next huge customer. 
3. Spend a moment walking around the halls of your company and look at your employees.  I mean really look at them.  Don't just pat them on the back and pump their hand while looking over their head at the exit door. Look directly in their eyes.  Imagine what their life is like.  Who is waiting at home for them?  What are the real consequences to their health, marriages and children when they have to work yet another 13 hour day?  What kind of dreams do they have?  What makes them really happy?  What do their eyes tell you?  Do they trust you?  Resent you?  Think you are full of it? I met precious few C-level executives in 10 years consulting that truly "saw" and cared about their employees.  Those that did reaped gigantic mounds of good will and respect.
4. Teach people how to get rich like you.  I don't think there is anything inherently evil with money.  It would be kind of fun to have my own jet and be able to pick up and fly to New York to watch the opening of a Broadway play or zip to Mexico for a long weekend.  But the kind of disparity that exists right now between your employees who do the work and you and your senior team who reap the benefits is not only absurd, it is obscene.  I know you work very hard and carry a lot of responsibility for your company.  Instead of hoarding your wealth, teach your employees how to make money. Show them how you negotiate large deals.  Explain investment vehicles. Explain how your business works and why it is so exciting for you to run.  Make them into better businesspeople so that they can grow their opportunities and net worth.  And for God's sake share the profits.  It is insulting to tell your managers to look a hard-working employee in the eye and say they only get a 3% raise when you take home more in a quarterly bonus than they make in 10 years.
5. Don't ask for your employees' input if you are not going to listen to it.  I have facilitated offsite meetings that lasted for days where well-intentioned managers brainstormed and argued and edited and wrote flip charts until their hands turned blue.  They sweated over creating something that was relevant and for a brief period of time actually were proud of what they accomplished.  Until a month later when I heard that you scrapped the whole thing in favor of a plan cooked up by an outside consulting firm.  This does not only completely waste smart people's time, it guarantees that you will have hostility and resentment the next time you ask for creative input.
6. Don't train people until you know what problem you are solving.  I would be rich if I took up all the offers I got to "design and teach a 5-day course on people skills for all of our managers worldwide."  Most often, I would get the call from a VP of Human Resources that received the request from their pissed off CEO.  And what were the pressing business problems that caused the request?  Often it was the threat of a lawsuit based on one manager's egregious behavior.   Take the time to analyze what is causing the problems in your business such as high turnover, plunging sales or a huge increase in employee complaints.  Usually it is something that will not be resolved by training everyone.  Most often it involves firing a person or two who are causing havoc in a department. If you really want your managers to learn how to manage people, put them in tough situations with great mentors near by.  Keep an eye on them.  Provide feedback and coaching exactly at the moment that they need it (like before they have to fire someone for the first time and are scared to death).  There is a time and a place for training, but it should not be your first course of action.
7. Ditch the PowerPoint when you have town hall meetings.  No one is excited to see another boring graph or 20-part building slide that describes all the components of your new strategy. If they are interested, they can read the slides at their desk.  Your employees want to hear your opinions on things that they think about all the time. Your PR team may have a heart attack, but invite tough questions about the things that you know are really on their mind.  Are you going to take over another company?  Outsource the Help Desk to the Philippines?  Why did you get a huge bonus this quarter when the rest of the employees are on a salary freeze? Did the VP of Sales really get caught with his pants down at the the sales meeting in Vegas?  Just because people ask the questions doesn't mean you have to answer them all.  Know what you can and can't talk about and be direct about that (no, you can't talk about the VP of Sales or you may get sued).  You will do wonders for your credibility and I guarantee no one will be sleeping in the back of the room.
8. Focus on the work people do, not how or when they do it.  Some positions require people to be at their desk at an appointed hour to answer customer calls or to participate in live meetings.  But others can do their work from home, early in the morning, late in the evening or dialing in from the local Starbucks.  The turnover magnet you have for losing great employees is not the competitor down the street, it is the idea of freedom and flexibility for the self-employed.  Your employees have different biorhythms and working styles and activities going on in their lives.  If you provide flexible work options and don't make people sit unnecessarily at their desk, you will keep some great employees who would otherwise leave.  A manager who is afraid to offer telecommuting to her employees because she thinks they will slack off is just showing her own weakness. Great managers build accountability into flexible work plans and manage performance aggressively.
9. Watch the burnout.  Many companies measure an employee's drive and dedication by the amount of hours they work each day.  I have witnessed people playing video games at their desk until their manager leaves "just so they won't think that I am slacker."  Huh?  It is not a badge of honor to work 18 hours a day, it is a sure path to a heart attack or divorce.  There are times when employees have to work around the clock to get critical projects done and that is part of doing business.  But if they are working long hours just because "everyone does," you are creating a culture of waste, inefficiency and ill health.
10. Forbid people to work while they are on vacation.  Of all the pet peeves that I have accumulated over the years, this is perhaps the biggest.  Your employees work like pack mules all year long.  They send messages via Blackberry during dinner, take work calls during their kid's basketball games and forgo rolling in the sheets with their spouse to finish a PowerPoint presentation on Saturday morning.  When they go on vacation, let them relax.  The only way to get the health and stress-relieving benefits of a vacation is to completely unplug from work.  As long as they are checking email each morning from the hotel lobby or fielding "urgent" calls in the evening, they might as well be in the office.  The worst thing is seeing their kid's eyes as they observe once more that Dad or Mom values work more than family, even on vacation.  Shame on you for making this acceptable behavior.

I won't entice anyone out your door that does not want to come willingly.  Many people will choose to stay in the comfort of your oppressive predictability.  But if you lose some smart, creative, entrepreneurial and positive minds, you can't say I didn't warn you.

Bye Bye Boardroom: Confessions from a New Breed of Stay-at-Home Moms