| Original Greaser Bob - 1/20/2025 19:08
Well, there is "successful" and then there is wildly successful. An average person can make successful company. Often times they can do that by having the "my way or the highway" attitude with their employees. Even employees of average intelligence often have great ideas to improve work flows, quality, or efficiency. They make it work by busting their asses their entire lives and usually go online or to Sunday coffee shop and bitch non-stop about how they can't get anyone to work for them, or the ones they do have are lousy workers with no motivation. You know the type.
But occasionally, rarely, you get a guy who really knows what it takes to make his business wildly successful. He can recognize real talent, finds a way to utilize that talent, empowers his people to implement changes, challenges the employees who want to be challenged so they won't get bored, and compensates them well. People who are fortunate enough to find those rarities will give their all for that business.
So yes, I do recognize the OPs challenges, but I found that I can do drone type jobs without getting bored IF I am working for a leader who gives me some freedom to make necessary changes to improve efficiency. I had a guy like that for awhile. He was new and admitted that he didn't know sh_t from shoe polish and gave me the green light to "go for it'. I did, had things running like a top, and was being noticed by upper management for my efforts. It was at that point that boss man decided that it just wasn't right for someone like me to potentially pass him over and literally began to sabotage my efforts, even though he was sabotaging himself in the process. I wasn't about to go whine to the top brass about it since I have learned that when crap like that starts to happen, you can often find yourself in a no-win situation long term. So I left, bought a herd of dairy cows, and have been farming on my own ever since.
So, I may remind you of the OP but you are starting to appear to be that boss who is merely "successful" and unwilling to let your employees shine. Or worse yet, maybe you are my former boss who can't accept that someone else might be better at the job than you are and gets his rocks off on stomping down anyone who is just because you somehow ended up in a leadership role with no knowledge of the role??
As some self reflection, I've mostly learned I am a Sigma personality, not an Alpha. An Alpha seems to need peasants to step on, and I am perfectly content on a team, but I am perfectly suited and will drive the team if that is best. The very best team I was ever a part of was a pair of classmate engineers that started their own CNC shop. I will admit those guys are better than me in much of that space, but our brains all worked the same. We were all hand finishing some parts one day, sort of looking at each other like we needed a different plan. I mentioned we needed a template stuck to the table so our parts would just sit in it so we didn't have to hold each part. The parts were .062" thick so I recommended .050" for the "cookie cutters" so parts would stand proud. Next thing I know, one of the guys disappears, in 10min he was on the CNC router making some. Literally within 15min we had them. I will admit that today I could be that fast, not not then. He out classed me. It worked. But I had a similar novel idea for another machine process to accelerate things. Those guys use it to this day. They went on to build one of the biggest shops in our state, doing about $250M/y.
I ran a group on my other aero job, but not in MFG. It was an odd job that I sort of took to aid and grow my MFG biz. I've never been anything but a fair boss, but I fired so many that my boss wanted to know if I would ever keep one. Let me make this crystal clear, I put two guys on a simple job inside the CEOs office of a MAJOR airplane MFG. I walked into that office to check on them and they were dancing on the CEO's desk. YES, I lost it! I trucked them out so fast it took a day for my bosses to know what happened. I just told them I took the trash out.
But one guy I kept. He was 20y older than me. He knew absolutely nothing! How about an accountant type industrial.... The stories I could tell. The difference? He asked, I taught him, he listened, he learned, and he was respectful. I demanded precision work because our customers wanted that and willing to pay for it.
I'd like to think I can identify employee strengths. I don't win if I just say "I'm smarter, your dumb". I have a big tolerance for people that just don't know, and I can teach them. But have zero tolerance for brain dead, drugs, etc. You lie to me or cover something up, I don't give second chances and I've always been up front on that. You screw up, I need to know. I do not like hostile work environments. I had one guy that was even younger than me at this time. He was actually good. Problem was he seemed to want a power struggle. My confidence has always been my character. I'm not to worried that someone will walk in and show me up, because I am like a swiss army knife. I wanted to keep that guy, but something happened. I think he got locked up. I begged my bosses for intel and they would not give it. I told them he was really good and we need him. I was willing to fight for him but was told he was done.
I like working with people and helping people. Probably why the disease I carry leads me to doing charity work for everyone. They know I can fix it so they call.
But I still like to dream. I see all these people winning the lotto and they waste it on stupid things. I would write my own life on the line that if someone dropped $100M in my pocket, you can bet it will be making money in short order, not losing. I know where to build, what building, how to make things efficient, and who's hands to shake. I guess it's just that dreamer BS that many may have. But I think way more on ways to make money than waste it. I don't look at trucks, I don't look at boats, I don't look at vacation spots. I am laser focused on business, strategy, efficiency, and wealth building. Obviously precisely zero of that has happened because I've been too busy juggling life. But now that family and kids is out of the card deck, I guess I have a clear schedule now. |
Personal...."go fund me"...I need to fix my path.
