Today your Big Red Car sits down with Year 2021 to discuss its last day of existence.
Between you and me, Year 2021 looks a little green around the gills and shows a lot of wear-and-tear — what might be called “ridden hard and put up wet.” Continue reading
In the CEOing business, we spend a lot of time discussing culture, as we should.
Culture is spawned by the founder’s values which many times are a work in progress, particularly for first time CEO/founders. Perfectly natural.
In mature startups — still growing, but growing at scale meaning they are out of the cradle and “walking” swiftly in the crawl, walk, run continuum — this becomes incredibly important as the CEO cannot have a finger in every pie and the best CEOs are excellent delegators which mandates giving up a modicum of control.
It is at this instant in time that the company, its workforce, begins to own the culture and grow it though they never abandon the founder’s values. Continue reading
I am hereby declaring the Year 2021 to be over. It has been a terrible year surpassing 2020 which was a bloody hard act to follow.
I am also declaring that the Year 2022 has begun. Today is January -6, 2022, rather than 26 December 2021. It is still Sunday.
Good riddance, you miserable, worthless, destructive year. I want to be the first person to write your obituary and to throw dirt on your casket.
It is the season to be jolly and, yet, the entire country is fearful.
We are fearful about the China Virus Pandemic, the Omicron variant, the Winter of Death pronouncement from our POTUS, some are fearful of the POTUS, and the economy, in particular, inflation.
Folks are concerned about unfettered, unvaccinated immigration to the tune of 2MM annually at our Southern border, and smash-and-grab Christmas shopping crime in our cities, and whatever crazy scheme the Congress and Brandon are up to.
There are many reasons to be fearful, but it is a decision we make. I am here to lobby against being fearful.
“I am your father, Luke. You are looking at ‘a winter of severe illness and death.’ Oh, yeah, Merry that thing, and happy the other thing. Feliz Navidad!”
A client of mine a few years ago said, “You always make me think, and I prepare for our meetings.”
That is a good thing and it makes me feel good. Nothing wrong with thinking, but it should be more than that.
At the end of every year, a CEO/founder/entrepreneur should conduct a bit of reflection and musing to consider how they are performing as compared to how they want to perform.
I am not talking solely about objectives accomplished, but the nature with which a CEO undertook her/his duties.
In the changing world in which we live, even the most Old School manufacturing companies are finding themselves having to change their ways to find, hire, and retain workers.
John Deere makes farm and construction equipment and its work force is unionized under the United Auto Workers.
Production lines at Deere are hard places to work and it takes a toll on a woman’s/man’s body.
The UAW has had a hard time convincing Deere management to increase wages and the UAW would admit that for the last 20-30 years they had their asses handed to them in every contract negotiation.
Meanwhile, the company has done well with a CEO making $16,000,000, a 160% increase when compared to 2019. This is 220X the average worker at Deere.
“My name is John May and I’m doing good. I’m the Chairman of the Board of Directors and the CEO of John Deere. Let’s play 36?”
I think everyone in the United States understands we have entered a period of increasing prices — inflation. Nobody thinks it is actually going to be transitory.
Even the Biden admin says it’s going to be here through the end of 2023 after suggesting it would magically disappear by the end of 2021. Nay, not so.
Those who are students of the economy will fairly point at the extraordinarily naïve energy policy actions of the Biden admin as a trigger point or at least a milestone.
Nobody has missed that the price of gasoline has doubled since Joe Biden took office.
Glendale, California
Remember this name: Vishal Garg.
“My name is Vishal Garg and I fired 900 employees on a single Zoom call. Yes, I am that moron.”
Vishal is/was the Chief Executive Officer of a digital mortgage company called Better.com. Continue reading
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