02/12/17

Problems and Owning Them — CEOs Only

Big Red Car here on a listless Sunday afternoon. Been to church for a good sermon, wondering if the minister was talking directly to or about ME. That hurts. I think he wastalking about me.

So, The Boss is talking to a lot of new client CEOs and there is a troubling new development bubbling up. Not really troubling, but noteworthy.

You must own your problems if you are going to deal with and overcome them. This is different than saying, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”

Go read: Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys — Advice for CEOs << link 

The Boss is always reminded of a time when he was in the Army when a pal of his, in a moment of extremis, said, “Hold my beer. I’ve got to deal with this.”

“This” was a couple of long-haired-ruffians of the City of Brotherly Love bar fight scene who did not like soldiers, a common enough occurrence at the time. The odds were a little out of balance — two of them, one soldier. The Boss was available as a reinforcement, but his pal said, “I own this problem and I’ll fix it.”

There was some theorem of calculus or quantum physics which gave rise to the clash of ideas. I can’t remember exactly. In the end, the soldier (a Ranger School grad) handled the problem quite nicely though The Boss did drink his beer. Bought him another one.

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01/22/14

You Own Your Employees’ Problems, Right?

Big Red Car here.  I’ve been listening to The Boss complain how damn cold it is in NYC.  [He’s such a hot house Texan, no?  Haha, Boss, that was your choice to go hang out in a blizzard, no?]

Going to be 72F today and sunny in the ATX, Boss.  [Hahaha, this one’s on you, Boss.]

So The Boss is constantly working with his brilliant CEOs and they are constantly talking about their team members and their problems.

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