6 ms·

This is a really nice story, but you know who the other hero is? The CEO who gave him the time and the opportunity. He could've easily told him to fuck off, as

by bserge 6y ago

This is a really nice story, but you know who the other hero is? The CEO who gave him the time and the opportunity. He could've easily told him to fuck off, as many would do. Who was he, what's his name? More often than not, we get nowhere without people in better positions helping us, it would be great if more people would keep an open mind like that. That CEO deserves recognition. And if you manage to climb higher on the ladder, don't forget to help others like someone helped you before. Pay it forward.

rajacombinator 6y ago
Agree it’s an underrated part of the story. A CEO who was able to recognize, reward, and take a chance on someone who showed initiative and potential. A sadly rare ability in the world of CYA management.
paul7986 6y ago
I agree and was very fortunate to meet such a guy right out of college where I was studying Recording INdustry. All our teachers said good luck getting a job and I was only three out 60 that I heard got a job out of college in the field. Once I moved from Nashville to NYC for my label job I met a ton of other men and women whom this same guy gave them a chance too. That's how his career started .. he met a label head at a concert in the 80s who gave him a chance. Great guy who helped found many popular artist careers in the 90s.
- sbuccini 6y ago
  Would love to hear more details about this.
  - paul7986 6y ago
    Thank you for your interest! I'm a hobbyist songwriter but pursued it in college at Middle Tennesse State University. I learned you got to be the best of the best and then luck needs to fall onto you as it did for my songwriting classmate, Luke Laird (wrote many Carrie Underwood and country number one songs.. was best writer in class.. not sure how he got his break). During college I was able to intern at record labels and attend fun industry functions like CRS (country radio seminar), NARM and the parties that happened after each day of the event. At NARM in Orlando I went to the events during the day and then found the parties the labels held for record store (2001 when record stores existed lol) people. At one of the parties I met some executives and partied with them and then one introduced me their friend. Her friend was the guy I mentioned and we hit it off, gave him my business card and a month later he left a message on my voicemail (was back in Nashville) saying he wanted to hire me for a marketing job at RCA/Victor (jazz label ... Etta James was on it). I only lasted 6 months (he forced my boss to hire me and she hated me) in my supposed dream job in NYC, but it was a fun and interesting (witnessed the twin towers falling from Times Square in my office's 41st floor) time in my life.
naikrovek 6y ago
Yeah CEOs never get enough respect. Also they're paid FAR too little for having an insight a child would have... Good leadership is rare, you're right, and I don't think CEOs deserve credit for demonstrating good leadership. Good leadership should be table stakes for that position; the bare minimum. What needs to change are the astonishingly weak disincentives (and sometimes, actual incentives) aimed at bad CEOs. If you can worm your way into a CEO position of a company you didn't start yourself, and you DON'T demonstrate good leadership qualities with regularity, then a good old-fashioned CEO-blacklisting seems very appropriate, to me; you just don't get to be a CEO anymore.
- nescioquid 6y ago
  The temptation might be to treat the story like a rags-to-riches fairy tale, but it is instead a parable if you read it from the point of view of a leader (which admitedly would be resisting the author's narrative).
  - GoodJokes 6y ago
    And what is the moral of the parable? My opinion? Hierarchies are bullshit. They are not based on merit.
- GuB-42 6y ago
  It is not "an insight a child would have". Good ideas mean nothing unless it leads to a marketable product. And for one smart janitor with business sense there are thousands of people who will just cost the company money. The CEO here managed to notice that among thousands, this is the janitor to listen to. As for CEO being well paid, it is simply because their decisions can make the company lose or earn a lot of money. If a $500k salary earns the company millions, it is well deserved. And when things go wrong CEOs do get kicked out. So yeah, we can say that spotting talent in a janitor and turning into a lot of money for the company is a CEO's job and the reason he is paid so well, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't be praised for a job well done. And sure some CEO don't deserve their position, golden parachutes are a thing, but I have a feeling that most CEOs have merit.
GoodJokes 6y ago
I just can’t even. What if there weren’t insane ladders to climb. This kneejerk reaction to lick the boots of a CEO is...disturbing.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- pmiller2 6y ago
  It's not so much the ladders that suck. It's the fact that you have to step on people to get past a certain level that's the toxic dynamic. And, as far as boot licking goes, that's easy to explain. People are under the delusion that if they suck up to the boss enough, eventually they can be the boss. That's wrong on so many levels, but the easiest one to see is that for every N employees at any level of the corporate hierarchy, it only makes sense for there to be at most, say, N/4, or N/10, or, generally, N/k (k > 1) people at the next level. So, your chances of rising further up the ladder decrease the further you go up, provided you stay at the same organization. That's actually the way it works in general, except that there are a lot of organizations out there; the hierarchy cuts off at a level before it becomes literally impossible to advance; and, even if that fails, one can start one's own organization, place themselves at the top, and then take on the challenge of building that organization to meaningful levels. But, really, it all amounts to the delusion the bottom 90% of the ladder has that they can eventually join the top 1%, if only they work hard enough! You know, as if it were literally even possible to work enough hours at any reasonable wage to become a billionaire or something. That's the real reason.
  - WalterBright 6y ago
    > if only they work hard enough! It's about working smart, not working hard. > as if it were literally even possible to work enough hours at any reasonable wage to become a billionaire With discipline, however, it is very possible to become a multimillionaire. (Live below your means and invest the rest.)
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
pmiller2 6y ago
Well, TIL I'm a fucking hero for being a decent human being who's open to new ideas. See, if the CEO had told him to fuck off, that would have been typical, subhuman behavior by someone who sees another human as beneath him. No, that CEO doesn't get a pat on the back for doing what anyone with an ounce of empathy would do in the same situation, especially because he presumably introduced the "act like an owner" initiative exactly because he wanted someone to call him up, just like the janitor did. Why fetishize the CEO here, when it was the janitor with the idea, he who spent years learning company operations, he who picked up the phone, and he who went to the public library to study marketing in preparation for the big meeting?
- andreilys 6y ago
  If you're CEO of a 60k person company, are you going to listen to every single new idea that comes into the head of all your employees?
  - pmiller2 6y ago
    That depends. Did I tell 60,000 people to come up with new ideas and send them to me? Am I talking on the phone to someone who says they have a new idea? And, after I give that person their 5 minutes (or whatever), does it sound like a marketable product idea?
    - andreilys 6y ago
      5 * 60k = 300k minutes (or 200+ days), so it would take you the better half of a year to listen to every single idea. Typically these things are sold up the management chain which can exercise discretion on which ideas are good and which are not. In this case the Janitor had nothing to lose by going directly to the CEO since I doubt his manager had much clout to sell this up the chain
      - I-M-S 6y ago
        Not every employee is going to have an idea. Having established an "idea box" in a 5,000 person company, I'm inclined to say 1 out of a 100 might.
lewispb 6y ago
The CEO's name was Roger Enrico
mempko 6y ago
Let's just not have ladders so that people don't have to wait for benevolent dictators to take them under their wing.
eigenvalue 6y ago
The CEO had an incredible life story as well: https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-pepsico-ceo-roger-enrico-dies-at-71-1464882478 https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-pepsico-ceo-roger-enrico... Made CEO at just 38 years old despite coming from a modest background, and engaged in marketing strategies that were very much ahead of their time and dramatically boosted growth.
vanusa 6y ago
You know who the other hero is? The CEO who gave him the time and the opportunity. I would call it "common decency". An uncommon trait for corporate executives. But there's no reason to elevate the occasional few who are capable of it to "hero" status.

by bserge 6y ago

rajacombinator 6y ago

Agree it’s an underrated part of the story. A CEO who was able to recognize, reward, and take a chance on someone who showed initiative and potential. A sadly rare ability in the world of CYA management.

paul7986 6y ago

I agree and was very fortunate to meet such a guy right out of college where I was studying Recording INdustry. All our teachers said good luck getting a job and I was only three out 60 that I heard got a job out of college in the field. Once I moved from Nashville to NYC for my label job I met a ton of other men and women whom this same guy gave them a chance too. That's how his career started .. he met a label head at a concert in the 80s who gave him a chance. Great guy who helped found many popular artist careers in the 90s.

sbuccini 6y ago
Would love to hear more details about this.
- paul7986 6y ago
  Thank you for your interest! I'm a hobbyist songwriter but pursued it in college at Middle Tennesse State University. I learned you got to be the best of the best and then luck needs to fall onto you as it did for my songwriting classmate, Luke Laird (wrote many Carrie Underwood and country number one songs.. was best writer in class.. not sure how he got his break). During college I was able to intern at record labels and attend fun industry functions like CRS (country radio seminar), NARM and the parties that happened after each day of the event. At NARM in Orlando I went to the events during the day and then found the parties the labels held for record store (2001 when record stores existed lol) people. At one of the parties I met some executives and partied with them and then one introduced me their friend. Her friend was the guy I mentioned and we hit it off, gave him my business card and a month later he left a message on my voicemail (was back in Nashville) saying he wanted to hire me for a marketing job at RCA/Victor (jazz label ... Etta James was on it). I only lasted 6 months (he forced my boss to hire me and she hated me) in my supposed dream job in NYC, but it was a fun and interesting (witnessed the twin towers falling from Times Square in my office's 41st floor) time in my life.

naikrovek 6y ago

Yeah CEOs never get enough respect. Also they're paid FAR too little for having an insight a child would have... Good leadership is rare, you're right, and I don't think CEOs deserve credit for demonstrating good leadership. Good leadership should be table stakes for that position; the bare minimum. What needs to change are the astonishingly weak disincentives (and sometimes, actual incentives) aimed at bad CEOs. If you can worm your way into a CEO position of a company you didn't start yourself, and you DON'T demonstrate good leadership qualities with regularity, then a good old-fashioned CEO-blacklisting seems very appropriate, to me; you just don't get to be a CEO anymore.

nescioquid 6y ago
The temptation might be to treat the story like a rags-to-riches fairy tale, but it is instead a parable if you read it from the point of view of a leader (which admitedly would be resisting the author's narrative).
- GoodJokes 6y ago
  And what is the moral of the parable? My opinion? Hierarchies are bullshit. They are not based on merit.
GuB-42 6y ago
It is not "an insight a child would have". Good ideas mean nothing unless it leads to a marketable product. And for one smart janitor with business sense there are thousands of people who will just cost the company money. The CEO here managed to notice that among thousands, this is the janitor to listen to. As for CEO being well paid, it is simply because their decisions can make the company lose or earn a lot of money. If a $500k salary earns the company millions, it is well deserved. And when things go wrong CEOs do get kicked out. So yeah, we can say that spotting talent in a janitor and turning into a lot of money for the company is a CEO's job and the reason he is paid so well, but it doesn't mean he shouldn't be praised for a job well done. And sure some CEO don't deserve their position, golden parachutes are a thing, but I have a feeling that most CEOs have merit.

GoodJokes 6y ago

I just can’t even. What if there weren’t insane ladders to climb. This kneejerk reaction to lick the boots of a CEO is...disturbing.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
pmiller2 6y ago
It's not so much the ladders that suck. It's the fact that you have to step on people to get past a certain level that's the toxic dynamic. And, as far as boot licking goes, that's easy to explain. People are under the delusion that if they suck up to the boss enough, eventually they can be the boss. That's wrong on so many levels, but the easiest one to see is that for every N employees at any level of the corporate hierarchy, it only makes sense for there to be at most, say, N/4, or N/10, or, generally, N/k (k > 1) people at the next level. So, your chances of rising further up the ladder decrease the further you go up, provided you stay at the same organization. That's actually the way it works in general, except that there are a lot of organizations out there; the hierarchy cuts off at a level before it becomes literally impossible to advance; and, even if that fails, one can start one's own organization, place themselves at the top, and then take on the challenge of building that organization to meaningful levels. But, really, it all amounts to the delusion the bottom 90% of the ladder has that they can eventually join the top 1%, if only they work hard enough! You know, as if it were literally even possible to work enough hours at any reasonable wage to become a billionaire or something. That's the real reason.
- WalterBright 6y ago
  > if only they work hard enough! It's about working smart, not working hard. > as if it were literally even possible to work enough hours at any reasonable wage to become a billionaire With discipline, however, it is very possible to become a multimillionaire. (Live below your means and invest the rest.)

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

pmiller2 6y ago

Well, TIL I'm a fucking hero for being a decent human being who's open to new ideas. See, if the CEO had told him to fuck off, that would have been typical, subhuman behavior by someone who sees another human as beneath him. No, that CEO doesn't get a pat on the back for doing what anyone with an ounce of empathy would do in the same situation, especially because he presumably introduced the "act like an owner" initiative exactly because he wanted someone to call him up, just like the janitor did. Why fetishize the CEO here, when it was the janitor with the idea, he who spent years learning company operations, he who picked up the phone, and he who went to the public library to study marketing in preparation for the big meeting?

andreilys 6y ago
If you're CEO of a 60k person company, are you going to listen to every single new idea that comes into the head of all your employees?
- pmiller2 6y ago
  That depends. Did I tell 60,000 people to come up with new ideas and send them to me? Am I talking on the phone to someone who says they have a new idea? And, after I give that person their 5 minutes (or whatever), does it sound like a marketable product idea?
  - andreilys 6y ago
    5 * 60k = 300k minutes (or 200+ days), so it would take you the better half of a year to listen to every single idea. Typically these things are sold up the management chain which can exercise discretion on which ideas are good and which are not. In this case the Janitor had nothing to lose by going directly to the CEO since I doubt his manager had much clout to sell this up the chain
    - I-M-S 6y ago
      Not every employee is going to have an idea. Having established an "idea box" in a 5,000 person company, I'm inclined to say 1 out of a 100 might.

lewispb 6y ago

The CEO's name was Roger Enrico

mempko 6y ago

Let's just not have ladders so that people don't have to wait for benevolent dictators to take them under their wing.

eigenvalue 6y ago

The CEO had an incredible life story as well: https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-pepsico-ceo-roger-enrico-dies-at-71-1464882478 https://www.wsj.com/articles/former-pepsico-ceo-roger-enrico... Made CEO at just 38 years old despite coming from a modest background, and engaged in marketing strategies that were very much ahead of their time and dramatically boosted growth.

vanusa 6y ago

You know who the other hero is? The CEO who gave him the time and the opportunity. I would call it "common decency". An uncommon trait for corporate executives. But there's no reason to elevate the occasional few who are capable of it to "hero" status.