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My employees reviewed me, and I kind of suck

18 points by asanwal 13y ago

mooreds 13y ago
A good look, and I enjoyed the mea culpa. Good on ya!
forgottenpass 13y ago
Entrepreneur thinks their shit doesn't stink. Film at 11.
- RougeFemme 13y ago
  Agreed, but at least this one acknowledges that his does, rather than continuing to deny it.
- dandrews 13y ago
  Would to Bog I had karma points enough to downvote your dismissive comment. Really, couldn't you even read all the way through the article title? You know, where it says "... and I kind of suck"? OP describes immersing himself in the details of a construction project, yielding to the temptations of total control. Micromanaging that project (atop the demands of family life) was a tremendous time-sink, and he lost focus on the Day Job - leading his company. He became detached, and his management style more autocratic and less consensus-driven. He should have, he says, delegated or hired out much of the construction project work. Shepherding the company culture is a more important use of his time. I found his introspective candor refreshing; not everyone is self-assured enough to admit a mistake.
blakesterz 13y ago
But the kids ARE an excuse. The kids will take every ounce of energy from you. The kids will take focus from you. The kids will change you. Kids is a valid excuse for sucking at everything.
- pcurve 13y ago
  While I agree that they do drain you in some ways, they are also great career boosters. I've been with a single company long enough to observe many of my colleagues get married and/or have kids. Even the ones who decided to have kids late, after having been married for 10+ years, I see big changes in their attitude, and for the better. Notice I said, kids are 'career boosters', but not 'motivators'. While having kids do boost your career, it's not necessarily because they motivate work harder or better. By having kids, you actually become more risk-averse, but you become more shrewd, able to relate to management more, and also forced to utilize your time better. All these help you climb the rank. Ultimately though, quality of your work will decline if you're trying manage people AND do the work too. It's hard to do both, and I think that's the problem this guy is having. He needs to pick his battle.
gus_massa 13y ago
Another excuse: 33 employees is a lot If you have a 5 members team you can remember the name of everybody’s dog (or who hates dogs), who likes milk in the coffee, and be approachable and spend a lot of time with each one. With 33 employees you have only 1/6 of the time and it’s probably not evenly distributed, so the new junior hire will probably don’t know how/when it’s a goo idea to talk directly.
greenyoda 13y ago
"I spend less and less time with each employee. Some know very little about me, and I about them." If the employees have expectations that the CEO should spend time with them, that seems to imply that the CEO hasn't hired anyone to delegate management to, and he essentially has 33 direct reports (every one of his employees). That sounds like way too many for any manager to be able to handle effectively.

18 points by asanwal 13y ago

mooreds 13y ago

A good look, and I enjoyed the mea culpa. Good on ya!

forgottenpass 13y ago

Entrepreneur thinks their shit doesn't stink. Film at 11.

RougeFemme 13y ago
Agreed, but at least this one acknowledges that his does, rather than continuing to deny it.
dandrews 13y ago
Would to Bog I had karma points enough to downvote your dismissive comment. Really, couldn't you even read all the way through the article title? You know, where it says "... and I kind of suck"? OP describes immersing himself in the details of a construction project, yielding to the temptations of total control. Micromanaging that project (atop the demands of family life) was a tremendous time-sink, and he lost focus on the Day Job - leading his company. He became detached, and his management style more autocratic and less consensus-driven. He should have, he says, delegated or hired out much of the construction project work. Shepherding the company culture is a more important use of his time. I found his introspective candor refreshing; not everyone is self-assured enough to admit a mistake.

blakesterz 13y ago

But the kids ARE an excuse. The kids will take every ounce of energy from you. The kids will take focus from you. The kids will change you. Kids is a valid excuse for sucking at everything.

pcurve 13y ago
While I agree that they do drain you in some ways, they are also great career boosters. I've been with a single company long enough to observe many of my colleagues get married and/or have kids. Even the ones who decided to have kids late, after having been married for 10+ years, I see big changes in their attitude, and for the better. Notice I said, kids are 'career boosters', but not 'motivators'. While having kids do boost your career, it's not necessarily because they motivate work harder or better. By having kids, you actually become more risk-averse, but you become more shrewd, able to relate to management more, and also forced to utilize your time better. All these help you climb the rank. Ultimately though, quality of your work will decline if you're trying manage people AND do the work too. It's hard to do both, and I think that's the problem this guy is having. He needs to pick his battle.

gus_massa 13y ago

Another excuse: 33 employees is a lot If you have a 5 members team you can remember the name of everybody’s dog (or who hates dogs), who likes milk in the coffee, and be approachable and spend a lot of time with each one. With 33 employees you have only 1/6 of the time and it’s probably not evenly distributed, so the new junior hire will probably don’t know how/when it’s a goo idea to talk directly.

greenyoda 13y ago

"I spend less and less time with each employee. Some know very little about me, and I about them." If the employees have expectations that the CEO should spend time with them, that seems to imply that the CEO hasn't hired anyone to delegate management to, and he essentially has 33 direct reports (every one of his employees). That sounds like way too many for any manager to be able to handle effectively.