Blatant Accountability
We are in the midst of the second space race. This time, however, it's not ideologically opposite nations vying to showcase their scientific supremacy, but an almost masturbatory pursuit for billionaires to flex their egos in a - literally - stratospheric way. It's one-upmanship fueled in equal parts by explosive propellents and the grueling work of underpaid employees.
Running a company based on ego is nothing new. Ford did it. Jobs' two tenures at Apple experienced it. And now, as the delta between the poor and the rich grows wider by the second, trillion-dollar companies are being built on it. When looking strictly at the revenues, many of these operations are incredibly successful. Tesla, Amazon, and Apple never would have achieved their level of success if they weren't run by zealots hell-bent on creating companies that centered on their almost fanatical goals. But for every Facebook and Google, there are thousands of companies that have failed due to the inflated ego of their CEO.
"If you run a company, never run it on ego." - My Father
My dad gave me this advice sometime in the early 2000s. Fresh out of undergrad and ready to take on the world, I was looking to him for advice both fatherly and professional. His quote was based on working in the publishing and financial worlds for decades and seeing the rise and fall of too many companies due to self-indulgent practices.
I've seen it, too; leaders so drunk on hubris that they make decisions based on how they'll be perceived rather than what's actually good for the company. I've seen executives make huge financial decisions solely because it would get them good press. I've seen others build up defensive walls so tightly around them that anyone who questions their position or ideas is seen as insubordinate and argumentative.
In short: sometimes, leaders need to get out of their own way, and their enablers are often doing more harm than good.
We don't need "yes men (or women)," we need people who are strong in their convictions, people who choose to question authority, and people who can poke holes in ideas in order to make them better - no matter what those in charge think. Ideas, solutions, and strategies can come from anywhere and from anyone, and it's important that leaders take time to really listen to those around them. The next idea can be sitting right in front of you, but you might be too consumed with your own vision that you can't see it staring you in the face.
When building Rocket & Sparks, one of the first things I did was write a mission statement; something to ground and direct the goals of the business. And the most important line in it was "We practice blatant accountability." The thought is: if we've screwed up, let us know. Let us make it right. Not only does assuming responsibility improve customer service, but it improves the product. Those unwilling to hear negatives and find solutions for them are bound to create tone-deaf businesses that grind their employees and the consumers into a paste of frustration.
Leaders need to leave their egos at the door. The best bosses I've ever had are the ones who've taken the blame for bad direction, mismanagement, and team failures. They demonstrated that stopping the buck benefits the company more than those who send it on its way down the line. And, in the end, they earned more respect from both their direct reports and their managers than they would have were they to cast blame somewhere else.
The next billion-dollar company is out there waiting to succeed. But employees are catching wise. They want leaders who respect them, who foster growth, who push them, rather than those who can't see the forest for their ego.
