I was speaking with a highly successful senior executive, one of the most impressive I’ve met, who was describing an assignment earlier in his career. It was an unforgiving, unrelenting, meet-the numbers game. The physical and emotional cost to him and his staff was enormous and unending.
And there was no escaping it. There was no fairy-dusting your way out of the hard work and the ruthless decisions. No magic management or leadership formulas to make happy smiles float through your day. No coasting on charisma. No exploiting empowered employees. Just grim work against desperate odds measured every day.
Really. It was like that.
And what’s more, there was (is) no way out. This particular operation is vital to the health of the overall organization. It must be undertaken. It cannot be outsourced. And while the process is constantly perfected, it is also perpetually undermined by demographic and social/political developments.
He had to do it, and he had to drive his staff to do it. He had to stay focused, constantly, and help them do the same.
What he told me was that some mornings on the way to work he would become so discouraged at the prospect of facing yet another such daunting day, he would have to pull over to the side of the road. He knew he couldn’t let his staff see him like that.
He would stop, set his difficulties up before him in his mind’s eye, face them down one by one, and then continue on to the office, once more grimly determined to pursue his work with force, focus, and integrity.
I happen to know that that’s what he did. Every day for two years. But he was successful, and made everyone on his staff successful as well.
Ever have a day like that? A job like that? How did you handle it?
Ever see or work with a manager like that? What did you learn from it?
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Today’s tip: Speaking of gutting it out, please stop over to Lui Sieh’s terrific new site for this excellent collection of citations – very much worth your time to review. It includes one of my favorites from Ralph Waldo Emerson, which reminded me of the subject of today’s post: “The hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”
And speaking of the value of the job, please take a brief moment to view this must-see post Wally Bock, at Three Star Leadership, on the nobility of work.
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Technorati Tags: executive, assignment, work, decision, management, leadership, charisma, operation, organization, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Wally Bock, Three Star Leadership, Lui Sieh
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I was leading a project with lots of dark alleys. I would go into work and dread any e-mails or phone calls that awaited me. Eventually, I had to step down from the assignment, as there were no lights at the end of the tunnel. I had become depressed and could not sleep.
It turns out, 5 years later, that I was the 2nd of 6 project managers trying to lead a program that, even today, continues to have many dark alleys, many of which are self-induced by the corporation’s need to try and succeed at the project.
At the time that I stepped down, it personally saddened me that I had to make that choice. Relinquishing the assignment put me into a career tailspin, which I’ve really never recovered from.
As I mentioned, the project continues to be a grinder and people continue to try to do the best they can. There are some people that have remained on the project all these years. I cannot figure out if I admire or pity them.
Hello Allen,
The announcement of the assignment received by the subject of my post is typically received with fear and despair at the prospect of the likelihood of failure at worst, or spotty results at best – a career stopper or, at least, stumbling block. It is mixed with the knowledge that with vast good luck and guts, it can burnish your star. But that is mostly luck, and many a terrific manager has been ruined by this assignment.
The thing is, though, that everyone knew it was an unquestionably valid organizational need. Is that the case with yours, or is some sort of corporate pathology clinging to this dangerous program? Is the assignment a temporary step in a career path, or is it more enduring than that? Has the organization, in designing the program and its staffing, considered its impact both on the outfit’s performance/needs and the development/welfare of its staff?
It is always the case, isn’t it, that as individuals we must consider our own needs as human beings to be primary – for ourselves, our families, and indeed for our ability to contribute meaningfully and sustainably at work. The best firms know that and incorporate it into their planning. When they don’t, it is up to us to not forget it for our own sakes and those of our families and loved ones.
Thanks for stopping by with this trenchant comment. I hope we hear from you again soon – I would certainly be interested in hearing a bit more about this program in your firm.
Thanks again for stopping in with this, Allen.