There’s a myth
in business building
that employees who care
about the business,
the product/service,
customers
are the easiest employees
to manage.
Because they are driven.
That’s the thinking.
We don’t have to inspire
them to work.
They inspire themselves.
In reality,
self-driven, passionate employees
are complete pains
in the a$$es
to manage.
They don’t blindly do
what we want them to do.
They argue on behalf
of the customers,
the products/services,
the company.
They tend to make decisions
on their own.
These decisions,
these independent actions,
these determined employees
often make
our businesses better.
They are great assets,
awesome sources
of improvements.
But they are NOT
easy to manage.
Not at all.
Embrace that.
(This post is dedicated
to Tom H.,
a quality control expert
whose passion
made him a complete PITA
to work with
but whose stances
are now embedded in a certain
huge beverage company
decades after he left.
He made this world
a better place
and I was fortunate
to have known him.)