That's why they pay me the big bucks.
I've got one of those 24/7 migraines called an executive job. It's a continuous circus of bad news, bad breaks, progress, elation and despair. I'm digging it despite the fact that I'm climbing uphill. The most interesting part of being an executive as contrasted to being a professional is that you deal with people's motivations and character a lot more.
Every morning I get up at 7 and watch CNBC in my corporate apartment. The Ditech commercials are non-stop. Their new slogan is "People are Smart". People aren't smart. People think they're smart. In fact, people are cagey and clever, distrustful and petty. When you know how much everybody gets paid, a lot of things become obvious. When people confide in you for all kinds of reasons, some unknown fraction of them honest, things become cloudy. Fortunately, I've read a great number of murder mysteries and I have a poker face. The executive must be prepared for anything.
When I was an overpaid professional, I recognized the envy of colleagues. My enemy was Mr. Stupid. Mr. Stupid is the person who will drag down the project and force you do redo his work. Mr. Stupid is not the enemy of the executive, he is just another player. The enemy of the executive is Mr. Muckraker. At least that's my impression so far. Mr. Muckraker is the clever loudmouth who starts rumors that cannot be suppressed or corrected until they reach the ears of an executive. Only the executive knows for sure and the executive has to keep an even keel in the storm. The problem is that the truth is often stranger than fiction, the rumor only half the story, the insinuation totally off base, the perception completely wrong but containing just enough truth to be deadly. Mr. Muckraker only needs to understand a few things. He always has just enough knowledge to be dangerous, and that is what makes him dangerous. You can't really shut him up.
The ally of the executive is success. Nothing succeeds like success. It's contagious. If it's played right, it generates goodwill that can translate into people power. This is where that old guy from Coca-Cola's wisdom kicks in. There's nothing you can't accomplish if you're willing to share the credit. Only credit works. The debit is all on you. Failure comes out of the professional's store of pride, it comes off the executive's ass in bloody chunks.
I watched 'Man on Fire' on the flight home. I swear to God it is one of the greatest movies ever made. There is nothing to soothe my soul like a big fat hunking dose of life and death stark realism. I think it's going to be my new sustenance - the fight against the worst kind of bloody chaos. The professional in IT, if he's lucky, survives a complete disk crash once every other year or so. The executive has to survive the failure of companies, the destruction of trust, the layoff of employees and still see the industry for what it truly is. It is our ability to handle the tragedies that send lesser men cowering that defines our leadership. We only hope we don't have to. Remember the guy who wrote about Grey? Yeah.
Last week over steaks I found out my boss and I have a mutual hero. Thor Heyerdahl. I think that says a whole fucking lot.
I'm blogging lightly because I haven't got a minute to spare. Yet. This week, the honeymoon ended and now it's on. That's why they call it work. That's why they pay me the big bucks.
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