When doing interviews, I always asked the person why he left such and such job, and some of the people really came up with great stories and very convenient scapegoats why it did not succeed. I always thought that no matter what situation you are, you always have a hand on your success and failure. A person who blames everybody and every circumstance other than himself may not be a good hire …

An employee who insists that he/she only does what he is hired to do is out of his time. More so for the entrepreneur. A consultant noted that he asked a group of hundreds of accomplished individuals in a seminar how many of the people did only what they were hired to do, and no hands went up. I think that is self evident that what you need to do to succeed can never be defined in the employee handbook, nor anywhere else.

I must admit I hold a growing respect for the governor of our province. Government executives are not known to be tough leaders who are tough at people. The agency problem that is known to managers ( where personal goals conflict with the organizational goals) are particularly true in government. After all, you win elections by not necessarily being effective, but by being nice. That is why government politicians would rather shake hands and kiss babies rather than ardously ask for delivery of results.

The governor understands the importance of execution, and is not afraid Read the rest of this entry »