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“The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels.
For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.”
–
H. L. Mencken
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Ok.
Presidential elections most often remind me about one thing with regard to business – amateurs.
Amateurs are the kiss of death, more often than not, in business. From the outside in … many people <amateurs> mistakenly believe they can do, sometimes as well as, what another person is doing. Therefore “outsiders” end up making their play to be involved with some misguided thinking, perilous rhetoric and, ultimately, some glaring leadership gaps they gloss over with generalities.
Amateurs are the scoundrels of business.
This never becomes more obvious as when leadership of a business is at play.
Mostly because an amateur can only play the game while a professional understands it isn’t a game. It isn’t superficial theoretical programs and soundbites but rather a complex, nuanced, intertwined actions of push, pull, adapting & consistency.
Suffice it to say Amateurs create acid indigestion.
And while the presidential election reminds me of this <senators & representatives & no political governmental leadership experience> I could also throw into this group a lot of young people with minimal business experience, 1st <and sometimes 2nd> time start up entrepreneurs, 50% of consultants <who deal in theoretical mumbo jumbo> and untrained marketing & advertising people.
They are amateurs who, at their worst, believe they are as good as the best of the professionals in the industry, or responsibility level, they want to compete with despite having no real training or practical experience.
Let me tell you four business aspects in which amateurs are not only a huge pain in the ass but create acid indigestion:
– rhetoric
– rules of engagement
– leadership
– results focus
Here you go.
– rhetoric.
I was tempted to call this pandering but that is just one aspect.
All leaders recognize that what they say matters. They also recognize that there are certain “phrases that pay.”
You say something and an uninterested audience all of a sudden locks in. but almost all good leaders understand that while vision is what permits people to be inspired and think big thoughts they also understand that pragmatism maintains belief in the vision. It is always a balancing act of which the leader has to inspire enough tangible near term activity in order to maintain the future vision appeal.
Amateurs inherently get the balance wrong. And while I personally feel the burning in my stomach when I hear the obviously misguided rhetoric the real acid indigestion occurs when some amateur actually gets into the business. the business either gets ground down on uninspired ‘results based actions’ initiatives or flounders behind some grandiose vision which becomes obviously a futuristic ideal – seemingly out of reach for many people/employees who don’t want to think beyond a couple of years because they are already planning their own personal next steps.
Idealistic rhetoric is the scoundrel’s tool. The amateur’s tool. It feels and often even sounds great. It does so because it most likely taps into the hearts of the audience but inevitably leads the employees on a fool’s errand … and no one likes feeling like a fool.
The amateur’s rhetoric most often simplistically taps into some emotion – fear, anger, frustration, disappointment
The professional’s rhetoric first and foremost taps into behavior … and THEN provides affirmation it is attitudinally and emotionally the right thing to do <but the best can leave that unsaid and let people arrive at that conclusion all on their own>.
That is why I often like governors in a presidential race <or a cabinet member>.
There is a pragmatic aspect of their experience that tempers their rhetoric in reality. Amateurs can only conceptually dip into the pragmatism which often means they float on the superficial surface of reality. Professionals realize you cannot float … you have to swim.
– Rules of engagement.
This can actually come to life in mainly one of two ways.
The first one is because they have no, or little, experience they define how a business should do business. This is more often than not theoretical management put in practice <because they do not have the practical experience>. Think of the “this seems like common sense” type leadership style.
It’s kind of like the amateur suggests you have been doing it all wrong and now here is the right way <and it is common sense from the outside looking in>.
Well.
They are wrong.
Simplistically there are ideas and then there is infrastructure <or the institution in which the idea is implemented>. No idea is worth a shit if the infrastructure cannot accommodate the idea.
That is the practical truth of any business.
An infrastructure, whether you like it or not, can dictate an idea. And that is where an amateur absolutely can kill you. They do not understand how difficult it is to change infrastructure. It is rarely as easy as they make it sound or wish it could be.
I can’t eliminate a department tomorrow.
I can’t change my whole distribution system next week.
I can’t … well … suffice it to say an amateur always neglects to consider time it takes to do shit. And even worse … they neglect to consider the effect that time to change shit has on employees and perceptions and attitudes.
The second one is because they have no, or little, experience they define how a business should do business by competitors’ rules of engagement. In other words … if they behead their customers than, by golly, we can too.
This may be the most dangerous amateur.
To them moral and ethical behavior is dictated by what the other guys are doing.
This simply becomes a race to the bottom. This amateur simplistically suggests that to effectively compete you need to play by the rules established by the competition.
This is scoundrel logic.
– Leadership and leading
In general, freedom to lead is an under discussed topic.
This isn’t about getting elected … this is about having the freedom to implement what you want done in your business.
Yup.
You have to have freedom.
Having been a leader of an organization I can clearly state that acquiring a title does not guarantee a freedom to lead.
Amateurs don’t see it that way. An amateur sees a title as an entitlement to … well … everything … but mostly leadership.
And this title entitlement undercuts what research suggests is the most important leader attribute – character.
A social scientist, James Q. Wilson, stressed the central importance of character and virtue in a culture. When he wrote about character and virtue, he focused on the basics—decency, cooperation and that action always have long-term consequences. Wilson once wrote that, “It is as if it were a mark of sophistication for us to shun the language of morality in discussing the problems of mankind.”
Simplistically he suggested that virtue for people becomes a habit when they practice good manners, are dependable, punctual and responsible every day.
In The Moral Sense he wrote, “Order exists because a system of beliefs and sentiments held by members of a society sets limits to what those members can do.”
Amateurs completely underestimate the concept of freedom to lead.
– results <and money>.
While amateurs can absolutely veer into the intangible ‘feel good’ aspects of a business, more often than not in today’s business world they dive into the results, money & short term milestones pond headfirst.
Amateurs are more likely to not recognize results, and money, is a double edged motivation sword. It can motivate ambition & focus but it can also motivate ‘cutting corners’ to get to what you want.
Amateurs have a tendency to either unhealthily focus on sheer results <winning is all that matters> or conversely focus solely on money <ROI>.
Amateurs not only ignore the phenomenon of “putting profits before people” but actually suggest simplistically that “if we gain profits everything else will be taken care of.”
Amateurs take on the most simplistic view of capitalism and job growth and economy.
Capitalism is good and therefore if we simply encourage entrepreneurship and enable businesses to prosper everyone will benefit.
Even the penultimate capitalism professional Adam Smith understood the link between markets and morality. Contrary to his common portrayal, he did not believe that a successful economy could arise from the raw, unbridled pursuit of self-interest. He maintained that self-interest could fuel a successful economy only if it were narrowed by the constraints of traditional morality.
Amateurs ignore that.
Lastly.
Amateurs are more difficult to debate than you would think. Their simplistic views with regard to what should be done or how to think about things maintains an aura of simplistic common sense which seemingly deflect professional smarts by suggesting they are complicating things.
Yes.
Professionals can overthink. There is no doubt about that. The main danger of that are missed opportunities … but not complete failure.
And it can be managed.
Amateurs consistently under think. And that is difficult to manage because the core knowledge doesn’t exist. To ‘manage up’ actually increases the odds of indecision, or worse, bad decision.
Amateurs absolutely can play a role in new ideation and fresh thinking … just not in the most important leadership roles. Basically … amateurs are unenlightened business people. We do not want to have them become enlightened on the job.