workplace

The world of employer and employee, like that of master and slave, debases both.

Your employees are not mind readers or fortune tellers, and your business is not a free-form venue for experimentation, or a place where individual preference based on mood, time of the day, or random circumstance can rule the day. Your purpose and methodology must be clear, concise, consistent, and understood by everyone involved. Aim for a workplace that is orderly and efficient.

There are three sayings I live by, and one of them is 'The tragedy of life is what dies inside a man while he lives.' That's what losing a job is like. That's why we have to bring them back.

Fact is, the work place to a great extent is "where we live." We need star accountants. Boffo saleswomen. Over-the-top creatives in marketing and new product development. And so on. But, since we're effectively talking about "where we live," good sense and good business and "good" engagement throughout the "supply chain," from vendor's vendor to customer's customer, we would benefit mightily—including on the P & L—if we insisted (!) on: "Pleasant." "Caring." "Engaged."

The “No Asshole Rule” doesn’t allow anyone to get away with demeaning, nasty, or disrespectful behavior toward others in the workplace. People who continually behave that way need serious reform or should be shown the door.

The rule is needed because too many organizations allow such behavior to persist. For example, surveys show that one out of two Americans has an abusive boss. And one out of five or six people is in work relationships where they feel persistently, emotionally abused.

Assholes have devastating cumulative effects partly because nasty interactions have far more impact on us than positive ones—five times the punch, according to recent research. And it takes numerous encounters with positive people to offset the energy and happiness sapped by a single episode with one asshole.

The behavior of assholes damages individual well-being and also impacts corporate profits, mostly because it reduces people’s commitment to the organization and drives out some of the best employees.

I think re-engineering or restructuring or downsizing or rightsizing or whatever you want to call it, it's basically firing, has gone way too far. Employees, as I've talked to them across the country, feel that they are not respected, they are not valued, they are worried about their jobs. They simply feel that the company is no longer loyal to them. Why should they be loyal to the company, they ask me. Why should I go the extra mile? Why should I care?

When we’re unhappy at work we get a lot more competitive, for one simple reason: When work doesn’t give us happiness and enjoyment we want to get something else out of it. And what else is there but compensation and promotions.

Be careful of the feet you step on today, as they may be connected to the butt you have to kiss tomorrow.

Do It With Style  It’s not enough that we want to change the world. It’s not enough that our product is incredibly complex and our vision is vast and shifting. We’re not just going to win, we’re going to do it with style. That means a lot of different things, and a lot of what it means can’t be captured in a handbook.

Success in the workplace is a direct result of integrity.