Yeah. Once someone grabs the CEO title they think it's all about talking. They fail to lead through example.
No. It's about doing.
"In the hour of danger it was shameful for the chief to be surpassed in valor by his companions; shameful for the companions not to equal the valor of their chief. To survive his fall in battle, was indelible infamy."
I mean, Gibbons was writing about barbarian warriors; rather a different breed from your usual computer nerd. However, I think this particular lesson is still applicable. If you are leading nerds, You need to spend some time working alongside them. If they see you create, your words will carry more weight than years of rhetorical training. (I find that in the short term, sophistry can often carry more weight, especially with less experienced employees... but in the long term? they need to respect you. And they will only respect you if they see you working, and they see that what you produce is not stupid.)
The romance of Gibbons aside, if you don't spend at least some time actually doing the work of the company, you are trusting without verifying; Delegation is important, but it's also important to occasionally verify what is actually happening.
Comments
Yeah. Once someone grabs the CEO title they think it's all about talking. They fail to lead through example.
No. It's about doing.
"In the hour of danger it was shameful for the chief to be surpassed in valor by his companions; shameful for the companions not to equal the valor of their chief. To survive his fall in battle, was indelible infamy."
I mean, Gibbons was writing about barbarian warriors; rather a different breed from your usual computer nerd. However, I think this particular lesson is still applicable. If you are leading nerds, You need to spend some time working alongside them. If they see you create, your words will carry more weight than years of rhetorical training. (I find that in the short term, sophistry can often carry more weight, especially with less experienced employees... but in the long term? they need to respect you. And they will only respect you if they see you working, and they see that what you produce is not stupid.)
The romance of Gibbons aside, if you don't spend at least some time actually doing the work of the company, you are trusting without verifying; Delegation is important, but it's also important to occasionally verify what is actually happening.