110. No reason to be upset

Hi Erik,

Working on the Leidseplein taught me a lot. What a great job on the side that was. Do you remember I calculated for Cor, the pub owner, that he could have 50% more tables and chairs on the terrace and that he could earn back the investment in a few months if the weather was good? Within a week he had extra tables and chairs on the terrace.There is no reason to be upset, Erik. I am moving away from my management tasks to leave that to people who are much better at this so I can focus on business again. I tried to explain that I should not deal with the management of the company because my Slovak and Romanian colleagues (Danka and Bogdan) are better at this and I am getting in their way (as are the other partners).

If I do what I do best (business), I help them, myself and the company much more than interfering with day-to-day business. And now having stepped back and not interfered for several weeks, I realize how much I was engaged in so many operational details. And this was limiting the personal development of my colleagues. The initial downside is that this creates an increasing workload and some chaos, but we believe that this will be temporary.

I am very busy coaching, training and explaining. I only see happy faces around me and that gives me encouragement. I now think of Egbert who told me that his management team asked him one day to only come to the office one day a month and not to interfere with daily affairs. That was quite a shock, but he loved it in the end and since then the business is working better. He is involved in strategy and focusing on new opportunities and this is going extremely well.

So woe to the entrepreneur/manager/leader/owner of any business who thinks he or she is indispensable and is stuck in the same routine. They will be harming themselves, their colleagues and their company. Not only do you need to develop yourself constantly to keep things challenging and so that your business grows, your colleagues also need the incentive to stay motivated. The top performers (and indeed anyone) cannot thrive under a stifling management and will tend to not stay long and will certainly not push themselves to their limits. And this is vital for success.

So I am back to business working as a ‘mad dog’ and leading our company into a new phase of development. And with all that I’ve learned over the years, as you write, I have become much more efficient and sharper so I will avoid a lot of mistakes, but of course I will also make new mistakes.

As far as mistakes are concerned, I have never been afraid of them. I’m always thinking that if my mistakes cost less than the revenues from everything I do well, I am writing bottom line profit.

Sincerely,
Gerard