Psst. Hey, you. The big-shot business executive reading this. Do you know who I am?
I’m a middle manager. I know, you have dozens, maybe hundreds, of them working for your company. But guess what? Chances are really, really good that I actually work for you. (The Twin Cities isn’t that big a place.)
And here’s something else you should know: I’ve been watching you. Yes, every single move, decision, and stupid mistake you’ve made as we clunked along through this “difficult economic period.” (You’re likely as sick of that phrase as I am.) And it’s only fair to let you know that more than once over the past year, I’ve nearly veered off the hallway and barged through your office door, just to ask what the hell you think you’re doing.
You see, I tried to warn you about this. The thing that stinks is that middle managers usually can’t get you to pay attention to our vantage point. You’re usually watching the short term, the quarterly revenue, the operating expenses, the supply and demand, the EVA, the EBITDA, the yada-yada-yada. Yes, the board expects this of you, and over the past year you did trim expenses, drove some efficiencies, and boarded up some cubicles, which helped us remain solvent and operational. So give yourself a pat on the back for keeping the ship afloat. I personally am grateful for my continued employment.
But come on—you were once just like me, a presumably successful middle manager. Why else would you now be leading us? And good managers—like me—keep a pulse on the environment inside the house. We’re usually taking a longer-term view of the overall health of the business—we’re next in line for leadership, so we have a lot more to gain or lose. We can give you a good read on the health of our business by simply watching how people behave, how decisions are made, and how bad stuff happens.
You might think you still know what’s going on, and where we’re really headed, but let’s face it: You don’t. You don’t have time to immerse yourself back into it. So here’s what I’m going to do: I’m giving you a recap of the past year, which you can use as additional guidance to help us put this insane year behind us and truly take the business in a stronger direction. A lot of it is going to seem like simple, common sense. And guess what? It is—because truthfully, we were operating without it for a long time. It’s not your fault, really, but it’s something you can fix.
So, let’s get that middle manager hat back on your head, and wind it back to last summer. And as you read, ask yourself: Did you see this coming, like I did?
