DISCLOSURE: This isn’t a commercial endorsement, although it may sound like one. Consider me a raving fan.
I hold great respect for my speaker/author colleagues who are academics by trade. Those who have gone to great lengths to research current trends, have unearthed actionable methodologies and strategies, and who provide compelling statistics to make valid points about change, leadership, and business management.
Larry Winget is not among them.
Larry’s a no nonsense, straight-talking maverick from Muskogee, Oklahoma who has developed an international reputation as the Pitbull of Personal Development. I’m one of his millions of readers and fans and I’ve heard him speak several times, but I’ve never heard Larry use a single statistic, throw out a famous quotation, or cite a best practice example.
But that’s because Larry Winget doesn’t rely on those to make his brain-penetrating points. He doesn’t need to.
Instead, Winget uses common sense and everyday stories and examples that hit you right where you live with exactly what you need to know (and probably already do know but don’t think much about) when it comes to being more successful in every aspect of your business and your life.
Larry has truly become an American icon. Aside from being the host of his own reality show on A&E and starring as himself in several Hyundai commercials, he appears regularly on CNBC, Fox News, and is even a featured guest on Dr. Phil. And you ought to see his videos that have spread all over YouTube.
NOW TO THE POINT…
I’m reading an advanced copy of Winget’s new book Grow a Pair – How to Stop Being a Victim and Take Back Your Life, Your Business, and Your Sanity. It is the best book I’ve read all year, and it will surely be added to his list of five legitimate New York Times Bestsellers, including You’re Broke Because You Wanna Be, It’s Called Work for a Reason, and my favorite up to now, Your Kids Are Your Own Fault.
In Grow A Pair, Larry challenges you and me to stand up and be counted when we see something that’s wrong, and to stop being so complacent that we simply accept the blatant mediocrity that surrounds us.
The part of his new book that compelled this particular blog post is Larry’s strong words for employers, business owners, and managers. Here’s an excerpt:
The first and most fundamental responsibility you have to your own employers and your customers is to deal effectively with your employees. To do that, set high expectations, communicate them, and impose consequences for poor performance. This will eliminate any confusion about what is expected and your employees will never be able to use the excuse “I didn’t know.”
Once you’ve taught your employees how to deliver on the expectations you’ve set for them, you have to be prepared to deliver the consequences when you don’t get what you expect. Sadly, because we have become so fearful of being sued, few leaders and managers are willing to deliver the consequences that come with poor performance. Bad employees with poor work habits and no work ethic run most businesses today.
Many workers come in late, put in just enough work to get by, and have little respect for their co-workers or management and even less for their customers. They figure that management and the HR department wouldn’t risk a lawsuit and they think they can get by with damn near any type of poor performance without any consequences.
As you nod your head in agreement thinking, ‘Yeah, this is what it’s like around my workplace’, Larry smacks you upside the head with his no B.S. advice.
Grow a pair! Fire every employee who gives you less than you pay for. Stop tolerating poor performance in every single employee down to the smallest violation. No more coming in late, no more long lunch hours, and no more half-assed effort in exchange for full pay. Take your business back from your lousy, disinterested employees and put it back in the hands of those who truly care about serving the customer, delivering excellence in all they do, and understand the concept of adding value to your company through hard work.
Will you get sued? Maybe. Cover your bases by documenting all bad behavior well. Don’t be stupid about this stuff. But never let anything or anyone stand in your way when it comes to dealing with a lousy employee.
Over the past five years, we’ve seen a radical shift in the way people approach their jobs. Hit hard by the worst economic downturn in the past 60 years, some have gotten the message that it’s time to get back to work. They’ve rolled up their shirt sleeves and try to stand out from the crowd by leaving their signature on every job and every task do. They believe in their heart that hard work is a good thing and anyone who has a job should be thankful and provide more value than they are being paid for.
Others, unfortunately, have gotten an entirely different message. The recession has left them bitter and angry because ‘the American Dream’ they were promised by mommy and daddy and feel entitled to has become a personal nightmare. They would rather focus their energies on protesting against the establishment and their own employer than to work harder and rise through the ranks to earn the wages and the power they want. These are the people who are forever looking for ways to get out of work, hoping to find the easiest jobs that pay the most money.
If you are an employer and have people like that currently on your payroll, it’s time to take your business back. Like Larry says, it’s time to Grow a Pair!
SPECIAL OFFER TO REVIVING WORK ETHIC SUBSCRIBERS – If you buy and read Grow a Pair and don’t absolutely love it, send me the receipt and I will reimburse you, no questions asked.
