Comments on: Hiring and Firing the George Steinbrenner Way http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/ Entrepreneurial Leadership and Management . . . and Other Stuff Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:06:15 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Will http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9726 Will Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:58:14 +0000 http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9726 Dan, I've heard that Ellison is a demanding guy with an itchy trigger finger. I also know from personal experience that Oracle has no trouble out-bidding it's competition for people it wants. They successfully picked off several top people from a company I ran a few years ago. Dan,

I’ve heard that Ellison is a demanding guy with an itchy trigger finger. I also know from personal experience that Oracle has no trouble out-bidding it’s competition for people it wants. They successfully picked off several top people from a company I ran a few years ago.

]]> By: Will http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9725 Will Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:54:57 +0000 http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9725 Doug, I couldn't agree more. The paying more to get the best people methodology only works if it's supported by the overall culture. As you say, in the case of the Yankees, it's a demand for the best baseball to be played. Of course, in that area, a zillion Yankee fans are standing behind Steinbrenner to threaten the life and livelihood of any player that slacks off. Doug,

I couldn’t agree more. The paying more to get the best people methodology only works if it’s supported by the overall culture. As you say, in the case of the Yankees, it’s a demand for the best baseball to be played. Of course, in that area, a zillion Yankee fans are standing behind Steinbrenner to threaten the life and livelihood of any player that slacks off.

]]> By: Will http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9724 Will Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:47:56 +0000 http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9724 Lorne, You're right about the other side of the equation. Executive performance needs to be closely monitored and action taken if problems, once identified, remain unfixed. There are loads of highly visible business examples where boards appear to be missing either a backbone or a brain regarding poor C*O performance, but poor performance often seems to be tolerated even more in smaller companies. Paying people more to make sure you have the best in the organization doesn't work if it's the *only* management tool. Lorne,

You’re right about the other side of the equation. Executive performance needs to be closely monitored and action taken if problems, once identified, remain unfixed. There are loads of highly visible business examples where boards appear to be missing either a backbone or a brain regarding poor C*O performance, but poor performance often seems to be tolerated even more in smaller companies.

Paying people more to make sure you have the best in the organization doesn’t work if it’s the *only* management tool.

]]> By: Dan http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9716 Dan Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:48:18 +0000 http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9716 Similar in nature to Larry Ellison; it would be interesting to compare in-depth. I don't know nearly enough about Steinbrenner to start, however. --Dan Similar in nature to Larry Ellison; it would be interesting to compare in-depth. I don’t know nearly enough about Steinbrenner to start, however.

–Dan

]]> By: Lorne http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9688 Lorne Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:12:32 +0000 http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9688 Right on, brother! This sounds a lot like the old comparison of Efficiency versus Effectiveness. Executives have a lot of leverage on the results in the company, so we should hold them to a higher standard. We get acceleration of compensation for the best achievers, but they still probably are worth it. No argument. On the flip side, we should be aggressive in firing underperforming executives. Few CEOs, and fewer boards, are, but that's what George Steinbrenner is probably _most_ famous for. Right on, brother! This sounds a lot like the old comparison of Efficiency versus Effectiveness.

Executives have a lot of leverage on the results in the company, so we should hold them to a higher standard. We get acceleration of compensation for the best achievers, but they still probably are worth it. No argument.

On the flip side, we should be aggressive in firing underperforming executives. Few CEOs, and fewer boards, are, but that’s what George Steinbrenner is probably _most_ famous for.

]]> By: Doug Mitchell http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9681 Doug Mitchell Wed, 26 Sep 2007 12:43:16 +0000 http://www.2-speed.com/2007/09/hiring-and-firing-the-george-steinbrenner-way/#comment-9681 Although Steinbrenner is "incontinent" with regard to his firing practices...those practices support the culture of the organization that demands absolute performance (Nancy Boys stay home). In my experience thus far, convincing someone to work on the cheap or trying to come up with "$50k /year worth of emotional satisfaction" for team member compensation leads to implosion over time. Although Steinbrenner is “incontinent” with regard to his firing practices…those practices support the culture of the organization that demands absolute performance (Nancy Boys stay home). In my experience thus far, convincing someone to work on the cheap or trying to come up with “$50k /year worth of emotional satisfaction” for team member compensation leads to implosion over time.

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