Top Executive Coaching with Tony Mayo

A study found remarkably high rates of dyslexia among entrepreneurs, as compared with corporate managers and the general population. What I found particularly interesting was the list of traits dyslexics develop that have them become entrepreneurs more often, have multiple companies, and an above average number of employees.

The dyslexic entrepreneurs reported as good or excellent at: Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 15% [?]

Share it!

The amount of work I delegate today is far greater than ever. Leaving my people alone has resulted in key increases in our business.

Hire slow, fire fast, and communicate clear expectations of results.

I have been working with Tony as my executive coach since September of 2005.

–Leo Tucker, CEO
The Washington Group

Popularity: 3% [?]

Share it!

Integrity is usually a major conversation when I coach groups of executives. It almost always comes up in the context of arriving to the meeting on time or returning promptly from breaks¹. This leads to a discussion of consequences, by which people mean punishments for not being on time: fines, humiliation, etc. This opens a powerful examination of monitoring, enforcement, and integrity throughout the organization.

Consequences come in two flavors. Imposed consequences are punishments contrived by an authority exerting its power to compel behavior. Natural consequences are what reality delivers in response to actions. If I Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 68% [?]

Share it!

I got a call from a salesman looking for my help with a business owner. The salesman was frustrated because the owner so needed the product but was not making a decision, though he was willing to keep talking.

The business owner was tired and frantically busy as his business grew past 100 employees. He was traveling more and more, continually meeting prospective clients, reviewing active projects, and checking on employees. He was proudly a stickler for quality and involved with every detail. His company’s reputation for excellent work was a foundation of their success and growth.

My immediate response was, “Wow! He must have a terrible time retaining key employees.”

“How did you know that?” the salesman exclaimed “He says that is his #1 problem.”

“Of course it is. The best people don’t want to be micro-managed. The most creative, responsible, and growth-oriented people are going to run from him like fleeing a fire. He’s going to be left with the people who need to be monitored.”

The CEO of $5B SunGard learned this the hard way:

[I had] a huge disagreement with somebody who worked for me directly, and he ended up quitting shortly thereafter. And it wasn’t that the decision that we disagreed on was so big. It was more that, to him, it just wasn’t as much fun anymore. He felt he could do more, and I was in his way. I was chasing away somebody extremely valuable, and that is when I realized I never would have put up with that myself. If you start micromanaging people, then the very best ones leave.

SunGard CEO practices what I preach.

The catch is: his passion for control seems to be what made the company successful. Why would Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 23% [?]

Share it!

Here’s an article I had published as the cover story of the August, 1997, issue of Small Business News. My executive coaching clients still find it useful.

I remember when I sold my first business and got a “real job.” A “real” job is the kind with set hours, limited responsibilities, and weekends off.

Weekends off! What an alien concept. Once I got used to the idea of free time and stopped bringing “special projects” and extra reading home, I noticed something very odd. I got a whole lot more done on the Mondays after a relaxing weekend than I had after struggling with work for seven (or seventy) straight days. Abe Lincoln is said to have declared that if he had eight hours to cut down a tree, he would spend four hours sharpening his saw. Vacation is for sharpening your most important tool: yourself.

---

Long-term Vacation Planning:
Grow your staff

I once asked the President of a division of a public company, “How do you account for your great success at such a young age?” After a moment’s reflection, he Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 10% [?]

Share it!

While coaching top executives, I often paraphrase contemporary philosopher Ken Wilber to the effect: I have found that most of my trouble comes from trying to control things that, if left alone, would take care of themselves.

We have all heard the advice to empower self-directed teams, push responsibility down close to the action, give authority over service decisions to the person in contact with the customer. Implicit in all these dicta, however, is the assumption that it is properly the executive who has the power, responsibility, and authority being meted out. What is it about showing up for work that strips people of agency? Maybe management should stop ignoring the fact that people are doing a fairly good job of managing their lives and consider that these skills can be used at work?

Before you agree or Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 4% [?]

Share it!