1414: It's Not the Bottom, it's the Foundation by Seth Godin on Business Leadership & Management

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[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_00]: It's Not the Bottom, its the Foundation by Seth Godin of Seths.plog.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm your narrator Dan and we're going to jump right into our post for this Wednesday

[00:00:38] [SPEAKER_00]: as we optimize your life. It's Not the Bottom, its the Foundation by Seth Godin of Seths.plog.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Organizations are built on the work of people who don't get paid very much, don't receive

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: sufficient respect, and are understandably wary of the promises they've been hearing

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_00]: for years. Calling these folks the bottom of the org chart doesn't help. Imagine that

[00:01:03] [SPEAKER_00]: throughout your career you were paid as little as legally possible, the last to be hired and

[00:01:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the first to be laid off. Imagine that the boss gets more vacation days, doesn't have

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to clock in and out, and is actually given control over how he spends his time. Why

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: is it surprising to bosses then that some workers respond to this arrangement by doing

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_00]: as little work as possible? Here's the thing, people actually want

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: to do a good job. They want to be proud of their work. They appreciate being

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_00]: engaged. They thrive when they have some measure of control over their day. Too often, though,

[00:01:34] [SPEAKER_00]: the optimistic leader meets the pessimistic front line and distrust undermines all the

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_00]: good intent. The boss loses patience and reverts to the test and measure trust no

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: one scientific management tradition of dehumanizing the very humans who make the whole project

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: work. And so back to being mediocre. Back to high turnover, low trust, no care. Back

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: to workers who don't believe and bosses who are now cynics. Mostly back to an ordinary

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_00]: organization that's like so many others. There is an alternative, but it's a process,

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: not an event. Step one, a commitment from the top that this place is going to be different.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: The commitment is open-ended. It involves leading and showing up and keeping promises

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: for months and years into the future. It's non-cynical and it views leadership

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: as an opportunity, the possibility of serving customers at the very same time you inspire

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: and enable employees. This is going to take a long time and it's not going to be the cheapest path.

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It turns out, though, in industries where people matter, which is more and more of the work we do,

[00:02:36] [SPEAKER_00]: that this path pays for itself eventually. Step two, hire for attitude, not for learned skills.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: You can teach someone to do just about anything. It's far more difficult to build

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: an instinct to care. When you hire trustworthy people who are willing to trust you,

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_00]: you have an opportunity to build trust which enables communication, which allows you to teach,

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_00]: which upgrades everything. If you are in a hurry to assemble a group of people who can

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: do the work, you will end up with folks who merely needed a job. On the other hand,

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_00]: if you're willing to invest in people who are enrolled in the journey you're on,

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_00]: you will end up with a team. Corollary, fire for attitude, fix for skills. The attitudes you put

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_00]: up with will become the attitudes of your entire organization. Over time, every organization

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: becomes what is tolerated. Step three, be clear in actions and words about what's important.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't do any good to hire for attitude but only reward for short-term results.

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: If you reward a cynic merely because he got something done, you've made it clear to everyone

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: else that cynicism is okay. If you overlook the person who is hiding mistakes because his

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: productivity is high, then you are rewarding obfuscation and stealth. Who gets the employee

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: of the month parking space? Who gets laid off? People are watching you. They're not listening

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: to your words as much as they're seeking to understand where the boundaries and the guard

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_00]: rails lie because they've learned from experience that people who do what gets rewarded

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: get rewarded. Hint. If you tell people something is important but fail to give them

[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the tools and the support and the training that they need to do that important thing,

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: you've just told them that it's not actually important. Step four, be clear and consistent

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: about how we do things around here. It's going to be a long time before people

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_00]: act like they own the place. After all, you own the place and you don't even act like you do

[00:04:25] [SPEAKER_00]: most of the time. This job is important. It feeds my family. It pays the rent. It's

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: connected to my self-esteem. I will act in the interest of my family, not your invisible

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_00]: shareholders. And step five, your problem is not their problem. The people who build the

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: foundation of your business have plenty of things to worry about. Your narrative about

[00:04:45] [SPEAKER_00]: your day is not one of them. Over time it's reasonable to expect that an engaged and

[00:04:50] [SPEAKER_00]: respectful working environment will lead to ever more big picture thinking. But it's naive

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and self-defeating to expect a 20 year old who's been on the job for a week to make

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: a connection between the customer who just walked in, your big wholesale account,

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_00]: the loan that's due soon, and the espresso he just pulled. Every day you're going to be tested

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_00]: on these five principles. Every day there's going to be a moment of urgency, a shortcut

[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_00]: presented, a confusion. And in that moment, the first principle is going to come into question.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: But this is the foundation. It's not the bottom. This is the source for all your possibility

[00:05:23] [SPEAKER_00]: for the change you seek to make. Isn't it worth it? You just listened to the post titled

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_00]: It's Not the Bottom, It's the Foundation by Seth Godin of Seths.blog. This show is sponsored

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: by BetterHelp. We all have non-negotiables. Maybe you never skip leg day or have to take

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: your morning walks. But when your schedule is packed with kids activities, big work projects,

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and more, it's easy to let your priorities slip. Even when we know what makes us happy,

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: it's hard to make time for it. Therapy can help you reclaim control of your time and

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_00]: values. And make no mistake, therapy is for everyone. Whether or not you've been through

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_00]: significant trauma, therapy can be a great tool for setting boundaries, learning positive coping

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_00]: skills, and ultimately becoming the best version of yourself. If you're thinking of starting therapy,

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible,

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: therapist and switch therapists any time for no additional charge. Never skip therapy day,

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com-workdaily today to get 10% off your first month. That's

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_00]: BetterHelp, H-E-L-P-dot-com-slash-workdaily. And thank you so much to Seth for giving us

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: permission to narrate from his blog. Seth is a really popular writer, he's got 19 best-selling

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: books, and he's also the creator of Alt MBA which is an online leadership and management

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_00]: workshop. Now Alt MBA uses digital tools to engage with small groups of 120 students

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: in an intense four-week process. It's been going on since 2015 and has transformed the

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: lives of more than 4,500 people in more than 70 countries. And a little bit more about Seth,

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: he's been writing daily on his blog for over a decade now. More than 60,000 people have taken

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: his online courses and he has five TED talks, so his site is definitely a wealth of information

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: worth your time to check it out. You can find the blog but also books, podcasts,

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: speaking, and so much more right there on his site which again is seths.blog.

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_00]: But that's it for today here on Optimal Work Daily. I appreciate you being here as always and

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll see you once again tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.