I know a guy who ran a small consulting business. He was
what they call a “sole proprietor.” In other words, he didn’t have any
shareholders and he didn’t answer to a board of directors. It was just him in
charge of everything.
He was president, CEO, CFO, COO, director, manager,
supervisor and staff. He was the clerical support and the purchasing
department, and after hours, he emptied the trash can and cleaned up the
office. He replaced light bulbs in the lamps and took care of the computers the
best he could, and when the IT work surpassed his level of expertise, he carted
them away to get repairs.
If something needed to be done, he did it.
If something needed to be bought, he bought it.
If a bill needed to be paid, he paid it.
If something needed to be changed, he changed it.
He alone decided which jobs to accept and which ones to
reject. If he accepted a job, he decided – for the most part – how and when it
would get done. If he rejected a job, that was it. Period. If he didn’t want to
do it, it didn’t get done. No one was looking over his shoulder and making him
do the work.
He didn’t have any employees, but if the business had needed
to hire someone, he’d be the one to do it. The vetting process would go
something like this: Do I like this person? Is he or she qualified? Can he or
she do what I want done? Will this person get along with me and the other
employees (if I had any)? Is the person honest and trustworthy? And not a
murderer?
"OK. You’re hired." Nobody else needed to get involved.
If any employee needed to be fired, he’d basically use the
same process in reverse: Did he kill somebody? No? Well that’s good. But is he
dishonest? And so on. That’s the way it works in a sole proprietorship.
* * *
I know of another guy who ran his own business for many
years. He was also not accountable to shareholders
and did not have to answer to a board of directors. He had some employees and
some family members who helped out with the business, but mostly he ran the
show by himself.
When he wanted something done, he usually hired contractors
and subcontractors to do the actual work and he told them exactly what he wanted
it to look like. He decided what to buy, who to pay (or not) and who to hire
and fire. He was the president, the CEO, the COO, the director and the manager,
just like my friend above (OK, it was me). I don’t think he cleaned the office or changed light
bulbs, but in all other ways he pretty much operated as the same one-man show.
Having started out with some free money from his father,
this man – through business deals, loans and accumulated debt – built a smaller
business into a huge international empire. He did it by developing his own name
into a brand that was known worldwide (rightly or wrongly) as a measurement of
success. After that, he mainly sat in an office and made deals to put his name
on project after project, then signed a bunch of stuff before heading
out to play golf.
He’s still trying to operate that way today as President of the
United States.
Only now he has a 535-member board of directors known as
Congress. He has 330 million shareholders known as the American people. He even
has bosses who occasionally tell him the rules he has to follow. There are nine
of them and they wear black robes. (Sadly, he doesn't want to hear any of this.)
As president, he isn’t the sole arbiter or what gets done,
when and how; what gets bought; who gets hired and fired; who gets paid; and
what gets changed. He just thinks he is, and he wants to be. Desperately. But
like the old woman says in the Geiko commercial, “That's not how it works!
That's not how any of this works!”
I admit that at one time in my past, when I was frustrated
with politicians, I said these words out loud: “Maybe we need a businessman to
be the President of the United States.” When I said that, however, I assumed
three things:
(1) That said business person would have general knowledge of American and world history,
(2) That he or she would have some clue as to how the U.S. government
works, and
(3) That he or she would be willing to learn from others who have
had the job and simply apply their business acumen to actual government
service.
The problem with the current president is well documented.
He doesn’t know anything about our government and he doesn’t want to learn
anything about anything. He thinks he already has a “good brain” and just wants
to run the country the way he ran his business, with no interference from
anyone. There’s a word for that.
It’s called “dictatorship.”
I'm thinking it's time for someone to activate the board.
I'm thinking it's time for someone to activate the board.
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