Page 148 - Executive Warfare

EXECUTIVE W ARF ARE

At some organizations, this horse-trading is formalized, an annual
event not unlike a country livestock auction or the first-year draft in Major
League Baseball. At John Hancock, for example, we used to have a retreat
every year for the seven or eight top people in the company. Much of the
time was spent talking about the talent lower down in the hierarchy and
who could be switched where.
I used to love it. I always thought it was like a giant chess game with
eight people playing.
Since nobody voluntarily gives up a top-notch person without getting
something in return, there is a whole subtlety of language that goes on in
this game. The executive trying to hang onto somebody might say,“She’s
not quite ready to move.”Or,“She’s tied up in a project, and it would ruin
us if we had to move her now.” Or,“She
really loves her job and has expressed to
HAVING A me personally that she doesn’t want to
REPUTATION AS move for the next two years.”
SOMEBODY WHO And there would be a couple of us lis-
NOT ONLY CAN tening to this stuff,thinking,“I know that
BUILD A STRONG person’s a star.If I could get my hands on
TEAM BUT ALSO her, I could really drive my division.”
CAN BRING IN I’ve known lots of bosses who will pub-
PEOPLE WHO CAN licly be lukewarm about somebody that
BUILD STRONG you suspect is very bright, just to protect
TEAMS IS their resources.My advice is,if somebody
EXTRAORDINARILY interests you,read the employee’s person-
VALUABLE. nel files.The truth lies there.You may dis-
cover that the boss actually thinks the
world of this employee and gave her the biggest raise in the division.
Meanwhile, though, other executives may be targeting your team. So
you, too, may find yourself in the position of trying to give the people who
work for you the accolades they deserve, while trying to protect them from
being traded.

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