Page 203 - Executive Warfare

Outsiders with Influence

That is exactly the wrong way to han-
dle this kind of outside pressure. It may THE WORST
be silly, and it may be time-consuming, WOULD-BE
but take the time to prove methodically VENDORS ARE THE
why the idea does not work. Launch a ONES WHO GO SO
study, do the research, and lay the ques- FAR AS TO
tion to rest with the facts. CONTRIBUTE
That way, you accomplish a number BUSINESS IDEAS,
of things. You respond respectfully to WHICH YOU THEN
the boss.You also destroy the credibility HAVE TO FEND OFF.
of the golf partner who brought this
idea forward. He can never plant
another notion with that boss again because you have proven that he is
not trustworthy.
Beware of the sin of arrogance in such circumstances. It is not enough
to be right. You have to prove you’re right.

MAKE SURE YOUR OUTSIDE BOARD MEMBERS
SEE MORE OF YOU THAN JUST YOUR POWERPOINTS
Particularly susceptible to this kind of lobbying are your outside direc-
tors, and you are probably dealing with more of those than ever. Thanks
to the business scandals of recent years, the ideal board is now an inde-
pendent board made up of the fewest possible insiders. This is true even
at nonprofits and universities.
By definition, these people are visitors to your world. Even the best of
them won’t spend more than six weeks a year at your organization, about
the same amount of time that you spend on vacation.
They are simply not around enough to distinguish bad ideas from good
ideas, so they are easy marks for an aggressive sales pitch by an outsider.
Because you generally don’t have much of a relationship with them beyond
the board room,it is doubly important not to arrogantly dismiss their ideas.

183