Page 217 - Executive Warfare

Position

the few times that the dominoes shifted at John Hancock, I was given the
big jobs that put me on track to someday run the organization.

IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT THE MEAT—IT’S ABOUT
THE GRAVY AND THE FUR COAT
It’s very hard to argue with someone who keeps dropping elk carcasses in
the cave. He is sustaining everyone else. But just because that person has
earned some respect does not mean that he is a leader.
If you want to beat the hunters among your peers, don’t simply drag
home the carcass. Manage the entire hunt with the sophistication of an
American Indian. Make your own bows, and have your own people trail
the herd and determine which animals to kill for the most meat at the least
expense to the tribe. Figure out how to make warm clothes out of the hides
after the meal is over. Maximize the use of what you’ve hunted.
The essential weakness of many hunters is that they see everything as
a sales job. Yet they may actually have a P&L job, where they are expected
not just to bring in revenue but also to generate a profit from it. The prob-
lem is that they don’t think of it as a P&
L job. They say to themselves, “If I find
a way to bring money into the company, THE RAP ON
someone else should figure out a way to HUNTERS IS THAT
make a profit from it.” They rely on the THEY’LL TRY TO
organization’s skinners to do all the SELL ANYTHING,
brainwork: “You guys price the product THEY HAVE NO
and tell me how much of it I have to sell, VISION, THEY’RE
and then I’ll sell a ton of it.” RECKLESS.
Now, to really run a P&L business
well, you need all kinds of other skills
besides the ability to sell. You need to be able to develop products, price
them properly, and market them. You have to become a general man-
agement person—and that is precisely the kind of person who is most

197