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Years ago, I worked for this fellow I nicknamed, “The Michelin Man.” He earned his nickname because the Michelin Man had this annoying habit of sitting with his arms folded when you talked to him, and that made him look like the Michelin Man.
One of the Michelin Man’s other annoying habits was he liked to walk the hallways late in the day with a little notebook. He was looking to see who was in the office, and who had left the office.
In our Friday staff meetings, the Michelin Man would let us know about certain people in our organization that were “leaving early” in his opinion.
Some of the people that the Michelin Man singled out were the most productive employees I had. It was silly and stupid, but I had to ask employees that were doing a great job to stick around the office.
The singled out employees were rightfully pissed.
You have a choice as a CEO: Do you want to be a clock watcher or a results watcher?
I was usually the first person in the office and I was one of the last people to leave the office. That’s as it should be when you’re a startup CEO.
It was the way I worked best. I could get my work done in the early mornings, and maybe…
