A Business of Belief

Key points from an interview with Mark Earls:

• Belief is a potent fuel.
• People are most valuable when they feel valued.
• A manager should be like a coach; inspiring the team and providing big-picture direction, but letting them work together to set and accomplish goals.
• Encourage people to encourage others.
• A leader is a visionary, saying 'see the world this way.'
• Management shouldn't be about control, but building teams.
• It's OK for a leader to say, "I don't know." It's OK to work through it together.
• The militaristic view of hiring the top 10% talent and firing the 10% weakest members doesn't work in an industry that is 80% dependent on personal interactions.
• Management should be about building up everyone in the company.
• People in a business need to know its purpose. That's where commitment comes from, not from external incentives like salary or titles.
• A manager who feels bewildered and lost when there isn't tight control isn't going to make it.
• Consolidation has lead to management that is pressured by financial goals to meet specific goals. This doesn't work in a creative industry.
• People who just expect to do their jobs and get paid aren't as productive as those who feel like part of a team, working towards a purpose together.