Let Me Speak To A Manager

“Leave the gun, take the cannoli.” ~Clemenza

It would be fair to assume that Frank Cava and Ian Mathews started a podcast just for episodes like this. While most see The Godfather as a gangster movie, Frank and Ian see a masterclass in business. In true Godfather fashion, they recorded so much content that they needed to break this episode into a three-part trilogy that Francis Ford Coppola would be proud of. In this episode, they discuss key concepts, such as asking for favors, the only thing a manager wants to hear when they delegate something, your star performers might not make great managers, and losing your temper quickly loses its effect when overused. They also touch on taking advantage of downtime in your career – it is okay to “go to the mattresses!” as well as how Frank used an interviewer’s ego to win his first VP promotion.

"If I go there will be trouble

If I stay it will be double

So you gotta let me know

Should I stay or should I go?"

~The Clash

It's that time of year when people get the itch to find a new company. Frank and I take an objective look at the biggest of career decisions.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why January is "quitting season"
• Everyone can be replaced
• How you are only one regime change away from being replaced
• The misguided thinking of blind loyalty
• If you are living for Friday, pack your bags
• If you don't want to do it for 20 more years, why do it one more year?
• A bad boss in a great company can be an opportunity
• How to use the interview process to understand a company's culture
• Why life gets better right after the worst of a company's turnover problem
• How to leverage your experience for a big payday
• Questions to ask yourself before deciding to leave

“If you are afraid of confrontation, you are not going to do very well.”

—Bill Parcells, Hall of Fame football coach

Think of any mentor you've had in your entire life. Whether it was a parent, teacher, coach, or manager, they probably had a special way of getting under your skin. They coached hard, not mean-spirited, but demanding in a way that convinced you to raise your personal standards. Tough coaching gets a bad rap today, but Ian Mathews and Frank Cava make a case for a style that got the most out of us:

Also, in this episode:

· "You can't be tough on Millennials" and other nonsense myths

· You have to earn the right to be tough

· The problem with emulating famous coaches

· There is a time to be tough and a time to back off

· Managers who mask their insecurities with "toughness"

· What it means to be "pleased, but not satisfied"

· You can be tough and still be likable

· Criticize in private, protect in public

· You can be tough on any generation

· Passive-aggressive is not the same as tough; it's the opposite

· How to praise a star in public

“The world is so beautiful, but alas! There are so many assholes.”

― M.F. Moonzajer

You won't get through your career without working with some truly terrible people. How they get into organizations is a topic for another episode, but in this episode, we dive into their impact on team dynamics, how to survive working beside them, and what to do if you are their manager.

Also in this episode:

• How to deal with a bully at work
• Your responsibility when you become the manager of a bad apple
• How bullies and jerks survive in organizations
• The most dangerous person in any company
• How to tell someone that they are not working out
• How your team grows when you fire a bad apple
• Ian's one piece of advice all new managers ignore (and regret not taking)
• Why no person is too important to live without
• How to manage the aftermath of a termination
• How your team feels about you when you won't fire a jerk
• Why bad situations won't work themselves out on their own

In this episode, Frank and Ian can hardly contain their man-crush for legendary investor and CEO, Warren Buffett. Only the truly dedicated will invest $5,000 and an entire weekend in Omaha to listen to Warren opine for six hours at the "Woodstock for investors." We talk about the day we spent at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting and all of the other lessons we've learned from our hero.

In this episode:

• Ian gets shamed by a sweet, but very rich, old lady in Omaha
• How your earliest jobs can form who you become in your career
• It has never been easier to start a side gig
• No one will invest in you without a track record or skin in the game
• Patience is an underrated strategy for building wealth
• Why Warren is either lavish in his praise or dead silent - a lesson in motivation
• You cannot build a career when you are overly focused on your image
• "Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding. Lose one shred of our reputation, and I will be ruthless."
• Buffett's approach to delegation is next level
• Why Buffett does not set limits on compensation
• How to raise private capital like Warren Buffett

Are you too hard on yourself? Do you spend too much time fretting over the past? You're not alone. In this episode, we talk about how top performers tend to be overly critical of themselves. This drive leads to incredible results but also contributes to a regular feeling of emptiness. We talk about how to cut yourself a break and celebrate more small wins, rather than lamenting big losses. We also dive into how to lead high achievers who are much too hard on themselves.

In this episode:

• How to help top performers who live and die with every small setback
• The type of feedback that works best with a high achiever
• How to pick the right context where you can stand out
• Why you should be careful not to define yourself too early in your career
• Regrets only happen when you stop trying to grow
• Why you might be scared to reach your peak
• No event will define your career
• How no one is paying attention and why it is silly to worry about other's opinions
• Frank Sinatra's famous words on regrets
• A leader's responsibility to celebrate often with their team

Do you struggle to set and hit goals consistently? Are you putting off something important because you can't get started? You're not alone. One study found that 92% of people surveyed failed to live up to a New Year's resolution. We talk about the psychology behind goals and the power of creating simple, achievable habits instead.

In this episode, we cover:

- How to start with one simple daily habit

- Why goals aren't real until you share them with others

- Goals and written goals are two different things

- The Seinfeld Strategy

- Why your Plan B is likely holding you back

- How to find an accountability group

- "Don't turn one error into two errors"

- The importance of positive streaks and how to break negative streaks

- A simple process to find a new job

We might have started with nothing, but we do not consider ourselves "self-made men." We've been blessed with incredible role models, mentors, and diverse sets of leaders. We've learned as much from the advice we took as much as the advice we passed on. In this episode, we talk about the advice that truly changed our lives and offer our thoughts on how to interpret and act on the advice in your career.

Also in this episode:

• The advice you don't take can be just as powerful as that which you heed
• Most advice is based on other people's perception and their unique strengths (not yours)
• Advice is limited to the coach's experience
• If you're not getting good advice, change your inner circle
• Unintentional advice is often the best kind
• Who you should talk to before a major career transition
• How to tell the difference between good and bad advice
• No one can tell you your truth
• Consider the source when offered advice; where did it get the person offering the advice?

Do you feel as if you are underpaid? Frank and Ian talk about the best approaches to use with your company. We have been approached countless times for more money. We believe that timing, delivery, and judgment play a major role in how successful you will be.

In this episode:

• How to tell if the market has moved and your pay has not
• How to tell if you are underpaid
• How large discrepancies in pay happen in companies
• Are you producing enough to justify more money?
• Why timing is everything when it comes to pay
• What is important to your boss when considering this request?
• When you have the most leverage to request more pay
• Are your results easily replaceable?
• What to focus on instead of salary
• How you can move from incremental to exponential increases
• It is OK to be honest with your manager if you are thinking of leaving
• Stop talking in terms of your pay, start talking in terms of your value
• How to respond to any pay raise
• Tactics to avoid if you want to maintain a relationship with your manager

Frank and Ian compare their floundering fantasy football team management to the world of business. Fortunately for Frank, he is much better at execution with his business than he is with his fantasy roster.

Topics in this podcast:

• How to narrow down a funnel of candidates when hiring
• How to hire slow and fire fast
• Why context matters when evaluating a candidate’s accomplishments
• How to become a great storyteller in an interview (important for both the candidate and interviewer alike)
• What it is like to work for a company that cuts the bottom 10% every year
• The limitations of constantly upgrading your team
• Why employee loyalty is only as strong as company loyalty
• As your company grows, your talent must evolve
• With good people, it is not always about the metrics
• Respect your competition, but don’t focus on them