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What are the odds of a 33-year-old self-avowed graduate from Springsteen U turning around the sales performance of a Xerox district office so spectacularly that it makes national headlines?
Probably about as likely as Ed McMahon showing up on your doorstep with that sweepstakes check in hand. Nonetheless, Frank Pacetta's story (told with Roger Gittines) is true . . . and he tells it succinctly in Don't Fire Them, Fire Them Up: A Maverick's Guide to Motivating Yourself and Your Team (Simon & Schuster, $23 cloth).
"If I had been my boss, I would have fired me at several points along the way," confesses Pacetta. "Fortunately, I hung on and matured."
Pacetta matured enough to guide Xerox's Cleveland sales office to a first-place regional finish within a year. Considering the office was nearly dead last when Pacetta took the helm, that's no small achievement.
"Leadership starts and ends with people," says Pacetta, who emphasizes the importance of getting the highest-caliber performance possible from employees. His management tips run the gamut from practicing what you preach (walk the talk, as he puts it) to backing up your people. But it all centers around one crucial, unequivocal element: respect.
"What you need--and I don't care where it comes from--is respect for people," urges Pacetta. "If it's not there . . . forget management."
Entrepreneurs looking to improve their management skills will learn from and enjoy Pacetta's words of wisdom. You're duly warned, however, that the author doesn't take you on a free ride. "Dip into these pages," writes Pacetta, "find something that makes sense, and . . . go do it! Don't expect me to do all the work."
And you thought reading was supposed to be relaxing?
Scuttle Your Ships Before Advancing
It was Kierkegaard who said, "Life can only be understoodbackwards, but it must be lived forwards." It was a skepticalentrepreneur who said, "Spare me the philosophical quotes thathave nothing to do with running a business."
Skeptics, be warned: If you bypass Scuttle Your Ships BeforeAdvancing . . . And Other Lessons From History on Leadership andChange for Today's Managers (Oxford University Press,$19.95 cloth), you're missing out on an opportunity to learnfrom the mistakes--and achievements--of some of history's mostprominent figures.
Yes, it may sound like a bit of a stretch to profferFrance's Louis XI (the so-called "Spider King") as arole model for today's business underdogs. However, in authorRichard Luecke's capable hands, the lines of comparison areclearly--and believably--drawn.
"We cannot help but improve our understanding andperformance by being perceptive observers of others," Lueckewrites.
In one of the book's best chapters, Luecke discusses whatsmall-business owners can learn from 16th-century adventurerHernán Cortés. Cortés, who risked everything inpursuit of the Aztec empire, embodied many essential traits foundin modern-day entrepreneurs: a strong drive to succeed,problem-solving skills, and unwavering commitment. AgainstCortés, the Aztec empire went down in defeat.
Thomas Hutchinson, the last civilian governor of
Massachusetts Bay Colony, was defeated as well. His misreadingof the American revolution is a classic example of someone whorefused to change with the times. "His misfortune was to nothave been born 20 years earlier," Luecke writes. "Whichof us has not known such a person--as CEO or politicalchief?"
There are limits to what you can learn from history, as Lueckeacknowledges. But those who are familiar with the past are oftenthe ones who profit the most from the present.
Contact Sources
Oxford University Press Inc., 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY10016, (212) 679-7300
Simon & Schuster, 1230 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY10020, (800) 223-2348.
