Make Money, Happiness, Both or Neither

Albert owned a civil engineering firm. He asked me and my consulting team to save his life. It’s true that I tell people I fix businesses for a living. But fixing lives? I don’t know.

Albert’s point was that his lack of control was the cause of his morbidly high blood pressure. He worried about what he didn’t know and couldn’t control. To help him get a grip was to get his blood pressure down. He kept a blood pressure cuff on his desk and used it twice daily. We’d soon know if we were meeting the goal.

Like a lot of civil engineering companies, Albert’s provided surveying services. Some of the surveyors were drunks. The manager of the surveyor teams was a pothead. I have no beef about people’s personal choices unless they impact productivity. Productivity sucked here. Consequently, we sent some workers to rehab and some out onto the street.

My partner worked on straightening out the financial processes and systems. He discovered the accounting manager had been embezzling, siphoning off $600,000 to a shell company owned by her husband. We sent her to the law.

With Albert’s big obstacles now out of the way, we taught him how to perform as the CEO he was supposed to be. His blood pressure came down. Now the problem was that he missed the users and losers we sacked, and rehired them when we left.

Albert is definitely on the noose. What’s up with him? A CEO can do anything he wants with his company, right?

Robert Anderson, founder of Small Business Advocacy Center, is a writer, small business turnaround expert and business coach, with success restoring value to businesses throughout North America. SBAC can be reached at info@SBACenter.org or 970-231-2772.

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