How To Run A Company

Abstract

This article outlines essential leadership principles for managing a company, emphasizing the importance of deliberate hiring and firing, fostering transparent communication, trusting one's own professional instincts, and maintaining decisive, consistent leadership.

Be slow in hiring and fast in firing

I have never regretted any time I fired someone; given that I can say that, I can't say the same about hiring.

Make sure your employees know it's OK to point out your mistakes

Otherwise, what did you hire them for?

Trust your instincts

Listen carefully to others, but (if you're any good) trust your final conclusion: nobody knows more about your company than you do. To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, "One man who has a clue what he's talking about and knows it can always beat ten men who haven't and don't."* Outsiders can only help so much.

"One man that has a mind and knows it can always beat ten men who haven't and don't.". George Bernard Shaw, "The Apple Cart" (1930), act I.
Bäcker's Corollary to Shaw's Principle: Never have a Board of Directors with more than 10 men. Careful: Shaw said nothing about beating women!

Smile often

If nothing else, it leads to longevity.

Be decisive

A team needs clarity.

Do not revisit issues without a good reason

Don't let new employees reopen an issue just because they were not there when it was discussed.

Cite This Work

Bäcker, Alex: How To Run A Company. alexbacker.com/w/how-to-run-a-company. Originally published at http://alexbacker.pbworks.com/How+To+Run+A+Company.