“Good to Great” author Jim Collins tells a story of the former CEO of Gillette, Coleman Mockler, a shy and humble man who fought off corporate raiders during the 80’s, keeping Gilette independent and prosperous. Even during the company’s darkest and most intense times of the takeover crisis, and despite the increasing global nature of the business, Collins notes that Mockler rarely worked evenings or weekends. Instead, he spent that time with his family, never missed church, and was actively involved with a non-profit board.
When Collins asked how Mockler was able to pull this off, a fellow executive said, “Oh, it really wasn’t hard for him. He was so good at assembling the right people around him…that he just didn’t need to be there at all hours of the day. That was Coleman’s secret to success and balance.”
Mr. Mockler, you are my hero. Because, dear sir, here is my own dark corporate confession: I am not a workaholic, either.
In spite of a healthy desire to climb the corporate ladder and make myself indispensable to my employers, I never latched on to the idea of working an insane amount of hours to prove my worth. I didn’t think it was necessary, nor did I choose to work in companies where an epic work week was the norm. Instead, my philosophy has always been to work smarter than stupid hard. After all, our work is generally judged more by the results produced rather than the number of hours we slave away. So why be a slave?
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Photo by Kelly Sauer. Used with permission.
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