Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Being the Boss

Cute little story from my buddy Dave about his evolution into actually running a company. This is happening quite a bit around me with all of my Kellogg friends. Everywhere I look, someone is starting a company, or running a division, or raising capital for something to change the world. The ultimate validation of business school is to see where my friends are now, four years out.

I hope you like this little story and take it for the humor that's it's intended to be.
"I still get a chuckle out of the fact that I’m actually running a company. Not to say I’m not comfortable with my position. And I certainly play the part and project confidence and lead my people. However, it’s just sometimes funny to know that I’m in charge of a real company with 10’s of millions of dollars in sales and hundreds of employees.

Arriving at my plant in Mexico was one such time that I got a chuckle out of being the boss. I arrive and everyone comes in to greet me. I go into my office at the plant and there is a case of Bubu Lubu’s (a mexican candy I like) and bags of cacahuate japonese (cracker peanuts). Lesson learned is that as a boss if you say you like something in a foreign country chances are people pick up on it and will get you lots of whatever you like next time you’re in town. I remember when I worked at corporate, our CEO, mentioned (likely out of politeness) that he liked green jello when he was having lunch at which there was green jello served. Next time he visited that plant green jello was a major part of the meal (chuckle)."