The Exit Plan

Have you ever been asked that question when you were a teenager? It’s pretty much a rite of passage for parents to wonder out loud if their teenage children have a plan, or even know that they need one. Every generation looks at the younger one with a bit of dismay. They have no idea what they are in for. They are a bit lazy. They are a bit complacent. They are a bit selfish, right?

I remember at 15 when I landed my first real job.  I was working at a clothing store, and loved getting that first check. It was my money. No one could hold it back from me once I earned it for any reason.  Not for speaking back to them, or not for cleaning my room, or getting a “C” on a report card. It was mine. My mom came and visited me at work one day. She asked in front, where she can find Marco. The assistant manager said, "Oh Marco, he is back in the children’s section, and his department is immaculate!" My Mom was floored. She wondered out loud since that day, going on 40 years now, how is it he could never keep his room clean, but had the best kept department in the store?

It wasn't only making my own money that motivated me. I loved the feeling that I finished my work day with a sense that I completed something that day. The praise from my boss did nothing for me. I knew when my department looked good, and I knew when it didn't when I got to work the next day. My motivation was intrinsic. Cleaning my room at home or finishing my chores did not give me the same satisfaction because of the lack of ownership over the house. But even though I would never own this store, or department, that paycheck I received, and that bulletin board in the employee lounge listing all the employees by their departments gave me that sense of ownership, and that was enough to motivate me.

What motivates you? 

 In the business world you may get a lot of answers to this question.  Helping others, making money, doing a good job, getting a promotion, getting recognition, supporting my family, the list goes on.  But really think about it.  Not everyone is motivated by the same things.  And it is sheer impossibility for managers to think they know what motivates all their employees.  It is ignorance or sheer incompetence that leads business leaders to create incentive programs to induce motivation to reach profit goals without first doing the most important thing.  Asking the employees, individually, what is it that motivates them. 

The word incompetent sounds harsh, I know.  But let’s look at the word for a moment.  To be competent, is usually referred to around a specific thing you know very well and can perform well at.    Typically no one ever describes someone as being competent in all things.  However, once proclaiming someone as incompetent, all of a sudden, we define them as being completely inept on most things in life.  Why do we do that?  Human nature I guess.  When I mentioned incompetence in the above paragraph, I did so with a specific example in mind.  Some managers are incompetent in managing what really motivates staff.  It could be arrogance or just a lack of knowledge and training that could have led them there.  However the fact remains the same.  Money does not motivate everyone in the same ways. 

Now I am not saying that most people don’t work for the paycheck.  Of course they do.  You have got to pay your bills.  But ask the millions upon millions of Americans that work for non-profits, schools, social service agencies, churches, food pantries, clinics, why they do what they do.  And you will rarely hear, ‘The money is great!”  You may hear that from the stock broker, car, or insurance sales man at times.  However since I know a few of them also, it’s still a rarity to hear “I work only for the money.”.  And I know this for sure, even folks that are not working for a socially conscience agency, but for a business  whose managers feel that daily they need to push employees to reach sales goals in order to meet profit expectations will hardly ever state the reason they work there is to produce a profit for the owner. 

“Marco, you have worked everywhere!” 

Gerry exclaimed after I told him a story about where I was working on 9/11.  Gerry and I were at a bar getting a drink after a long day at work, swapping stories.  I met Gerry, who was a supervisor in a small community services clinic in a small town in North Carolina.  I was sent there by my boss to see if I could help him and his staff grow his operation, find better resources, and guide him a bit.  We hit it off well, Gerry and his staff were receptive to the methodology I was teaching them of how to craft then execute a plan that show results, and soon Gerry and his staff were hitting goals and getting what they wanted. 

It was clear that Gerry and his team wanted what was best for the organization all the while making life a little bit easier for them.  Faster computers, better access to resources, more confidentiality, etc., would help them do their jobs better and in the end help the organization reach its productivity goals.  Thus we got to work on ways to grow his team, promote appropriately, and devise a growth plan, so the company would invest into getting Gerry and his team the better infrastructure and office space they desired.  End of story…Gerry and his team were in that new space by year end, and his production and team size and scope doubled in capacity.

We deserved that drink together. Gerry and I swapped stories over lunches and drinks often over those months of working together, since both of us lived out of town. This particular evening we were talking about where we were on that fateful day of 9-11-01. Every American can remember that date now. Just like our parents and grandparents remember Pearl Harbor, or when JFK was shot, exactly where they were, and what they were doing. I was working in a furniture store, selling high end, all hard wood, desks and credenzas in San Diego, Ca. I loved the job. The place was clean, and we kept it that way. The furniture was beautiful, and it felt like working in a law office or on Wall St. The customers were smart and allowed me to guide them on how to get exactly what they wanted. I quickly became sales man of the month, and received bonuses for productivity. I came by the job after a start up my best friend and I began about 2 years earlier started to crumble. It began to crumble because some mistakes were being made, and a wedge between us was being forced by some folks we had let into the company. It had soon become apparent, that to save my friendship, I needed to quit. And so I did. Best decision I could have made, since now, 20 years later I am still best friends with that man, even though the company folded about a year after I left. Sometimes, knowing when to quit is a pretty awesome tool in your exit planning.

I have indeed worked in many different places and types of jobs, over my career like many people have done.  In sales I have sold everything from cars and cell phones, to plants and computer components.  I was promoted quickly into management as a young man out of college to take on director jobs of medium sized companies.  I took to creating marketing and sales campaigns designed to increase sales and market penetration.  After a major career transition in the late 90’s after the tech bubble burst and silicon valley fell on hard times, I moved into social services and so began a 10 year journey helping others in child and family mental health programs.  I quickly learned, and so did the company I was working for, that those same management techniques that worked well for me in sales and marketing, also worked well in growing non profit or clinical operations as well. 

The fact that never changed, no matter where I worked, that produced the best results, is that people work at a specific place for a myriad of reasons, and your management plan, and motivation scheme motivation schemes st results, to enhance productivity and grow profit, should not be produced in the vacuum of a directors meting or in the silo of a manager’s office.  It should be part of an entire teams exercise. 

After the success with Gerry and his team, I was meeting with the Regional head honcho for lunch.  He said to me, " The one thing I am always impressed with you is that you seem to have an exit plan no matter where you go."  No one ever told me that before.  And it was true.  There are folks that can literally work in one job their entire lives.  And then there are those like me, those  that like to skip around a bit.  Whether you work for one company in various roles, or various companies in one type of role, having an exit plan, does not mean, a plan to exit the company or even your current job.  My exit plan was always set around how to execute to completion the goal that has been set by the team.  Thus the plan itself needs to have a specific end goal in mind.  And once completed, the next goal cannot and should not be the same as the last one.  Of course some of the most profitable companies in the world desire and plan around making a profit… but it is not their defining goal, even through Wall Street would say differently.  They have goals aimed at quality of goods sold, employee satisfaction and reducing of turnover, market and geographic growth, social embitterment and awareness issues.  Granted, if you are a bank, making profit is the point, right?  However if you look at the more socially conscience financial institutions, they indeed have a mission that strives to make the world a better place.   

Now when I say specific goal needs to be constructed, I mean a quantifiably measureable specific outcome.  What you are going to accomplish, by when you are going to accomplish it, and how do you know when you get there?  If you are leading a team, then it is imperative you get them bought in first.  And to get their buy-in, you need to ask for their input before setting goals that you think will motivate them. 

What was your exit plan when you were 17? 

What was it you were going to do with you life?  Join the military?  Get a job and move in with some friends?  Live with your mom in the basement and play video games all day?  Go to college?  Well at 17, my family couldn’t afford college for me, and we didn’t know anything about college loans, or how to fund a college degree.  Neither of my parents had gone to college, and my father was a career military man. 

So off to the Navy I went, and off to the Air force my brother went.  I made it only 4 years, and got out with the GI Bill, and a way to pay for school.  My brother on the other hand is a 25 year distinguished combat veteran.

I needed a way to pay for college, but my brother’s plan was to start his career.  For me, setting goals in the work was like applying for college after I got out of the Navy.  There are deadlines to be met, and tests to be taken, even through getting into specific types of colleges depends on your grades in high school and other criteria, there are things that need to be done today, tomorrow, and by the end of the month in order to be evaluated by any school you choose.  The Navy taught me some good stuff in their own way.  In boot camp, how to fold socks and make your bed in a certain way was a socialization tool, teaching me to follow orders, and attention to detail.  In college I learned other necessary skills that prepared me for the work place.  Life itself, no matter what you have done or learned should be your example table, and drawing from it ways to make ends meet, and how to complete your tasks to meet your goals.   

All your plans need to be crafted in a way to allow them to evolve over time.  So that when variables occur, and you can bet they will indeed occur, you can still hit your marks.  More importantly you need to make sure your team is on board weekly and are making some progress on getting to that end goal.  So make sure you are checking in with them, continuing to make sure you have buy in that meets their needs, and not only your own or the companies.  Set realistic end goals and exit plans, and allow for some fluctuations to influence the goal so you don’t get frustrated at not meeting all your deadlines.  Sometimes getting better, means making progress and it does not always mean hitting all your goals.  A simple exit plan could be just simply leaving something better than you found it. 

I think the question at the end of the day could more easily be answered if put like this:   “What are you not going to do with your life?” Maybe even better, "What are you doing today to secure your future?" 

Contact Marco at marco@alpinumllp.com; mtomat@hotmail.com