Worst Manager on the Planet- 3RD PRIZE
Folks, our Third Prize Winner in the Worst Manager on the Planet Contest is Chris M____ of New Jersey in the US of A. Why was this guy the worst manager? Well, doing hard time is a sign you’ve done something wrong.
Here it is in his own words….
So here’s the deal. In my early twenties, I performed some side work for this investor . He paid very well, and had some neat projects that needed I could do part time. I wrote programs for him, maintained his machines, etc. etc… Then, 2 years or so later, he explained that he was starting a venture capital company and needed a CIO. I had absolutely 0 experience in management, finance, etc. etc., but I was young and eager to climb up the corporate ladder, and thought this was an awesome move. I could learn alot. I was also offered double the salary I was making at the time! It’s hard to turn that down.
So, I took his offer. I had no clue. And yeah, it was great for awhile. Great money, learned some new stuff about investing and business that I didn’t know before. But, soon I learned that we weren’t going to be hiring anyone else (there were a few of us). I found myself doing a lot of unusual work for him. Not work I’d envisioned a CIO would do, like: drive him to strip joints, pick him up from a bar when he was drunk, helping out one of his peers (who owned a different company) do some data entry (!unbelievable! But I got them to pay me extra to do that – so I stayed), etc. etc… Still, the money was real good.
Then I started learning more about the guy. My opinion of him was lessening. He was becoming scum to me. He had a beautiful wife and children, but he’d rarely spend time with them. He spent alot of the time at strip joints during the day (yes workday), evenings, etc… He started to bring strippers to work. They’d just hang out in their skimpy clothes (I guess that wasn’t a bad sight) and then go out with him somewhere else a little later. But nothing special that you might be fantasizing about. =) His wife found out about this down the road and I caught the whole episode first hand.
Then, he began to leave the office more often – “making some deals” as he would say. But, I didn’t see any evidence of many major deals or financial backing, etc. etc… I heard him taking lots of calls from lawyers. Ever since I knew him he had lawyers for this or that. I thought it was just part of being a rich investor or something. But he was taking more and more calls privately as well, so it sort of raised my suspicion a bit.
Then I found out that he was going to court for something. Then the whopper – my paycheck bounced. “It must’ve been a mistake. Don’t worry about it – I’ll get you something quick.” But then it happened with the next paycheck. The next. I was in big trouble financially soon because I had increased my spending. And then I found out, I forget how, that he was going to court because he was the defendant in a case involving his fraudulent activities in a fund he created before I knew him. He was going to jail in a few months and the company would come to an end. Great. I was shocked, but should’ve known something was up. The scum signs were probably there. So, I bailed.
What I learned:
- Be a skeptic about things that appear too good to be true.
- Don’t jump into stuff just because of the money.
- Do more research.
- Don’t be quick to trust people you only know a little. Or don’t trust them just because they are giving you lots of money.
- Don’t screw around on your wife. It messes with the family unit. You screw your whole family.
- Something is seriously wrong when your paycheck bounces. duh.
Some good stuff I learned:
- Surround yourself by smart people.
- Learned a bit about delegation and management basics. Before this guy, I was a techie with no management experience.
- While he was a jerk, he had some clear leadship qualities.
- Learned a bit about running a business
- Learned a bit about how not to run a business
- Learned a bit about finance an investing
- Learned how to write business plans
- Learned how to carry yourself and present yourself
What can I pass on to others? It’s fairly simple – just be observant and try to make connections. Oh and don’t be fraudulent, take your company down with you, go to jail, screw your employees, and everyone else around you.
Chris receives a Podcast Network T Shirt, a copy of my book, “A Philistine’s Journal, an Average Guy Tackles the Classics”. He also receives free downloads from Magnatunes.
The first and second place winners will be announced tomorrow and will be interviewed on the Cranky Middle Manager Show so you can hear them tell their stories themselves….