I read a book in 1994 entitled “Get Better or Get Beaten!” It was written by Robert Slater, and it shared what he felt were leadership secrets from General Electric CEO Jack Welch. I wanted to learn more about his management style that helped bring so much success to GE at the time.
One of the underlying principles in the book is that growth is not optional. You are either getting better or getting worse, but you can’t maintain. Because even if you do stay the same, your competitors are surely growing. There are seemingly always others in the market who are willing to work more hours, invest more money, hire better people, create new ideas and implement necessary change. As owners, managers or employees, it is our responsibility to make sure we are the ones getting better — even during a “new normal,” whatever that is.
I read the book several times through the years, and my response to it has changed. I used to think that getting better meant getting bigger. I have learned that is not always true.
In the past 15 years, our little company has grown immensely, mostly due to the expansions of our Iowa Living magazines, which are lifestyle publications mailed to every resident in each community. I envisioned publishing one of these in every Iowa county, and we were on our way. At one point, we were publishing 26 separate zones of a Living magazine, in some Des Moines neighborhoods, across the Des Moines suburbs, and as far away as Clear Lake, Fort Dodge and Webster City, as well as county-wide editions in Greene County and Appanoose County. Nothing could stop us, or so I thought.
What I soon realized was that the talent pool was not as abundant in outlying areas as it was in central Iowa. Resumes simply weren’t stacking up in our efforts to recruit staff. Writers and designers were readily available, but we struggled to find advertising sales reps. And when we did find them, we failed to properly manage them. That turnover proved to be stressful, as it usually meant either Jolene or I would drive to fill in until we hired someone. Long story short, we decided to shut down all publications that were more than one hour from our office, whether they were profitable or not.
The COVID-19 pandemic took this a step further. We ceased publishing for a few months, and when we returned, we did not bring back all of our magazines or all of our staff. Today, we are publishing 14 Living magazines that are performing at the highest levels in every significant measurable. As a result, our company is operating at its peak, too.
As such, I do agree that we need to get better or we will get beaten, but I learned the hard way that better doesn’t necessarily mean bigger.
Have a thoughtful Thursday, and, as always, thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305 |
