Recently I was promoted in my Slowlane job. I went from running the supply chain (purchasing) department to running the entire plant for an aerospace machining manufacturer. I've never run a plant before. In fact, 12 years ago I was an ex-airline pilot that was unemployed thanks to 9/11.
I was wondering if people have entrepreneurial tips for making my plant 'hum'? Many of the employees have been at the plant for 35-40 years and are pretty set in their ways. This will take a lot of work to convince them otherwise. We make products that are designed by our customers, so it is difficult to 're-engineer' anything in the product. We need to re-engineer our processes. Any tips from the entrepreneurs out there who have run decent sized organizations would be very much appreciated.
So I am not just asking for advice and help, I wanted to throw out some ideas I have had that have helped me get promoted from a lowly internal auditor (my first job after the airlines) to Supply Chain Director for a $1B division, and now a plant manager. I also wanted to solicit some advice, because this new job cuts into my time to develop my side business (real estate) and get into the fastlane quicker. If I can be more productive at work, I won't have to work as many hours. Then I can spend more time figuring out how to get out of the slowlane.
Here are some things I have learned along the way. I think a lot of these things will help train you to be an entrepreneur someday, but will also help you get ahead in the slowlane:
I was wondering if people have entrepreneurial tips for making my plant 'hum'? Many of the employees have been at the plant for 35-40 years and are pretty set in their ways. This will take a lot of work to convince them otherwise. We make products that are designed by our customers, so it is difficult to 're-engineer' anything in the product. We need to re-engineer our processes. Any tips from the entrepreneurs out there who have run decent sized organizations would be very much appreciated.
So I am not just asking for advice and help, I wanted to throw out some ideas I have had that have helped me get promoted from a lowly internal auditor (my first job after the airlines) to Supply Chain Director for a $1B division, and now a plant manager. I also wanted to solicit some advice, because this new job cuts into my time to develop my side business (real estate) and get into the fastlane quicker. If I can be more productive at work, I won't have to work as many hours. Then I can spend more time figuring out how to get out of the slowlane.
Here are some things I have learned along the way. I think a lot of these things will help train you to be an entrepreneur someday, but will also help you get ahead in the slowlane:
- Learn to negotiate. Everything important you do in your slowlane job involves negotiation. From your salary, to your customers, suppliers and fellow employees, you need other people to help you excel. The way you get them to help is to negotiate with them. There is a great book I love on negotiating - it is here. If you have not studied negotiation, do it...NOW!
- Take Action. Employees are just as scared of taking action in their companies, as they would be in venturing out on their own. The bigger the company, the more people hide behind Power Points, reports, risk analyses, meetings and stupid 'team building' exercises. If you cut through the red tape BS and just do stuff that grows the bottom line, you will get promoted. If you let others tell you what to do, you will be at the top of the layoff list.
- Don't be an a-hole. Seems pretty common sense, right? Well a lot of people in the corporate world think they have to yell and scream to look like they are in charge. I have found it is a lot easier to get things done, by winning friends and influencing people. This goes with dealing with suppliers as well. Hammering suppliers on price or if they screw something up will burn bridges. There are times when you absolutely need a supplier to come through for you, and they will remember who were the pricks and who were cool to them. Even if you are negotiating a screw job with that supplier, do it with a smile on your face and love in your heart.
- Learn how to create a 'business case'. Just like you would create a business plan for your new venture to sell to investors, create business cases to sell bosses on your ideas. Don't just say "I think we should do such and such". Put together a presentation with numbers that show how implementing your suggestion will save money/grow revenue/avoid hiring additional employees/cut down on scrap etc. Make sure you really believe the numbers and they are achievable. I actually left a company because we were being told to put together projections of cost savings that were totally a crack-induced fantasy world. If you can show people your plan, and then achieve what you said you would, you catapault yourself way above other employees.
- Solicit input from people below you. Lots of people 'suck up'. I suggest you 'suck down'. People on the floor or coding, or doing the day to day stuff right next to the product, are in a great position to see how to do things better. If you make friends with them, they will feed you ideas. If you champion their ideas, and most importantly give them credit for coming up with the idea, you will have others bring you ideas as well. What's really cool is that even though someone else came up with the idea, you will still get a lot of credit for pushing or implementing it.
- Answer emails outside of work. Whether you can do this on your smartphone, or your laptop, people will like that you are accessible 24/7. You don't have to spend a lot of time doing this. 5-10 minutes sometimes. Just answer one or two a day. If you have email access to your company on your phone, lose the 'sent using my iphone' message. Then people think you are working away on your laptop.
- Don't talk much at all about your entrepreneurial ventures outside of work with people at work. I tried to get a few high performers at my job interested in real estate investing. I could tell right away they were just going along because they liked me. They would not pull the trigger. People also frown on you taking time off because you have to do something in your entrepreneurial venture. I can tell people all day long I need the afternoon off to go see my kid's play, help my wife with her car, coach sports, meet a contractor at my house etc. People are fine with those. But when I say I need time off to meet a city inspector at my rental property, bosses don't seem as enthusiastic about letting you go.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
