Odd title for what I felt compelled to write tonight, but had to take a deep breath, relax and try and not drop the F'Bomb toward how very upset and highly disappointed I am in American Management and Leadership in America today... or more to the point, the very impotence and total lack of leadership...

I had to reflect today and pull back to my managerial roots and where they came from the strongest of all... No, my skills, leadership, reasonable risk-taking, brass balls and "just do it" attitude toward business and holding people accountable and responsible were all forged 100% of my USAF Military experiences in life NOT COLLEGE!

Leadership is earned, not learned.   Leadership comes by example and experiences.  You are not born a leader (yeah that will raise controversy) but you first earn respect, honor and leadership naturally follows.

By extreme contrast, American Business seems to be among the poorest managed in the World and we have lost our ability to lead, direct, manage and hold people accountable for their actions. (OK a little exaggeration NOT!!!!  but I'm trying to make a point).

In the military you get promoted based on your performance. They also have a policy of firing anybody who's passed over for promotion twice.. 

American business tends to reward those with the best connections to the board rather than past performance and those that roll over, kiss ass and tell the boss what they want to hear, not what they NEED to hear.   Why?  Because it is a career killer and it is NOT safe.   So the weak and impotent "leaders" tell the CEO's and Boss-man or woman everything that is great in their company despite the profitability tanking and production and quality suffering.

In American Business if your career stalls out that's where you remain.. All you need to do is not screw up in a way that points back to you.. You sitting in that position prevents better qualified people from coming up and replacing you and you stagnate the company for which you work and the boss rewards this.

I have always believed the ONLY competition I have and ever will have is complacency and status quo.   Those are actually everyone's real 800 lbs. Gorilla and killer competition, not the other store, company or manufacturer down the street, across town or even across the pond (yeah Europe)...

In the military the difference in pay between the lowest recruit and the the top general/ admiral is maybe 20 times.. (I haven't checked for actual numbers but you are not rich at any rank...) If you look at the pay for top business executives it's a 1,000's times or much more.   And that is cool, I am perfectly fine with REAL leaders, CEO's, CFO's, COO's making very, very large salaries and BIG Bonus Checks... but not golden parachutes for their failures and a "get out of jail free card if you mess up...

Compare that to the pay of the top management of successful companies.. Toyota/ Honda it's something like 12 times, Mercedes Benz it's 17 times etc.. None of those companies have had to go to the government for bailouts..  Look at Ford Motor Company!  Success is repeating what worked and how it worked in the past... nothing has changed in terms of why people buy or spend their money.  Leaders lead and take reasonable risks.   Therein is the major problem... leaders will not lead or take risk... they make excuses of, "it requires approval of the board of directors or the investors or the banking leaders.... blah, blah, blah.... )  BULL CRAP!    LEAD!  HAVE BALLS and LEAD!

So how to fix American Businss?  Bring to the boards attention to the facts.. Management is draining company assests to pay for massive paychecks with little to no performance or penalty for lack of performance.  Neglect of the worker and neglect of holding people accountable.

That pure and simple is why jobs have been leaving here to go overseas.. For example All airbags used in American cars are made in Finland or Canada.  Finland?  Canada?  Higher labor rates, higher taxes, and those airbags get an expensive trip across the ocean plus import duty. (and local shipping) Seatbelts are made in Germany, wiring in Japan, etc. etc.. 

The reason for that is management doesn't have to build state of the art new factories and train or pay for workers to build them but then realize that the very people that purchased those goods ans services are the very workers they failed to hire, train and promote and pay a fair livable wage with chances for advancement through what???  PERFORMANCE!    

Want another reason why American Business goes overseas or does not expand here in the US?

No capitol outlay means management can take bigger rewards for profit because they aren't reinvesting, they are not taking risks... they are sitting on meaningless cash..  That's draining companies of their real strength, that is the very thing draining America of leadership and being the best in the World just like our US Armed Forces are the best because of a simple thing... LEADERSHIP!

If you agree with this... please forward on to your FB Wall - Post, Copy-Paste, email or Share to others Walls and Groups....   American Business needs to rise up and lead.   The impotence of American CEO's and other leaders need to be called out and held accountable.

I am asking my FB American Patriot Customers, Friends, Past Customers, Future Customers....   Rise up and LEAD...

When you are the best and offer your customers the best, asking for the order is the other "failure" in American Business... close the deal!  Ask for the order and DELIVER the best quality to your customers.  PERIOD!

Your friend,

Corey B. James