The Art of Business Leadership
Capitalism is essentially a means of taking the surplus value of other people's labor.
The Art of Business Leadership then, consists of how to pull off this scam successfully, while mentioning it as little as possible.
The problem is not how to motivate people.
The problem is how to motivate people, while quietly pocketing most of the value they add through their labor.
The founders of an enterprise are just one part of its success. The company is made successful by the efforts and talents of many people.
There is no reason the founders should be compensated disproportionately. There is no reason for a few to take the lion's share of the wealth generated by all, while lording over them.
If the business were paying its workers fairly, the whole point of business leadership would be obviated.
Just pay the people what they earned! Then you won't have to figure out strategies to motivate them, to foster innovation, and to do any number of bullshit tasks that are necessary only because traditional business steal surplus value from their workers.
You don't have to tell people what to do! They already know what to do.
You don't have to “foster innovation”. Just pay people fairly, and they will feel incentivized to do their best. Actual innovation will take place, when people give their earnest best, not to please their “boss”, but because it is in their own interest.
You don't have to create a “welcoming workplace”. People already know how to deal with each other, as adults, without your paternalistic/maternalistic meddling, infantilizing and condescension.
You don't have to pay people to go play pickleball on company time.
You don't need to bamboozle your employees with cheap tricks — a foosball table, video games, a fridge full of snacks and beer, and other such gimmicks.
You don't have to tell employees, “We're a family here.” Everyone knows just how true/false that is, and you don't need to embarrass yourself needlessly by mouthing those words, for a few dollars.
You don't have to incentivize people with time off. Just let them work from wherever, whenever, as long as they attend scheduled online meetings, and produce quality results in a timely manner.
A leader will often make things worse. The best leaders do as little as possible and get out of the way.
