I was meeting with the head of European sales one afternoon; I knew he fancied himself as my successor as COO. He asked, “What do you actually do?” What he might just as well have said was, “I want your job and I’m going to undermine you until I get it.”
My answer was clear, “I support the CEO.”
As businesses grow it’s inevitable that people start jostling for the next position they want. You’ve heard of office politics; this is what it’s about – gaining more influence and undermining others in the business.
It happens in every company that employs people and it’s unhealthy.
If you have a business partner and the two of you have founded the business, you must stick together at all costs. You will, no doubt, disagree with each other from time to time. It’s important that you resolve those issues in private. People will come into the business to assume different roles and it’s inevitable that they test the stability of the leadership. As partners you need to support each other and don’t let a cigarette paper come between you. After a while people will give up finding cracks in the structure and get on with what they’re supposed to be doing.
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