Commitment Your Name Is Miranda Priestly
In The Devil Wears Prada Meryl Streep plays Miranda Priestly, a character with real commitment. She is committed to her industry, her company and the highest level of excellence. Most managers I’ve talked to about that character give me some song and dance about how mean she is. She is not a nasty person. She is a demanding person. She does not cut any slack, but she is not unfair or evil.
There is some new fashion in business management circles about everyone has to be nice to everyone else. No one should be a son-of-a-bitch about the job. If nobody is willing to kick ass about doing a great job then the organization slides into mediocrity.
I had a conversation with the President of a mid-sized company who thought Maranda Priestly didn’t have to be mean. I really didn’t know what to say. Since that conversation I saw that this woman is only trying to keep the lid on until her next promotion. That is no commitment to excellence.
So, if you are not prepared to kick butt over other people’s commitment to your company that you are not ready to start one up. If your not prepared to become as committed as Miranda Priestly at some point then don’t start. It will be a loosing proposition.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Mindset, New Ideas, Starting Up, Uncategorized
4 opinions for Commitment Your Name Is Miranda Priestly
hhcv
Jul 29, 2007 at 1:39 am
I’m sure that there would be many managers out there that would emphatically reject the notion that “butt kicking” is a valid means to achieving excellence within an organisation.
Most educated managers understand that in order to instil loyalty, commitment and innovative thinking within a workforce, employees need to feel positive, that their ideas will be considered and that they have the opportunity to share in the rewards of their hard work - did Miranda do this?
I appreciate what you’re trying to say about mediocre employees with poor attitudes, but, I don’t quite think your point has come across. No amount of “butt kicking” would ever motivate the “slacker in the back.”
I’d be interested in hearing your comments. Have you managed to encourage the pursuit of excellence in the way Miranda has?
David Novakovic
Jul 29, 2007 at 1:50 am
Actually, I think this refers to the common practice of passive aggression in the work place. Co-workers and managers alike show different levels of openness with each other, depending on the work place. In larger companies, always smiling and agreeing, then doing what you need to do to get things done is common place. In fact many would argue that larger companies are the definition of mediocrity. This behaviour my not be so much of a problem in larger companies where there is so much padding in company layers.
I think that in a small business, passive aggressive behaviour is inherently detrimental, I’d rather have an argument with a conclusive outcome than passive aggressive bahviour which leaves people feeling unclear about each other. The team is what counts, everyone needs to be clear with each other. Bottling up feelings about workmates does not help the situation in the long run.
I think this discussion over at scott converse covers some important ground.
http://www.scottconverse.org/2007/07/corporate-vs-startup-behaviors.html
david petar novakovic: attempted axiomatisation » Being polite and being pragmatic.
Jul 30, 2007 at 6:24 am
[…] been reading a bit lately about the difference between startup people and big company people. I’m […]
David Novakovic
Aug 3, 2007 at 6:59 am
another good link for this: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=171
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: