Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, February 24, 2025
by Neil Senturia
I have spent what seems like a lifetime in some form of psychoanalysis. Shrinks have a great racket. They listen, then they ask questions to which there are no answers (look, doc, if I had the answers I wouldn’t be here), and then they listen some more — and then if the therapy is successful, you get the answer.
But, let’s be clear. You gave them the answer first and then they turn around and give you back the answer you just gave them, and you are amazed, sort of like three-card monte. The shrink never tells you which cup the ball is under. What they do really well is listen for the sound of the ball.
I have a client. He is a founder/managing partner. He has skin in the game. If the company loses money, he has to come up with the shortfall. In other words, this guy is all-in.
Recently we assessed the past year. It had some bumps, and a few of those bumps were on the order of black diamond moguls.
Let’s review some entrepreneur basics. In a startup, the CEO/founder creates a product, then he looks for a customer who has a problem that fits with the product and the service being proposed — and it is at that moment, that he should immediately stop — and go home and rewatch the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross.”
The words reverberate.
“Put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers only.” “First prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” “A … always, B … be, C … closing”, followed by a string of unprintables in a family newspaper.
I love that line. It is the mantra to instill urgency into a team. Meetings can never end in fuzz. It demands concrete outcomes, it is tangible and it reminds me that running out of money or failing miserably is right around the corner. Being terrified is baseline for a founder of a startup.
My client explains to me that as managing partner, he sees his job as getting the client, getting the engagement letter, getting the MOU, getting the LOI, getting an MVP pilot, getting his team onto the field, into the game.
Then I ask him who massages the client, who listens to his every word, his feelings, his concerns, his fears, who owns the relationship, who is the most invested in the deal actually closing. He says, “I leave that to other members of the team.”
Thus, the reveal. “Do you think you are the VP of business development or the CEO. Are you the equipment manager or the quarterback?”
The shrink puffs on his pipe, the electric lightbulb goes on, and you get the answer that you knew all along, and it’s crazy, but you still have to pay him when all he did was hold up the mirror and flip the switch.
Closing is the only thing that matters. Red zone, schmed zone, if the ball does not go into the end zone or over the uprights, then no points.
And no points is the score that wins third prize. But it is still a team effort. So how should a CEO balance.
A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin are leadership experts who say, “Leaders Shouldn’t Try to Do It All.” They have some lessons to share.
1. “Remove all tasks for which you lack any absolute advantage.” OK, but if not you, then find the ABC killer in the company.
2. “Delegate tasks for which you have little comparative advantage, but take on the ones where you do.” If the buyer is your golf partner and his wife is your sister, no need to delegate.
3. “Make sure you have enough time for the tasks that only you can do.” This one is critical. Not every task is of equal importance. Every CEO can fill every minute with tasks-to-do. Don’t. Leaving space and time in an empty room allows for opportunities. And be sure to leave the door open.
Closing is a subtle dance of delegating and empowering.
Everyone on your team wants to be part of the romancing of the customer. But when the music stops, well — you know who has to take her home safely. And it’s not Uber.
Rule No. 841: “ABC” by the Jackson 5.