Company Blog

Tough Enough?

by Adam Zack — February 5, 2019

Great leaders find a way to humanize their toughness.

My daily commute involves a one-hour train ride each way. I get comments on how long that is or how I must hate the long days. I actually really love it. Leave home at 6:15 in the morning and walk in the door at home at 6:15 at night. It’s a great routine. So besides just sitting there looking at the California coast, I use my commute time to catch up on old TV series that I want to re-watch. It’s Sopranos right now, but before that it was Breaking Bad.

There was one scene where Walter White was buying the carwash [so he can launder the drug money] from this bushy eyed Romanian named Bogdan. When he’s handing over the keys, Bogdan tells Walt that to be the boss, you have to be tough, and he doesn’t think Walt is tough enough (little did he know). Sometimes, when you’re the boss, you have to be the bad guy. You have to be the a-hole. And for most of us being the tough guy doesn’t come naturally.

I know you know plenty of very successful business people who are ruthlessly tough. It seems the only thing they really care about is making sure that first nickel they made stays polished. They are successful, in a monetary wealth way, because of their toughness. The great leaders of today, though, find a way to humanize their toughness. They listen but don’t waver. They make it seem that their insistence is not just in the best interest of the company’s bottom line, it’s in the best interest of everyone on the team, and teams play to win.