InformationWeek

January 17, 2000

Secret CIO:
Competing With A Dot-Com
What do you say when one of your best and brightest tells you he's considering an offer from an Internet startup?

By Herbert W. Lovelace

Herbert W. Lovelace 've been a manager long enough to know that it's never a good idea to be closer with some members of your staff than others. It's better to praise individuals for their achievements and judge them solely on their ability to get the job done in a professional manner. Still, it's difficult not to give an extra smile and spend additional time chatting with the folks you always can rely on when you need a problem solved.

So I admit that Bruce Madison, the head of our desktop support group, is one of my favorite people. Bruce is a rare individual-- articulate, absolutely dependable, pleasant to everyone (whether they deserve it or not), and technically proficient. He has been amply rewarded in the past, and his name resides on my short list of people who have a sterling future for promotion in the company.

When Bruce called Lisa, my assistant, to schedule a meeting and said it was "personal," I got a queasy feeling in my stomach. I always worry that our most talented people will be plucked out of our company by headhunters who entice them with tales of fame and fortune. There's no doubt that I'm selfish; I want to keep the best talent within the company.

On the other hand, while many of these new opportunities turn out to be real, I hate to see someone leave our company for a job that holds promises that are never fulfilled. Too often, I've watched people develop into fine IT professionals, only to damage their careers by believing something they should not.

The meeting with Bruce was a somber one. He advised me that he had gotten an offer from an Internet startup. The company was willing to match his current salary and also give him a piece of equity--which, if the company were successful, would make him a wealthy man. Bruce said he was young enough to take the risk, and although the great financial potential was enticing, he was really drawn in by the exciting possibility of doing some fun work and being an integral part of building a business. "If not now, when?" he concluded.

I sat silently, thinking. Our company has worked hard to keep talented IT people. The fear of technology that exudes from some of our executives has not helped. They act as if they hope all this unsettling change goes away so they can get back to running things the way they did a decade ago. They even still treat the IT people, who can help modernize the business, as a bunch of contractors. Yet they are surprised when these same IT people don't develop blind devotion to the company. Why wouldn't someone who is viewed as an outsider act like one? Fortunately, we have enough managers who think that the way to build loyalty is not by insisting on it, but rather by familiarizing people with what we sell and the quality that goes into making it. This may sound simple, but it's worked well for us.

Should I do everything possible to persuade Bruce to stay? Certainly, I could increase his salary and entice him with promises of promotions in what is a large and respected company. I could do a few other things to make his decision harder. I definitely have an obligation to make sure he has all the facts he needs to make his choice--but I cannot, in good conscience, be an advocate for him staying. Above all else, my credibility with people rests on my being honest with them.

How can I blame Bruce if he wants to go? It's an exciting time. We are going through a massive discontinuity in the business environment--and discontinuity means risk and opportunity for those willing to take the plunge. There are reputations and fortunes to be made, opportunities that may come just once in a lifetime. I suppose Internet fever could be a mirage, and in a few decades we may look back and shake our heads about how silly we were. But I doubt it. Bruce simply has to do what he thinks is best for him--even if what's best for him means that I lose one of my brightest stars. Besides, it's difficult to convince him to stay when my own phone is ringing, and the offers sound so interesting.

Herbert W. Lovelace shares his experiences (changing most names, including his own, to protect the guilty) as CIO of a multibillion-dollar international company. Send him E-mail at lovelace@home.com, and read his online column, "Ask The Secret CIO", where he will provide real--and sometimes whimsical--answers to your questions.

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