The Unapologetic Capitalist Alison Gerlach: Entrepreneur, Business Strategist, Venture Investor, and Lecturer

The key to productivity is to have a meaningful and optimal incentive system. Fear is unfortunately a powerful motivator so it might be tempting to try and change behavior through punitive measures for poor performance or bad behavior. But it is a short term play. You will lose talent. On the other hand, a positive incentive, bonus or “bribe,” can also be powerful for those who are ambitious and motivated. But overly generous bribes can quickly turn someone entitled. So what is the best way to go? Which is better? The carrot or the stick?

Is the Founder of a company the best choice to be the CEO? When should you ask this question? Who do you ask? Join the discussion as Alison Gerlach, The Unapologetic Capitalist, and Todd Uterstaedt, host of From Founder to CEO, contemplate this essential leadership topic as to who is the best CEO to build the most long term value in the venture.

Guest Paul Moore of Wellings Capital discusses making thoughtful real estate investments rather than speculating. Wellings Capital generates long term value by creating multi-generational wealth through multi-family, commercial real estate investing. Wellings Capital has a unique vision that aligns solid returns for its investors with a mission of greater altruistic giving. Join the discussion of Paul’s entrepreneurial adventure through making money, losing money, and ultimately finding that the best way to build wealth is to give.

Bias, whether unconscious or not, can unwittingly keep us from recognizing great opportunities. Your bias can destroy potentially significant long term value. It is VERY important to recognize and understand your biases so that you can overcome them and be a productive and value generating leader. Often times the greatest impediment to success is ourselves, and we don’t even know it.

Like it or not, fear

sells. However, leaders who resort to leading by fear are bad leaders. They

fear the greatest fear of all: the truth. What do you fear? Can you rise above

your fear to be a value generating leader?







Unfortunately, Fear

Sells







* Introduction of Show Topic: I’ve long since

preached that it is the insecure and truly deplorable leaders who have to lead

by fear. It means that they don’t have anything of substance to offer so they

have to make you fearful so you will look to them to save them from the very things

they are telling you to be afraid of. The reality is that these leaders who are

so horrible at their jobs that they have to resort to leading by fear, are themselves

the most fearful of all.  And the

greatest fear of all is the truth.







* Brief Recap of Past Couple of Shows * Show 55 “Win Win” Can there be a win-win?

Yes, there can be a win-win, but only if the focus can truly be on generating

long term value. However, in business we can’t avoid working with people.

People are the greatest asset to any company and can also be the greatest

liability. There is NO win-win if

someone’s win depends on someone else losing.* Show 52 Don’t take the blame…take responsibility* Blame

or fault is backwards looking* Responsibility

is forward thinking* ‘No

one is coming’…acknowledgement and responsibility opens up innovation and

opportunity * Introduction of Discussion Topic…Like it or not

fear sells. Movies and literature throughout time demonstrate the power of fear

over and over again* We can’t ignore that fear motivates* We fear failure, rejection…why do we fear those

things…because we fear judgment by others! 

But most of all, we fear the truth. And we fear that the truth might not

be good enough. Honesty and transparency takes courage and character, two aspects

that sadly most leaders lack. The crappy leaders who are too afraid to check

their egos at the door because they need their ego to hide behind, because

their truth just isn’t good enough.  Leaders

who lead by ego are the biggest fraidy cats of them all! http://unapologeticcapitalist.com/why-isnt-the-truth-good-enough/







* You can recognize the impotent leader who is so

pathetic that they have no tools but fear because they are the ones who so

adamantly tell you what to be afraid of and then tell you who to blame for it Episode 52. Bad leaders place

blame and good leaders take responsibility. These are the NAKED Emperors – or http://unapologeticcapitalist.com/28A

* Leaders of no substance that use fears are the

ones that have to tell you what to think: such as “I’m smart” because their

work is so poor that they are banking on you being gullible or lazy and won’t

pull back the curtain to find out they aren’t smart. Truly smart people would NEVER

have to say they are smart, because their work speaks for itself. The bad

leaders will have to say “I’m rich” again, banking on your gullibility and

sheer laziness and make you afraid to even think for yourself. Believe me, no

one who actually has earned wealth would ever brag about it. Only the posers do

that…again, out of fear you might strip back the curtain and find out they are

impotent.







* Just like in the last episode on achieving a

‘win win’ scenario, the bad leaders of this world will invite their cozy,

crutch buddies “hubris” and “ego”* Hubris and ego insidiously destroy value while
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* Is there really ever a true ‘win-win’ scenario? You hear it all the time, in business and even in life situations: ”Hey this is a win-win!” However, if you have to convince someone it is a ‘win-win,’ then it probably isn’t. And if one party’s definition of a ‘win’ is that someone else loses, then there is no deal to be had and you will certainly end up with a ‘lose-lose’ scenario. Join this discussion about how to give yourself the best chance at actually achieving the theoretical ‘win-win’ and avoid the pitfalls that unwittingly suck you into a ‘lose-lose.’

* Brief Recap of Past Couple of Shows



* Optimal Time Management…Don’t strive to be ‘busy’ strive to be accessible

* Don’t take the blame…take responsibility



* Blame or fault is backwards looking

* Responsibility is forward thinking

* ‘No one is coming’…acknowledgement and responsibility opens up innovation and opportunity













* Introduction of Discussion Topic



* Sports is a true zero sum game…one team wins, one team loses or there is a tie, but the goals scored for equals the goals scored against.

* Business isn’t always a zero sum game…because a ‘win’ in business isn’t always as clear as the scoreboard when time expires on the field.

* A successful negotiation is that everyone leaves the table believing they’ve done the best they can given the circumstances…that is a success… a theoretical win-win.



* If someone is buying, someone is selling. The hope is that the buyer believes they are getting a good value and it works out the the sellers believe they are being appropriately compensated…and isn’t that a win-win?

* A Venture Capital fund buys equity from an early stage company…the early stage company hopefully gets much needed cash infusion plus some expertise and management support…and the VC gets in early on a venture that will hopefully grow 10 fold…isn’t that a win-win?





* While deals should be that rational they unfortunately rarely are what they should be in theory.





* Can there be a win-win? Yes, there can be a win-win, but only if the focus can truly be on generating long term value. However, in business we can’t avoid working with people. People are the greatest asset to any company and can also be the greatest liability. There is NO win-win if someone’s win depends on someone else losing.



* The uninvited guests to every negotiation are hubris and ego…and they insidiously destroy value while making you think they are there to protect and defend your interests.

* Calling a lawyer to try and validate your paranoia or perceived injustices (they are rarely real) means you have failed on MANY levels. In negotiating any deal, a lawyer should be there to ensure you have kept a value generating perspective and help you with clean paperwork. If you are using a lawyer to forward an adversarial objective, that just makes you a coward and your lawyer is a shame to his or her profession for galvanizing your plight because that isn’t the job of a competent attorney.

* Get over yourself. If you are whining about some perceived injustice it means that your actual work or contributions weren’t good enough to speak for themselves…and you are so much of a coward that you couldn’t have a rational discussion that you’d have to find someone else (like a crappy attorney) to fight your battles for you.





* What can you do to try and get a win-win?



* Check your ego at the door

* Prioritize the needs of the venture above your wants

* Know the genuine value proposition

* Be open to the perspective and incentives to all those around you. The win-lose is contagious! Beware the instigator who throws kerosene on the fire.

* Ask the key question: Why are we here? The answer should be: We are here to make money or...