Will Bridges

Many people are chasing what they consider to be the American Dream. They work long hours and put up with lots of shit from their bosses and co-workers only to be told that the road is getting shorter to their dreams. In most cases they are paving the road to the biggest let down. I just can't see being an employee of a company and working massive overtime and putting all your energy and thought in to a company that you have no stock in. If you have no stock then you are dispensable. You not only can be replaced but most likely will be replaced in today's market. I've heard a lot of people say "Do your job well, give it all and you won't get laid off." But that actually doesn't hold up to reality in most cases. If you have a lot of domain knowledge specific to the company that nobody else has then the company may have a difficult time replacing you and thus you may hold more leverage. But, being employed at a company where you have no stock and no leverage is only a pay check and a job. You take a major risk by staying in a position like that. To give a job like that your overtime hours and stress over every detail may pay off eventually in due course but it probably won't.

As a CEO, I'm big on profit sharing, stock options and making the company feel owned by it's employees. To me it seems that a company only exists to benefit each individual in the company and should be treated like a family of sorts. Many companies are run on what seems like finanical slavery. This is where only the top most of the company makes the majority of the wealth and reaps the majority of the benefits. The middle and bottom get the scraps that are left over from the top. This is generally a recipe for failure in my opinion. The reason I say this is the top eventually becomes more and more disconnected with the people doing the real work and with the actual customers. This means at some point the company topples because the top is heavy and low on knowledge and the middle and bottom are weak, under tremendous stress and feeling unappriciated. 

As a company you can either move together as one strong unit, in which all are greatly motivated and benefited or you can whip the believers in to submission and get them to turn out more widgets while the top becomes strong and the middle and bottom become weak. See which one works better.