Fire Them, Fire Them Up

¶ … Fire Them, Fire Them Up" By Frank Pacetta. Specifically it will identify leadership principles, describe their applicability in either a military and non-military situation, and compare the principles of management and leadership exhibited by Mr. Pacetta with those principles of leadership found in or demonstrated in their work environment. Pacetta's book is a glimpse into the successful turnaround of a struggling Xerox sales office in Cleveland Ohio in the 1990s. The author uses several basic principles of management and leadership along with his own unique additions to "fire up" his employees and create a successful organization. The ideas are common, but how Pacetta implements them is not.

The leadership principles Mr. Pacetta uses throughout his book are principles that most leaders learn in the course of their careers. He even mentions several of them in the Introduction. They include building trust, creating loyalty, and generating enthusiasm, excitement, and teamwork (Pacetta 14). However, he also has a host of other ideas that all blend together to create a dynamic leader who enjoys leading. That is perhaps one of Pacetta's real attributes and lessons he hands out. Leaders enjoy the challenge of leading, both the ups and the downs. The author is not afraid to show his failures in Cleveland along with his successes, because he believes taking risks is part of good management. He also is a fan of mentors, understanding that few people can rise to the top without help from below. He writes, "Mentors are absolutely essential. Find one. Find a dozen. Use them as role models and sounding boards. No matter how talented you are, it is essential to have backup, support, and a second opinion" (Pacetta 42). Pacetta is not afraid to ask for help and advice, and neither should any good leader.

Leadership is about winning, but it is also about using common sense to win, and Pacetta offers many bulleted checklists and questions that give managers quick, timely advice. He even offers a concise explanation of every chapter, complete with bullets, at the back of the book for someone who needs quick advice and does not have time to sit down the entire book at once. As the reader moves through the book, they begin to have a greater understanding of Pacetta's methods, why they worked, and how to apply them to their own business (or even personal) situations. The book reads somewhat like a sports team's "rah-rah" message before they head out to the playing field, and partly like a military manual. Pacetta uses this voice effectively to appeal to a wide audience of managers who tend to be male and tend to relate to these types of messages because they are familiar with them at home and in the workplace.

Interestingly, Pacetta equates business with war, and gives several examples why. He consistently refers to military terms in the book. He calls his team "troops," refers to managers as "commanders," quotes George Patton, and even says the entire goal for business and sales is to "win." One sample of this military theme throughout the book is, "The same competent combat commander, the one who is willing to beat a strategic retreat, knows he'll soon have his back to the wall if he can't demand and enforce a minimum level of performance, like keeping weapons clean to avoid misfires" (Pacetta 30). This makes the book extremely applicable in military situations, because it speaks to the military leader and troops expressly at many points.

It is also applicable in non-military situations, because it appeals to the teamwork nature that most people crave, and it also appeals to just about anyone who has served in the military, because they understand the very nature of Pacetta's ideas and theories. If thoroughly analyzed, most businesses do resemble military organizations. There are rules that must be followed, tactics to plan, goals to reach, an "enemy" the business must conquer (your competition), and innovations to make the business more competitive than the enemy. Thus, Pacetta's militaristic views are useful for just about any organization, and they make sense. They may seem hardnosed at first, but they are actually quite practical and quite successful when they are applied to businesses that need more impetus to succeed.