Twelve years ago, under the shadow of a huge bodhisattva, a Taiwanese priest threw my i-ching and told me I’d have a good career but that I was a “horse in the gate”.

In Chinese astrology horses are strong, determined and animated, but a horse in the gate is one that is stubborn and impatient. This is the type of employee I am. When I’m given a problem and I’m given the freedom to solve it on my own, I’m happy and I do a great job. But when I’m held back by unnecessary process or bureaucracy, I get bored and I’m bad at hiding it. 

ON CULTURE

A few weeks ago I interviewed Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh about his latest book Delivering Happiness. He talked about motivating people and the importance of culture. After just completing NetShelter’s summit, I’m beginning to understand what all this “culture” talk means.

While I was the official project manager of the event, the reality is that much of my planning was simply a checklist for Office Manager Carrie Ann Cleveland to execute upon. If I was onsite by 7am, she was there at 6am hauling furniture. If I was eating lunch with publishers, she was tearing down the rooms. If I was changing the program order, she was calling caterers, delivery people and maintenance staff.

She was and is phenomenal, and if she didn’t already have enough on her plate - she was also answering the switchboard and greeting people as they came into the office. If Carrie wasn’t patient and professional under pressure, imagine how that greeting might appear to an outsider.

CULTURE HAPPENS OVER BEER

There’s a common misconception that the President of the company is its face. But the reality is that a company’s face is formed through unscripted interactions between employees, vendors, partners and even friends of employees.

Happy people unknowingly advocate for you when they’re drunk with their friends. Frustrated people bitch to anyone who’ll listen. Trust me, I know. As an animated “horse”, I’m really good at weaving drunken tales of victory and defeat.

While we can’t expect people to be happy all the time, whether we like it or not, the conversations about our companies and ourselves are happening. The next drunk conversation I have about Carrie Ann will be this:

“If it weren’t for that chick, my head would have freaking exploded. Shepard Fairey should do a poster of her. In the event of a zombie apocalypse I will be choosing her for my team of road warrior renegades.”

While I can’t expect the one she has about me to be as glowing, I hope she feels appreciated. I’m ordering her a gift as I type this.