Chapter 11
“I’ve Burned the Ships”
In 1519, Spanish Capitan Hernando Cortes landed his crew at the shores of Mexico in a village named Vera Cruz. Historical accounts lead me to think none of us would refer to Cortes as a highly sensitive, caring guy, but rather as one who set out to achieve his capitalist goals at any cost. These same historical documents indicate that Cortes solved several management problems by burning his crew’s ships so they could never go home again.1
As we bring our time together to a close, let us consider some of the predicaments HR managers sometimes face when working with managers who see any form of people-management work as “HR work.” These are managers—and executives—who might say any of the following when you introduce ...
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