Bruce Moeller

The Way I Work: Bruce Moeller

 

I'm a loner and I'm an introvert. So when I'm dealing with all these people, they're taking every ounce of my being and my energy; when I'm engaged, I'm engaged, I'm passionately involved. So at lunch I typically go out by myself and grab some fast food or something, and sit and listen to political radio. I force myself to use that to recharge my batteries, to get out of here and think of something different. Though while I'm doing that, if that BlackBerry buzzes I'm right on it.

It's not that I'm shy. My definition of an introvert is someone who seeks solitude to get his batteries recharged, whereas extroverts seek the company of others. People think I'm kidding when I say I'm an introvert; I'm always the dominant one in a meeting, taking on difficult problems or people, setting a hard course, or being flippant and making a joke.

Client meetings are pretty easy and I enjoy those the most. I come in with a very open and honest approach--I'm not trying to sell you anything. In reality, obviously, I am, but only if it fits. First, I establish a connection if we don't already have one: a sports team, a city we both used to live in, a school. Now, bingo, we're connected. Then I ask myself why the person's here in the first place: If I were him, I'd be coming in because of this problem or that. So I have a theory. And often I'll say, if I were you, the only reason I'd come here is because I have a crash-cost problem, or I just don't trust my employees. You watch them when you throw out your theory, and they'll light up and say, "Yes, but our main fear was that the union wouldn't accept this." I've disarmed them now. If I'm wrong, I can watch that body language--"No, no, no, no, not at all. I wouldn't be here if I thought that. But it's between you and that other company, and I'm here to do due diligence," or whatever they're gonna say. In any conversation, I'm asking 80 percent of the questions, even though they're out to find out about me.

I leave around 6. There are times it will go to 7 or 8. When I get home, I'll maybe have a little dinner with my wife and kids. But we typically eat out because I don't like to have my wife, Cari, worry about me being home at a certain time. This just happened, actually. I had the light off and was walking out the door and Cari had made dinner. Somebody walked in and said, we have a new competitor and they just won at this place. I stopped, turned, went back in, did a debrief on how they won the account, and dinner just sat there. I got home an hour and a half later. (We got the account back.) My real preference is that she and the kids eat because I don't want the pressure of letting someone else down. This, DriveCam, always takes precedence over that. Shitty thing to say, I know, but that's me. I'm doing this so that they can have a lifestyle that they want. I have an obligation to all the shareholders who put, in this case, $46 million into this place. That obligation comes before anything else. They know that that's the priority. If that sounds really bad, because I'm here telling you I put work first and not family first, I've tried it the other way around. You cannot serve two masters. You can only serve one master well.

I try to compensate for that by being pretty protective of my weekends. First thing and last, I'm checking my BlackBerry, but I'll go to the park and play basketball with the kids or go bodysurfing. I try to keep the weekends for the family so they know that during the week I'm pretty much a nonentity.

At night, if it's summer we might go to the park, or if it's cold we might stay in the house and watch Scrubs, my favorite show. But I'm probably just sitting there thinking about this place. I do enjoy my life better when I'm in the middle of a book--always something political, anything by Gore Vidal or Noam Chomsky. But if I'm reading a book, it's an escape. That'll take me even farther away from the wife and kids. If I'm in a book, I'm so involved in it that for what little I'm there for them, I'm there even less.

I'll usually go to bed from exhaustion about 9:30. Then, typically, I've been lying awake thinking through things and trying to get through my night, fitfully. At 2 a.m., I pop up, my mind gets active, and I start scheming about the day, strategizing. I might fall asleep again at 5 a.m. and sleep until 6, just out of exhaustion. If I know I'm going to have to let somebody go, then it's definitely a sleepless night the night before. I hate to do that; that really bothers me. I also have anxiety when I'll have a meeting with a strong-willed person. You know you're in for a fight: I know you think I'm wrong, but I'm the CEO, it's my bet and my conscience, and I'm doing it.

This is a really intense and fast-moving company. Of all the things I've done in my career, this is the one. This could be the big one. This one really matters. This is one of those where you hope and think that if you do it right, it's the last job you'll ever have to have. You couldn't do this forever, but you could run at a breakneck pace for three or four years, as long as you have a pot of gold at the finish line.

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