Engagement Does Not Promise Reward: So Why Bother? Sometimes the Good Guys Win!
I am sure that as manager/leaders we’d all like to know or be able to guarantee to those reporting to us that fully engaging with our work, with all our passion and creativity, will result in big dividends and an awesome payout for the efforts made. Yet we know that the journey itself must be the reward because nothing in this life can be guaranteed except that it will end. But sometimes, not always, we witness a big payoff and it offers inspiration for many. I’d like to share a case in point with you now.
It seems like I have known Marty Mucci for most of my career in organizational development. 
Looking back I found that I first met him in a client capacity in 1992; when he was not even 35. Back then Marty was a manager, already developing a reputation for strong analytical skills and already a member of the local telephone company’s emerging leaders’ team.
We didn’t necessarily hit it off right away, him and me. However,over a period of three to four years we began to recognize that our differences were mainly in approach but our desired destinations were virtually the same. He was and is analytical, I am intuitive. He was guided by traditional values, hard work, integrity, ethical behavior, perseverance ~ the high level values we have all been taught. I have always tended to take a pragmatic approach to most situations e.g. whatever works at the time to get the job done. As it turned out, hard work, integrity, ethics etc. were usually what worked.
I think Marty may have referred to me as a “loose cannon” a time or two and while I may have refrained from the use of such colorful terms in public when referring to him, I know the thoughts crossed my mind at least a couple of times. We have worked together on and off over 18 years in the space of the mutual respect we developed, not necessarily our mutual agreement.
By 2000 Marty had progressed, he was named CEO of Frontier Telephone of Rochester and President of Telephone Operations for Frontier Communications. That was amazing progress from 1992 to 2000 by any measure, but Marty had great mentors and he worked well with a diverse set of constituencies and personalities. He was ready for this, and, along with his continued reliance on keen analytical skills, he developed himself as a participatory leader and strong proponent of programs and practices that foster high levels of employee engagement. He had reached the final reward early and was looking forward to many years in his hard-won leadership role. And then, in 2001, Frontier Communications was purchased by a national service provider who did not share his views on employee engagement.
So what is a man of character and values to do? Marty stood his ground and within a few short months he was informed that his services were no longer needed.
If that is the way things ended for Marty you can be pretty sure I wouldn’t be writing about him today.
Within a few months, Marty’s availability came to the attention of Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex, Inc. To Tom’s credit, he interviewed Marty in mid 2002 and offered him a position that had not previously existed …senior vice president of operations. A few months after he started Marty engaged us at Vitalwork to assist him in ways similar to what he had experienced in his previous position. He felt he had been granted a second opportunity to build a culture of engagement and he was eager to get started. Last week, just eight years after joining Paychex, Marty was named president and CEO of the company, becoming only the third person to hold the position since the company was founded by Tom Golisano in 1971.
In announcing Marty’s appointment Golisano emphasized the traits I have known in Marty for the past 18 years. In his words:
“Marty Mucci has earned the opportunity to be the CEO of this company, based on his character, his level of accomplishment and his ability to be an inspiring leader,”
Neither Marty nor I have as much hair as we used to. Otherwise we are pretty much the same people and will no doubt challenge each other on the same topics and bicker over strategy like always when we get together. One thing is for certain, back in 2001 when the handwriting was on the wall, Marty could have caved to a philosophy he didn’t agree with to save himself from an otherwise certain outcome. He didn’t, and there was no guarantee his story would turn out like it has. That day in 2001 when has was asked not to return to his office the only thing he knew for certain was that his career with Frontier wwas done. When I reached him by phone late that same afternoon I expressed my view that no matter how things went in his future, it is better that he had stuck to his principles rather than lose his integrity and had his spirit die long before his body.
It has been a privilege to know Marty Mucci these past eighteen years. The shareholders, employees and clients of Paychex are now in the extremely capable and dedicated hands of an honorable, honest and insightful man..jpg)
For Marty…I know the race has just begun.
