The is no question that Jack Welch, the former CEO at GE, and now a frequent contributor on CNBC and other financial forums is extremely full of himself. If you have read his books, he will regale you with principles and approaches to management that he claims cannot fail. Well, despite the fact that his personal life may have left something to be improved upon,  some of the “Gospel according to Jack” has merit.  He has inspired me to do an annual evaluation of my clientele that has turned out to be very helpful.

Welch’s evaluation is employees; mine is clients. Yours could be customers. The approach goes something like this:

     1. In every context in which we deal, there are A, B and C individuals.

                a.  The A’s (hopefully 25% of so) do not need to be described. They are performers!!!!

                b.  The B’s have potential, but potential can take you just so far. Some of them will become  A’s. Some will fall by the wayside. They deserve careful scrutiny. Your job as a manager is to make the final determination where they will fit, sooner rather than later.

                c.   The C’s are either former B’s, who did not advance, or people who just never bought in to the things which we think are important.  If you continue to retain these people, they will take your organization down. The C group, which hopefully comprises no more than 10% of your emplyee population, must be let go.

     2.  At the beginning of every year, we must find a way to sever our connections with the C’s.

               a.  If we are speaking about employees, we must let the C’s go elsewhere. We have made a determination that they will never be consistent B’s, let alone the A’s which make our organization effective.

               b. If we are speaking about clients (or customers), we must contact the C’s and inform them that we have decided that it is is not in our mutual best interests to continue representing them, or working with them.

This may sound strange, coming from an real estate, transaction-driven,  Massachusetts attorney who is generally  anxious to expand my client base, but there is a method in my madness. My C clients have been nothing but headaches for me. They may have ethics which I do not approve of. They may question every bill I send to them. They may not listen to the advice I give them and then blame me when things go wrong when they have chosen their own course. They delay paying me, and often request bill reductions, not on an exception basis, but all of the time.

I politely inform them that I have decided to provide no further representation for them and suggest they obtain successor counsel. Most sulk off and tell me that I didn’t do a very good job for them, anyway. If that is the way they truly feel, our parting is felicitous for both of us. Some ask me if I could reconsider. I ALWAYS give them another chance to shape up. If they do, I have a client I can work with. If they do not, they will make my cut list next year, or maybe even sooner. Many work hard to improve our relationship. They were truly unaware that things had gone so badly off the track.

I urge each of you to consider the approach I have taken with the people you do work for. It has worked well for me, and I have gradually assembled a group of clients, who appreciate my efforts and with whom I can work effectively. That has always been my goal, and the “clean house” approach has helped me get closer and closer to what I have been seeking.