John Puckett: Yes, two years ago -- toysmart.com. At that point in time, it was tough for executives to move out of major corporations because you need a lot of confidence in your own abilities to go into a startup with nothing and build it from scratch, because you have no excuse not to be successful. You've got a need, you've got demand, you're trying to build a company -- everything depends on you. And you have some cash, a limited amount of cash, to do it. It's like standing on the edge of a cliff -- when there are barriers, and you're taking photographs looking down the cliff and waves are breaking, and you feel safe. But you take away that fence, and I bet you can't look through that camera lens. You feel dizzy, and it's exactly the same in a startup: You're on the edge, and everything depends on you, and suddenly that's the time when you have to feel confident. And that's why it's hard for a lot of executives to make that jump.

NWC: When you're 24, it's not as scary.

JP: It's not as scary because you don't know any better -- you don't know what sharks lurk in the water.

NWC: I know there are certain business philosophies you have that enable you to look at everything with the same filter. I think that would be something our readers would really like to know about, some of the philosophies you've gathered over the years that you're able to use no matter what industry you're in.

"I've made some mistakes in my life. I can remember missing soccer games, ballet recitals and band recitals. But, you know, I can't remember what was so important that I missed them." -- John Puckett

JP: I think leadership is important, and I think you need to care about the business. And you need to care about individuals, and, with a passion, you need to make sure you empower employees in order to get the best out of them. Create an environment where it's okay to make mistakes. Support people when they do [make mistakes], make sure you don't make the same mistakes all over again, insist on teamwork, and get people working together and using their skills in the best way that they can. Also, recognize individuals for their contribution, align career goals and aspirations of the individual with the business, and then it's a win-win for both. Support individuals, whether they're right or wrong. And make sure you align the strategies of your business with the goals of the company.

NWC: There are some key words you tell people over and over again: This is the view you take, this is the approach you take. Can you comment on that for our readers?

JP: Do you mean "Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance"? Actually there were a few other words in there, but yeah, that's the polite way of saying it. Planning is absolutely crucial to everything we do. "Listen to your customers" was another one.

NWC: And your customers can be internal or external or a combination of both?

JP: Well, if you're looking externally, you should...do everything with passion. Everything depends on you. Instilling a burning sense of urgency in everything you do for the organization is crucial. Internally, you should never refer to your IT internal organizations that you support as customers. Never. That's a big mistake I made early in life.

NWC: The idea of IT looking at end users as customers is well-entrenched. Why is that a mistake?

JP: You should always refer to them as business partners because if you refer to them as customers, and they get to feeling that they are customers, they'll want to wipe the floor with you. They will become more demanding. They will feel they have liberty to treat you without respect, as opposed to a business partner who is part of a partnership to make things work -- to satisfy your shareholders and also all your true customers that you're providing services to as a company.

If you call yourself an IT organization that supports your internal customers, I think that is totally wrong because it creates a barrier as opposed to being a true partnership where everyone is sharing risks, working together in collaboration, [and] looking to find common solutions as a team player. ...They think you're a provider, they treat you like a provider, and they'll beat you up and try to negotiate all sorts of things.

NWC: So how do you project that feeling to them -- that they are business partners? Do you involve them in the planning process, maybe some of the strategic planning of the department?

J.P: The need should be driven by the actual people using [the technology]. IT shouldn't force a solution down someone's throat -- it should be through collaboration. And I've found the best way to work through collaboration is to have emotionally independent processes. An emotionally independent process that I've used in the past is called KT Analysis [Kepner-Tregoe Decision Analysis, www.kepner-tregoe.com], and it's been my bible in IT for many, many years. It does many things: It teaches you how to solve problems, eliminate problems, how to do situation appraisal and how to make decisions.

NWC: One of the challenges our readers say they are always faced with is, in their words: "Yeah, here I am working ninety hours a week, but what am I giving up?"

JP: Well, there's an individual appraisal that everyone has to do. You could say that some people would say that they're not giving anything up because they live for their job. I remember working for a guy who was single, getting close to middle age, had worked 24 hours a day seven days a week and had become very successful in his job. And here I am, married, two kids -- relatively young kids at the time -- not far behind him but a little bit older. So the tradeoff I had made was to get there slower, but to have balance in my life. And one day, I said, "You know, Phil, you need to slow down in your life, and get a life. Because what you're doing, you're expecting other people to behave the way you do -- as this workaholic, with no life at all, and you don't even understand what life is all about for other people."

And he said, "Well look how successful I am."

I said, "I'm not impressed by you being successful, because what you've done to be successful, you've traded everything in life. You've traded so much to be successful."

NWC: Did he take your advice?

JP: Yeah, he did actually. Success is having a good balance in your life and still achieving your goals and objectives. And this is a fine line for everyone who works in any kind of senior, executive position. ...There are certain instances where your responsibilities to the company and your shareholders is such that you have to sacrifice your personal life, but there are other times when an executive needs to pay attention to his personal life. And it's tough.