Question: How Much Does Steve Work?

Jeevan Sivasubramaniam Posted by Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Managing Director, Editorial, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.



A BK community member who did not wish to be identified asked me the following question: "I get emails from Steve at ridiculous hours and times -- including on the weekend.

A BK community member who did not wish to be identified asked me the following question:

"I get emails from Steve at ridiculous hours and times -- including on the weekend.  However, whenever I talk to him, he always seems to be full of energy and well-rested.  How many hours a week does Steve put in anyway?"

The answer to that question would involve me giving away a  company secret.  Steve actually doesn't work crazy hours, he just sets his computer to Italian time so that all messages seem to go out with date stamps that suggest that he's working incredibly late in the evening or incredibly early in the morning.  Most of the time, Steve can be found relaxing with a cigar and a copy of the Wall Street Journal ("The NY Times is for polly-annas and communists," he often says) by his infinity pool at his Four Seasons Residences penthouse in downtown San Francisco.

Alright, yes, Steve works insane hours from his home office in Pinole. He works six days a week for about 12-14 hours a day. I have worked with Steve for over a decade now and there's no sign of him letting up. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen him come bouncing into the office in the morning only to find out that he never went to sleep the night before.  Really.

It's quite disgusting, in my opinion. I just wish there was some way to package and mass-produce whatever it is that drives him -- imagine the money I could make selling that on the open markets!  Unfortunately there's no way to bottle belief, faith, and mission -- but I'm working on it.