Shaving the CEO

Motivating people by promising to shave your head is so popular now, even business people are doing it. At least, Steve Moles of Microprobe is.

Over a year ago, Moles, 53, president and chief executive officer of Carlsbad-based MicroProbe, which provides products and services to the semiconductor industry, challenged his employees to ship more products than in any other month in the company's 32-year history. In return, he said, he would shave his head.

With a previous single month sales record of about $1.8 million, Moles thought he would be retired by the time the record was broken. However, MicroProbe bested that record in June, shipping more than $2 million worth of products.

True to his word, Moles donned a yellow plastic parka on July 6 as MicroProbe Data Analyst Tom Davis put the electric shaver to his boss's head, much to the delight of the dozens of MicroProbe employees who gathered to watch the ceremony.

Moles has a history of motivating his employees in this manner. A few years ago, he promised he'd do a cartwheel if they met a goal; the cartwheel ended up putting him in crutches. Presumably, he'll fair much better with a shaved head than he did with gymnastics.