THE BUSINESS OF BUSINESS

True success in any given direction is not denominated in monuments of golden palaces and marble colonnades. It's in people. The self-made man doesn't exist. We are most productive through meaningful, symbiotic relationships. Even the least member of your team is an integral part of your success story. Your staff are your first customers. If the internal customer is unhappy, the external customer can never be satisfied.

Customers, not products, not even finances, are the life wire of meaningful enterprise. No matter how good, effective, or well-designed a product or idea is, it must connect with people before it can fly. Every buying decision is first emotional before it is economic. If you don't recognize that profit is in people, you will seek profit at the expense of people and abuse the trust they have in you and your enterprise. When that happens, it is only a matter of time before the business goes belly up. Business is people before it is for people. Not to know that is to set yourself and your enterprise up for failure. Business devoid of a human face is nothing but an investor’s fantasy ego trip.

Your current biggest dream is already someone's reality. God in His wisdom put elements of the jigsaw puzzle of our future in people and leaves us to connect with them. Golfing taught me that you can connect with ANYONE if you develop yourself to the level of their interests. Doors never close against solution providers.

To move systems, you must first move people.

How should you treat P.E.O.P.L.E?

P - Prioritize people.

No matter what he has, the self-absorbed man is the smallest man alive. Self-centredness is the root of manic depression. No tree is nourished by its own fruit. We live to nourish others and others in turn, nourish us. When you prioritize people and their needs ahead of yours, you will be a soaraway success as a leader and entrepreneur. Before you see the bottom-line, see people. Profit lives in them. When you give them preference, they will trust you enough to believe that their money is better in your hands than in their pockets! Those who learn to build relationships before the sale will never run out of willing, satisfied customers. It’s a given!

E - Encourage people.

Several people around you are in stages in life where all they need is a few words of encouragement to let them know that a bend in life's route is not the end of the journey. Never flog a man who is already down. A smile can be the elixir that a member of your team needs to kickstart his day. People come to work with their personal struggles that characterize their emotional, and consequently, performance framework. A kind word said at the appropriate time is an invaluable prop to a sagging soul. There is no better way to douse an angry or frustrated – and sometimes frustrating! - customer’s fury than a gentle word.

O - Overlook people's errors

People around you will make mistakes. Failure is part of the ingredients of sustainable success. The man who is afraid of making mistakes can hardly make anything else. Before you crucify anyone for their mistakes, remember that you too are nowhere near perfect. If you get into a perfect environment, your presence there already pollutes it. Members of your team must feel safe making mistakes around you. As long as those mistakes are not borne out of mischief or a deliberate attempt to sabotage the enterprise, let people know that mistakes, even if sometimes costly, can very often lead to meaningful lessons.

P - Praise people

The tank of the thankful is always full. Don't let go of an opportunity to praise people. If you criticize or rebuke people, even your children, when they go wrong, never withhold praise when they do right. Don’t wait till the end of the year before you appreciate your team. Reward performance as promptly as you chastise indolence. Constant criticism mode will never let you see the inherent virtues in people around you that could enrich your life. Before you have your next dressing down conversation, think of 3 things about that person or the team that you can be grateful for. Place emphasis on those instead.

L - Love people

Jesus connected with people easily because he had COMPASSION. Compassion is action-based empathy. It is the strength of great leaders and the secret for bringing out the best in your human capital. Eternity is written, not in the size of your bank account, but in the hearts of men. I still remember the faces of some teachers in my elementary school almost 60 years ago but can't remember the richest man in the world at that time. Love people genuinely enough to want to solve problems for them. It's your exit key out of poverty. When people know that their leader truly cares for and about them, they will break an arm and a leg to honour his leadership. Compassionate leaders build businesses that care. There is no better way to ensure employee loyalty. In the words of Carl Jung, “Where love reigns, there is no will to power”

E - Empower people

If you are the only champion in your circle, you are an unmitigated disaster. If you are a true giant, people around you must have access to privileged vision. Great leaders are not crutches. They build platforms for everyone around them. If nobody around you comes close to you in achievement, you are a colossal and deluded failure. Build a culture of execution into your organization and empower people to carry out delegated assignments. Delegating assignments without corresponding empowerment only raises minions as team members. People learn more by doing than by hearing a superior bark out instructions that his team cannot carry out independent of him. Shared authority means gained strength.

Every treasure you seek is in people. Every dream you have is fulfilled with and in people. Treasure people, and treasures will find you.

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

?