The Five Core Concepts of Business Success

After 24 years of running my own crisis management public relations consulting business, preceded by 22 years of working for others in workplaces as disparate as the US Army, corporate boardrooms, and PR agencies, I can distill all the many lessons I’ve learned into these five core concepts:

1. Demonstrate confidence, competence and compassion in all that you do.
2. Take care of your people, starting with yourself.
3. Never miss an opportunity to laugh at yourself, to remember that you’re not nearly as important as you think you are.
4. Be accountable. Do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it, or have a damn good reason why you can’t.
5. Pick your clients as or more carefully than they pick you.

I wish that I had always understood these simple, seemingly common-sense points but, of course, I learned many of my more meaningful lessons the hard way. I welcome hearing others' lessons in response!