People Who Can Destroy Your Business

I had an encounter at the turn of the year that brought tears to my heart. After you hear this, as a business owner, you will yearn for wisdom.

I walked into a resort that once held annual gatherings for the company I work for. Been ages I had been there since I was recruited. Thought to myself that I could make enquiries for a possible quiet get away in the serene atmosphere I remembered. Alas, that was not to be. The reception I was given, not at the reception, but at the gate house, was everything other than a warm reception.

The following conversation ensued with the security man who challenged my audacity to stray into his domain: 

"Him: Oga, yes, wetin you want? (in pidgin english - Sir, what do you want?)

Me: Good afternoon sir. I want to find out about the resort.

Him: The manager just drove out now. The chairman sent him on an errand.

Me: OK, let me get to the reception for some more information.

Him: There's no one there.

Me: What? Not even a secretary or receptionist?

Him: Nobody. The place is even locked. The manager takes the key with him when he goes out.

Me: That's odd. Why will they do that? That's not how to run a business.

Him: That's how chairman wants to run his business. What's my own with that?

Me (still rooted to the spot in shock): OK, do you have a flier or brochure I can read through?

Him: No. Bye-bye."

This encounter really made me ponder why a staff of the company would treat his organisation, nay, his leaders like that. Perhaps the words of Stephen Covey ring true here "Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers". Was this how he was being treated? Was this why he was treating his boss this way?

At the end, I surmised that if we want to succeed, we should be wary of employing, or rather, of creating "People who can destroy your business". 

A few of such people that fall into that category are seen below:

1. Your (guess is as good as mine as to who my number one is) Gateman: This is the person who can prevent guests/customers from coming in. They can turn them back at the gate with whatever excuse they can come up with (as I experienced).

2. Your Receptionist: Again, like the gateman, receptionists, or Front Desk Officers can also speak badly of your organisation in the presence of waiting customers. By the time they throw a few bad words here and there, the guests pick them up and form an opinion of you.

3. Your Secretary or Executive or Personal Assistant: These have all your information at their finger tips. They can cripple you before you even realised that you needed a wheel chair or a pair of crutches.

4. Your Driver/Chauffeur: These are always there with you. They hear all you say, how you say it, to whom you say it. I've heard things about some bosses from their drivers; true things only bosses could have divulged themselves.

5. Your Despatch Riders: These are those who are trusted with physical delivery of important documents. Someone on twitter once twitted on how the rider selected items from the package before delivering to the customer.

You would have observed that all of those mentioned above are support personnel. Team members who aren't at the fore-front of the business, or the client facing ones. They might appear to be invisible, but their impact can be subtly terrible. According to Phil Jackson (famous NBA coach and executive), "The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team".

I guess my next write up would be....how to ensure your staff do not turn into Frankensteins! 

Stay tuned