When Business Is Not Just Business

You have heard it said, “business is business”, meaning it's never personal. That holds true for most business-first type mindsets. However, that's often a terrible viewpoint as for the best and brightest of leaders, and me personally as a Christian, it will always be people-first. This requires me to operate out of a spirit of Christian love for others. Yeah, I know, I lost some of you there. You shook your head and the voice inside said “that’s why your way will never work in the business world.” Wrong.

Putting people first is never a hindrance or burden to your business or profession. As a business owner or professional you aren’t doing employees, coworkers, yourself or often even customers any favors if they can’t count on you for honest feedback and instruction. Not just verbally, but in demonstration and commitment as well.

Let’s say you have a salesman on your staff who is a terrible people person, lacks knowledge of your product or service and isn’t convincing in anything they do, other than convincing you that they are bad at sales. Putting this person first is not blindly overlooking the obvious. Putting them first is caring enough to point out where their weaknesses lie, offering to help correct them and giving them a chance as you support and encourage them in their effort of improvement. At this point, your commitment has either helped them grow and become better at the job or proved that they are ill suited for sales. If the latter holds true, then keeping that person in that position is actually harming them. People need to be good at what they do and to feel valued. That is impossible when you’re not good at what you do. People are usually aware of this even if they won’t admit it. Most of us know when we’re bad at something or it doesn’t suit us. At this point, we find a position where they are better suited or we release them to find a position somewhere else that better suits them.

We see this lack of honesty and clarity in the personal and professional realm all the time. We see it in friendships, marriages, families, etc. Rather than risk hurting someone’s feelings or offending them we just ignore the issue or worse, we sometimes support and encourage the problem in what we perceive as a spirit of love, loyalty or passivity. All of these can actually cause much more damage to ignore than to lovingly, caringly and committedly address the problem.

How many times have you seen or been a child that lacks talent and ability in a certain area? Most of us wish the child would excel. The truth and best interest of that child isn’t the easy route. The worst thing for that child is to have “those parents” who tell them how great they are and how bad everyone else is. “Those parents” who are the loudest and most obnoxious cheering section and always find fault with the other children while only pointing out the good in their own. The child’s lack of talent and ability will be exposed at some point. They will be forced to realistically confront their actual talent and abilities compared to those who genuinely excel. They will either see it for themselves or their peers will point it out. Life works that way. Business is no different.

Had “those parents” backed off and taken a long term, yet difficult approach to their child’s future they would have better prepared them for what lay ahead. Perhaps, as is the goal of all parents, they would have steered them into finding their true gift or calling. Painful correction, discipline or interaction now can save someone from even worse pain or failure in their future. Providing someone with a false foundation in confidence, identity, and self-recognition insures that future battles with adversity and insecurity will be much more difficult than necessary. Loving and having a heart for others gets you dirty and requires hard work and commitment.

If someone is ill suited for a position based on their skillset and disposition then encouraging or supporting them in a continuation down that path is dishonest, lacks true compassion and is not a display of genuine love at all. It’s either a display of insecurity, lack of concern and commitment or an indicator of your own weaknesses as a leader.

As a conclusion to this, we have one last key issue. You cannot possibly instruct someone in love and concern for their well-being if you yourself are riddled with insecurity or suffer from a lack of integrity. If you do, this will come to light immediately. Not only in the results but also in your relationship with those around you.  If you aren’t honest with yourself and willing to open up and receive constructive and honest criticism from those closest to you then you yourself are not yet equipped to provide instruction. If this is the case, you have to work on you, your heart and your leadership abilities.

No one in leadership should be riddled with insecurity. Insecurity always breeds insecurity. Insecurity is an emotional and contagious cancer. As a business leader you have the responsibility of surrounding yourself with friends and mentors who put your well-being and personal growth ahead of being your friend. These people don’t always tell you things that are easy to hear, but they help stretch you. They help hold you accountable. You have a responsibility to yourself and others to not surround yourself with your “boys and girls” but to surround yourself with men and women of integrity who aren’t scared to leave a mark when necessary. Insecure people cannot handle with this.

You won’t be a perfect leader or coworker. You will make mistakes. Remember, people can handle you making mistakes and not being perfect, when they know that you genuinely care about them. What makes the difference is being transparent and taking ownership for your actions. Be the leader and coworker employees on your team need and they will become the employees and coworkers you and your company need. By doing the right things, the right way, everyone wins in life and business in spite of the outcome.