Asking “Why?” Breeds Excuses!

“Ours is not to reason why.

  Ours is but to do or die!”

(source unknown, but help me out please if you know it)

     What makes this such a powerful one-two-punch thought is that it is based on the fact that anytime we ask “Why?” we are setting ourselves up for inaction.  We are investing ourselves in maintaining the status quo.  We are committing ourselves to going nowhere. We are on the road to over-analyzing!

     How is that possible?  Scientists are always asking “Why?” things do what they do, or “Why?” things are the way that they are, and their analytical pursuits end up helping all of us . . . hardly the stuff of status quo!  And what about accountants and history teachers?  They earn their livings by questioning “Why?”  And doctors need to check medical histories in order to . . .

Nope! 

Asking “Why?” Breeds Excuses! 

Period.  

     Imagine the range of answers to the question, “WHY were you late to work?”  Are any of those answers NOT a “reason” or “excuse”?  Now imagine the answers to instead asking, “By the end of the day, can you please give me–in writing– three ways that explain HOW you will prevent yourself from being late to work?” 

     Excuses (aka reasons)are responses we give out of laziness, ignorance, lack of self-discipline, lack of sense of reality, or when we seek to rationalize or explain something (like history teachers, archaeologists, sociologists, and accountants whose careers revolve around analyzing the past).

     Oh, and –by the way– the same do-nothing mindset infiltrates the entire vocation of self-proclaimed “SEO Specialists” and “Sales Conversion Specialists” who seem more often than not to simply be experts at smoke-and-mirroring you into a corner.  They LOVE when you ask “Why?”  Guess (ahem) “Why?”  They salivate at the thought of dragging unwitting non-geeks into their dark and mysterious corners of overkill analysis, and charging higher rates the darker it gets! 

     The bigger the organization asking, the more valuable the SEO and sales conversion answers pretend to be, and the results?  Well, the results in big-company cases are both more expensive to obtain AND more readily offered as justification for changes that should have been made on the fly, months or years ago without all the “Why?” questioning in the first place.

     In entrepreneurship training

and coaching, we call it

   “getting tangled up in your underwear.” 

(Not exactly a flattering image!)

     BUT it is this very point that in fact distinguishes entrepreneurs from the rest of the business world.  A genuine entrepreneur will not typically care about “Why” something is the way it is as much as taking trial and error steps immediately to do something about it.  True entrepreneurs believe in themselves!  “Don’t analyze the thing to death; you think too much!” you’ll often hear an entrepreneur say.

     An outstanding American business leader I knew in my second full time job always said that he didn’t ever want to hear problem-centered discussions about who did what to whom or when or why, that he was only interested in the solution, and that there was no better way to find the right solution than to try out what you believe to be right, and keep trying and acting on it over and over. 

     In retrospect, my guy must have been listening to Thomas Edison who disavowed public mockery of his 9,999 failed attempts to invent the lightbulb by simply explaining the attempts as 9,999 discoveries of ways that could be eliminated in his quest.      

     Passive minds do nothing.  Analytical minds exhaust themselves in circles of reasons, rationales, and excuses.  Active minds get things done. 

     Any entrepreneur will tell you that some action is always better than no action, and that the only way to move forward is to move, to act on gut instinct and limited knowledge . . . because, in the end:

Instinct and limited knowledge

     are all we ever have anyway.    

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Do You LOVE

What You Do

For A Living?

     If you do, you are a rarity!  [Maybe you could sell yourself on E-Bay?]  And if in fact you DO love what you do for a living, then you’re likely to also be exceptionally good at doing what you do.

     But (and be truthful with yourself here) if you really don’t love what you do (and endless studies indicate that this constitutes the vast majority), then the odds are overwhelmingly that you’re not particularly good at doing what you do.  Similarly endless studies also say that we perform best when we enjoy what we’re doing! 

     So, if that’s the case, and you’re just muddling your way through your job or career, and not making waves, in order to keep food on the table and tunes on your ipod, you need to do two things: 1) Keep your day job, and 2) Get off your butt and pursue work that you’ll enjoy doing. 

     FYI, 1) and 2) above are based on the fact widely known but little followed fact of life that it’s easier to find a job when you’re already employed than it is when you’re not.  

     Now, if you are one of those oddball types that is extraordinarily good at job performance for a job or career that you hate, you need to make sure you’re sitting before you read the rest of this. 

     In a chair?  Okay, here’s the scoop: There may be dozens (hundreds, even) of reasons that you are performing well at what you hate, but none of them changes the fact that you need to work yourself out from under. 

     Why?  Because every minute of every day, you (your mind, your emotions and your physical body) are experiencing negative stress decay.

     Negative stress takes its toll.  Eventually it finds it’s way into your overall mental, physical and emotional health and well-being.  You may altready be well on the way there.  But, don’t let that depress you.  Not doing anything about it is what’s depressing!

     Like having your lungs miraculously return to healthy pink just a short time after you stop smoking, your mind, emotions and physical health can likewise begin to recover and surge and thrive as soon as you start to change your over-stressed lifestyle! 

     Remember that this kind of lifestyle/behavioral change is your choice.  And you can choose to make it hard or easy.  If you make it easy, you can take it easy.  Happiness breeds productivity and self-worth.  Take a couple of deep breaths and do it, or pass this post along to someone you care about!

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ARE YOU BOARD-BORED?

     The most infamous collection of meeting-makers on Earth has to be “Boards.”  Consider how Board-Bored we must be.  We have Boards of Directors, Boards of Trustees, Boards of Advisors, School Boards, Medical Boards, Law Boards, Admissions Boards, Homeowner and Condo Boards,  Probation Boards, Boards of Overseers, Surf Boards, Snow Boards, Water Boarding (whoops! sorry) Editorial Boards, Boards of . . .  

     What’s the point?  If you’re Board-Bored, you are most certainly sick of meetings, right?  Right!  So, what can be done to make meetings better?  Here, following, for your Board-Bored pleasure: 

7 Steps To Making Meetings Work ©

Copyright 2009, Hal Alpiar 

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER ONE”: Use an agenda!  Circulate a draft of it a week in advance of a monthly meeting, a couple of days ahead of a weekly meeting, and 17 seconds before a daily meeting (If you’re meeting daily and you’re not in the White House, the Pentagon, or a police department, 17 seconds is enough time to pour some coffee and decide to find another job!) 

Ask for agenda input in time to add it and —before the meeting– post a clearly visible newsprint or whiteboard (YOW! another Board!) version of the agenda you can refer to, and check off as you go.  People will know where they are and where they’re going, minus the anxiety of potential surprises.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER TWO”: Do NOT invite people to any meeting who are not actively involved in the decision making for the agenda points.  Meetings are not for training or parading egos.  If meetings do not end up producing results, stop having them!  Deal with those who need to attend for certain topics first and let them leave when those discussions end.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER THREE”: STICK TO THE AGENDA!  When issues are raised that are not directly related to the agenda, thank the source and ask that she/he include the point on the next agenda for the next meeting, or –if there’s time left after the agenda is completed– to raise it again then, but that “this meeting is for this agenda.”

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER FOUR”: Always ADHERE TO THE EXACT TIMES SET for start and finish.  No exceptions ever.  If you do this twice in a row, no one will ever be late again, and everyone will stay on schedule for the day.  Also: resist the temptation to load the table up with snacks and beverages! Contrary to popular belief, donuts do not make for better decisions!

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER FIVE”: Emergencies aside, meetings work best when they are consistently set and conducted.  This means holding sessions at regular times (I recommend Monday mornings for weekly status review meetings as being 100% more productive than mid-week  which is too workflow-disruptive, or Fridays, when everyone’s thinking about their weekends.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER SIX”: Include compliments and small rewards (a toy car, a game or puzzle, a banana – preferably something appropriate to the deed) at the end of every meeting!  

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER SEVEN”: Follow up each meeting PROMPTLY with a simple bullet list report of decisions made and who specifically is responsible for the next step by what date.  

     If all else fails and meetings still drag on into the sunset, have the chairs removed from the room and hold stand-up meetings!  It works wonders for getting things done quickly. 

     Remember too that MBWA (Management By Walking Around) is still the best way to minimize or eliminate meetings, get decisions made and motivate the troops at the same time.  People LIKE seeing the boss outside the conference room and out from behind the desk. 

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302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Lost Your Marbles Lately? 

Probably the world’s greatest expert on the subject of death and dying was Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, whose definitive book, “ON DEATH AND DYING” has now become a true classic in the worlds of psychology, psychotherapy, social work, and caregiver counseling. 

     So what?  What does that have to do with your job, or the job of someone close to you going down the tubes?  A lot! 

     The dynamics that Kübler-Ross devoted her life to studying are the same for virtually ANY loss.

     So, the “5 Stages” of death and dying that she defined apply to loss of life, loss of limb or function, loss of possessions, loss of health, loss of friendship, loss of a spouse or parent or child, loss of a home, loss of money, loss of a pet, loss of business, and –yes– loss of a job.

The 5 Stages are, in order of occurrence:

1. Denial and isolation

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

The ultimate goal for any of us when we experience loss, has to be to move through the first four Stages as quickly as possible, and get ourselves to that 5th Stage point of Acceptance.

     Some succeed at this.  Some get stuck at Stages 1, 2, 3, or 4 along the way.  [Thes would probably be the majority.]  Some never make it to Stage 5 Acceptance, ever, and live the rest of their lives, for example, angry or depressed.  Those who don’t achieve a sense of Acceptance (as well as those who do but who require a particularly long time to get there) set themselves up to be in an emotionally unhealthy place in life.

     What is it that makes these failures and long delays emotionally unhealthy?  Denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, and depression all live in fantasyland.  The only reality there is on Earth is the one that is happening right this very split second as you are reading these words and thinking about them.  It’s a state of balance and harmony.  It means being focused on the present moment as much as possible.

     Often a “rescuer” or professional “coach” is needed to assist the sufferer of a loss in accelerating and smoothing the way to transition, to Acceptance.  If you want to help someone through a loss event or loss period of time, you must be prepared to be extraordinarily patient, empathetic (putting yourself in her or his shoes) and encouraging. 

     You need to help the individual or group or family pass through each stage and let go of each stage before moving to the next level, and to help him/her/them from slipping backwards.  Keeping those with loss issues and upsets focused on the immediate present moment that’s in front of their faces as much of the time as possible can be frustrating and emotionally draining for the helper(s). 

     It is not always an easy task and –while I heartedly recommend that responsibility for this function is best left to professionals who are trained to provide proper guidance— you can always lend a support system to encourage pursuit of professional assistance, and you can help prompt a sharper “here and now” awareness level simply by keeping your SELF focused on the present, and calling attention to it.     halalpiar

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THICKEN YOUR SKIN!

     Everybody sells or has to sell something

all or some of the time. 

Whew, now that’s a brainful of thoughts! 

     What I’m saying here (and run the risk of offending some by offering an “in other words” interpretation) is that anybody who sells anything, which means YOU (unless you’re a hermit or a castaway with a Wilson soccerball!), odds are great that you need to run an internal (inside your head) crusade to wipe out self-doubt!

     We can discuss what makes the odds “great” some other time; just trust me for now as I share with you “like it is” . . . IF YOU CAN’T shake off (like your dog after a swim) the worryworts about what your concerns are of the impressions and opinions others have of you —by worrying about what you think they think– you are dooming yourself to failure.

     At a time when more people are looking for fewer available jobs and the challenge to compete harder is tougher than ever, you cannot afford to short-change yourself or second-guess your actions or underestimate your abilities.

     You are what you are and worrying about what you are not will not make one iota of difference. 

     If others like, appreciate and respond to you and what you have to offer (regardless of whether it’s product or services for sale or your job qualifications), that’s great!  If they don’t embrace your ideas or what you have to sell, it’s their loss.  Period. 

     Don’t busy your mind with overkill analysis.  Move on to the next opportunity.  There is always a next opportunity that comes from what you make happen, and you can only make things happen when you’re free from dwelling on what didn’t happen! 

     You think maybe this sounds good but isn’t practical?  Wrong.  It sounds good because it IS good.  Making things happen and dropping the things that don’t along the way, are both a matter of choice. 

     Simply recognizing that your behavior is your choice will often turn the tide by itself, and other times will prompt you to free your mind up sooner rather than later.  It feels pretty stupid to be wallowing in disappointment and feelings of failure when you are thinking that you are CHOOSING to wallow and feel sorry for yourself. 

     Okay, and what will make all of this thinking work quicker and more effectively?  Getting in touch with the “here and now” that’s in your face (and that’s passing you by, NEVER to be retrieved if you’re busy wallowing), and the best way to do that is to TAKE A FEW DEEP BREATHS. 

     Circulating more oxygen to your brain makes you more alert and tuned in (kind of the opposite of wallowing).  Deep breathing also circulates more blood flow to your muscles, making your body more relaxed, less tense, more prepared to be going forward. 

     You’ll find four (just 4) VERY simple, detailed steps for making the most of deep breathing elsewhere on this site.  Try the “Magazine Articles” tab above, and click on the second article link (“Are You Breathing?”) in the lefthand column. 

     Oh, and as you thicken your skin, remember to believe in yourself, will you?  You are unique.  There is no one else on Earth exactly like you!   halalpiar   

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When did your ego (or favorite

 blog) last get the best of you?

     This morning at breakfast?  In a meeting?  On the telephone?  At lunch?  Over the conference table?  On your way home?  After dinner?  All of the above?  (Oh, ha-ha, not me! Not all of the above. Good heavens, man, I’m not that bad!)

     Well, maybe, maybe not.  If you think something outside your own body got the best of you AT ALL, you may have a problem.  Why?  Your ego can only take over when you CHOOSE for it to take over.  You don’t get angry and no body makes you angry. 

     You choose to feel angry about what you or someone else does or says or something that happens.  You may not be making a conscious choice, but it is nonetheless a choice. 

     Contrary to what the majority of the civilized world’s population seems to believe: Behaviors –ego, guilt, anger, arrogance, or otherwise– don’t fall from the sky and land on your shoulders and make you into an ogre or cause you to do or say anything.     

     So, tuck that little pouch of wisdom in your pocket and let’s go take a look at the blogosphere.  What is it that bloggers seem to be grasping at and pretending they have no choice about these days? 

     Now, I don’t look at hundreds of blogs because I also have a life, but it seems to me that the ones I do check out are inevitably shallow ego-trips aimed at unloading lots of doom and gloom lectures in very authoritative fashion.

     Why is this important to business owners and managers and entrepreneurs?  Well, here’s the news flash: believe it or not– you are human too! 

     Just because you run around in scuffed shoes and drooling your last meal out of the corner of your mouth because you’re so preoccupied with your cashflow, or the bumbling idiot who’s representing your business interests somewhere, or the next big idea you’re birthing, doesn’t mean you don’t or can’t have feelings!  The bloggers who lecture on current events and industry trends love having you return to their sites because they’ve made you worry or sad or angry or enraged.  They live for that. 

     Alrighty then, you’re rushing through life and are now close to relying completely on the Internet for information and nurturing.  Blogs have become a way of life.  You visit YouTube and Face, then tweet your brains out on Twitter before hitting up your favorite 3, 4, 5 (?) blogs, where you get massive doses of smug, self-serving, know-it-all infusions of negativity. 

     Hey, you might as well be watching that 11 o’clock news crap . . . nothing like seeing babies burned in ovens, terrorist beheadings and a family of 14 jammed into a compact car and crushed by a runaway dumptruck just before you go to bed!  Great food for lovely stressfree dreams!    

     So where’s a serious entrepreneur to turn?  Sideways.  Check out what’s around you instead of the steady diet of what’s on top of you and what’s being pulled out from under you. 

     Many blog writers are just closet psychos.  Their only interest in you is as a site visitor and comment poster.  The more they get, the more the search engines reward them with bumped up rankings.  They don’t care about misleading your tired brain, or about helping you learn or see new ways to help yourself. 

     The Blog Smog is just as useless as network TV news smoke and mirrors acts.  Choose what you want when you want but don’t choose to think that all blogs are worthwhile uses of your time.  They’re not.   halalpiar

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Can you answer this

barrage of questions

to your own satisfaction?

     Do you believe in an “educated consumer”?  What do you do or not do to promote that?  Do you actually teach prospects and customers about your products and services while emphasizing benefits (because you know of course that people buy benefits, not features). 

     Do you educate others about your industry or profession?  Do you share the dirty little secrets of your industry or profession with customers and prospects?  (And please don’t pretend there aren’t any!)  How do you do this or not do this?  Are you sidestepping what needs to be transparent?

     Do you inform customers and prospects about your competitors?  HOW do you do that or not do that (i.e., what steps do you take or not take regarding this point)?  Are you gracious about it?  Aggressive? 

     Do you only accentuate the positives?  How do you like to have salespeople deal with you?  Do you represent information to customers and prospects with an air of pomposity or humility or a little of both?  Or neither?  Again, how do you like to have other salespeople deal with you?

     Do you ask questions first and listen [the most effective salespeople listen 80% of the time and talk 20%] carefully, or just launch into a lecture?  Do you lecture or inform?  Do you share just the right amount of information that the customer or prospect wants to know (vs. too much or too little)?  How do you know?

     Are these questions reminding you to listen more?  Are you choosing to feel annoyed by these questions?  Or are you choosing to feel invigorated by them?  Are you remembering to put youself in the customer’s/prospect’s shoes (empathy) or just steamrollering forward, or shooting from the hip?  Do you paraphrase and offer examples?  Do you ask for feedback? 

     Do you get tired of other salespeople when they blabber?  At what point do you say something or simply walk (or run) away?  When you think about the salespeople who have lost you as a customer or prospect, how did they do that?  What does it make you think of?  What are you learning about your SELF right now?  Hmmmmm?

     Okay, well this is all just getting you ready.  Tomorrow (now that you are primed or re-primed about how to deal with them), we’ll start focusing on how to get those customers and prospects in the door!  See you then.      halalpiar   

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Check out and contribute to the daily growing 7-Word Story started 138 days ago (inside a coffin).  Click on the link to the right, or go to the “BOOKS” tab at the top of this page, then to the top headline link.

Are you FOR SALE?  Of course!

You’re looking at this because you couldn’t quite figure from the title why you should be included here because you’re not a sales rep!?!?

Guess what?  You’re a sales rep!

Whether you like it or not, whether you agree or not, whether you think you’re above it all or not because you’re an accountant, doctor, lawyer or Indian chief, the sad-but-true news is that you ARE a SALESPERSON!.

Why such an adamant statement?  Because it’s true.  All of us –even if you’re not officially in a sales role or sales function or earning sales commission– are selling something (Our selves?  Our ideas?  Our work?  Our religious beliefs?  Our political persuasions?  Our experience? ) and we do this selling every day, even most of the day for most people . . . some, actually, all day long!

Many folks out there (particularly those who like to categorize themselves as “professionals”) don’t like to think of themselves as being in sales because they consider sales a low-life business function and think it compromises their integrity!  Right?  I know you know who I’m talking about.  You can probably rattle off a list of some of those clueless, self-aggrandizing-types.  (Maybe print out this post to leave anonymously on a qualified desk?!)

So, without further ado, HERE (TA-TA-TA-TA-TA—TA-TA!): 

 IS REALITY!

REALITY IS that people don’t buy THINGS! 

REALITY IS that people don’t buy SERVICES! 

REALITY IS that people buy P E O P L E !

Granted that –at one time or another– all of us have had to be an unhappy customer or prospect when we’ve found ourselves (by choice of course) in a captive situation that really offers little choice.  Remember having to pay $4.50 for one small bottle of water in the middle of the trade show floor at the fancy hotel?

Why?  Because there’s just two of you manning your booth and you were thirsty enough to start chewing perspiration out of your socks (well, yuch, that’s like a little over-the-top thirsty, isn’t it?).

Anyway, the bottom line is that, unless you have no place else to turn and could lose your job for trying to turn, you really do have an easy choice with every purchase for every product and every service.

And the deciding factor for that choice that you have will inevitably be the person representing what you’re looking to buy.  Because (of course you know what’s coming here): People buy people!

You already know this if you are an officially designated sales rep.  Though you may occasionally forget to practice what you know when you overlook a bit of good grooming or good manners or good listening . . . or when you spend too much energy ticking off product or service features instead of benefits.  Sound familiar?

If you are NOT an official sales rep, you might first of all want to try the job for a few days to see for yourself why it’s just as challenging and stressful and professional as any other career (accountants, doctors, lawyers and Indian chiefs included).  Okay, you don’t want to do that.  Can’t say I blame you.

Being a professional salesperson is very demanding work because it requires you to be alert and on your toes literally every waking minute . . . with, even, laminated business cards folded into your bathing suit pocket while on vacation!

The point is that no matter who you are, no matter what you do for a living (even if you’re a teacher or government employee), no matter where you live (unless you’re a hermit!), YOU ARE A SALESPERSON!

The sooner you realize and accept this, and get to work learning more about sales so you can be better at it, the more effective you’ll be as a human being and the more productive your business and organizational efforts will be.  The best place to start is with a mentor.  Know any good salesperson willing to train you in return for referrals and leads perhaps?  Are you FOR SALE?  Of course you are!

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 Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US        or comment below

“Screw it!  I’m gonna do

what I’ve always wanted

to do, and make it work!”

     You know what?  I am a businessperson first and foremost.  From my first lemonade-and-comic-books-for-sale stand when I was six years-old, through years of Madison Avenue advertising agency creative and management work for Fortune 500 clients, I’ve been a businessperson. 

     Through a dozen years of fulltime and adjunct business marketing, management and psychology professorships on three different campuses, and through three overlap years of hosting a daily feature radio show, I’ve been a businesperson.

     Through conducting 20,000 students’ worth of management training programs, and coaching nearly 500 new business startups, plus consulting with hundreds more, I’ve been a businessperson.

     Yet, the blanket under it all, the thread that weaves it all together, the place where my heart is while my mind and hands have been busy being a businessperson, is writing.  If first and foremost, I am a businessperson, then always and forever after, I am a writer.

     Knowing this has made me a better businessperson . . . and a better writer!

     What are YOU really all about?  What do you DO for work every day?  What do you DREAM of doing for work every day?  HOW can you combine those.  [I am now primarily a business writer and writing consultant, for example — traditional advertising, Internet websites and blogs, public relations and feature stories.]  

     Am I kidding?  No.  Am I being unrealistic?  No.  What you do for work every day is your choice!  Whether you do for work every day what you dream of or not, is your choice!  If that doesn’t seem possible because it’s simply too hard for you to do what you want and to make a living at it, THAT is a choice.  Choose for it to be easy!

     Too many of us cruise control through life doing jobs we tolerate, rather than those we know we could have more fun with.  With so many people on the transition bubble right now, it may be the perfect time to simply step back, and make yourself happier and healthier and less stressed.  How?

You walk up to the mirror, throw back your shoulders, smile and say “Screw it!  I’m going to do what I’ve always wanted to do.  And I’m going to make it work because it’s my choice, and because I don’t want to dry up and shrivel up by investing myself and my energy and my heart in maintaining the status quo!  I can enlist my family’s support.  I will at least explore this thinking.” 

     Give yourself the opportunity to be a better businessperson AND a better cowboy or dress designer or sailor or artist or restaurant owner or dog trainer or landscaper or W H A T E V E R by applying your business expertise to what makes for FUN in your life.  Consolidate.  Combine.  You can try it.  You can make it work.  You need only to make the choice.  Explore!  Exhale!  Enjoy!  

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“You can’t build a reputation

on what you’re going to do.”

–HENRY FORD

We’ve talked before about the definition of integrity being doing the right thing even when nobody else is looking.  The dictionary says it’s “the quality of having strong moral principles,” and “the state of being whole, unified and sound, without corruption.” 

I mention it here because integrity is the best kind of reputation to have.  Some customers flock to some businesses because they offer the lowest price.  Some seek only to have quality at any price.  But in today’s volitile marketplace, integrity (“HIGH TRUST”) is what sells most consistently and most profoundly.  It’s what anchors that elusive customer characteristic: loyalty! 

Consumers have been duped and led to slaughter for too many years.  Consumers are tired of hearing about businesses that make empty promises, that fallaciously attach themselves to worthy causes but fail to walk the walk when it comes to the moment of truth.  

As proverbially expressed, deeds and action speak louder than words.  

Consumers are demonstrating, across the boards, that they do not any longer want to deal with “low-trust” talk-the-talk businesses. 

     What separates “HIGH” from “LOW” trust?  Integrity. 

     How does a business gain integrity?  By gaining respect. 

     How does a business win respect?  By establishing a reputation. 

     How does one build a reputation? 

• By consistent demonstration of honesty and fairness with both internal and external customers, and appreciation that the two need to be viewed as interchangeable. 

• By recognition that the customer is always right and that there are never any exceptions to that short of legal violations or physical violence. 

• By (back to the proverbs) practicing what you preach! 

Being partly honest in business is like being partly pregnant in life. 

If your assessments of your business and the spin you’ve been putting out to the public (or, more correctly,  to your marketplace) are filled with um’s and er’s and maybe’s and sometimes’ and occasionally’s, you’re not kidding anyone but yourself! 

Are you and your business, for example, making token donations to charities, or are you and your employees getting into the trenches and helping charitable organizations to raise money and move forward?

It may be time to step back and revisit your mission as well as the services you perform and that you provide both inside your doors and out.  Today’s a good day for that.  Think about it. 

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