I am preparing for those looks one gets when we blurt out something that most everyone else finds hard to believe. It is quite certain that I will experience more than a few of those faces next week when I present my take on business growth, ethics and values. Faces will contort, eyes will narrow and more than a few folks will offer stares of disdain. All that will happen immediately following my opening:
Products and services do not a great business make. Nope! To grow a great business, we must always put people first, ahead of profits, products and services.
It took every page of Lead With Your Heart to thoroughly explain this business philosophy and model, and to show readers how to implement the principle as the foundation of their business. By the end of page 231, I am able to show readers not only what the principle looks like but also why and how it works to grow a business's brand and bottom line.
But I don't have the time to share 231 pages in a presentation. So here's the bottom line: Putting people first is a different and a better way to think and to measure success. When we filter everything we say and do through the principle that people come before all else, we end up with a company that features the following:
- The best products and services we can produce, because that is what people want and need.
- Employees who are enthusiastic about their job and are given the responsibility and the ability to always say "yes" to customers by providing a solution, because that is what people want and need.
- Products and services that offer great value at a fair price, because that is what people want and need.
- A growing number of loyal and new customers, because you provide what people want and need.
- Strong revenues and increased margins, because you provide what people want and need.
- A company that never violates its values nor acts unethically, because your focus is on people, not profits.
- A company that communities vie for, because you provide what people want and need.
P.S. Check out Seth's take about who we remember and who remembers us: That guy who saved my life.
