(Time to read this Blog is about 3 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “There’s lots of talk in business today about creativity, but very little talk about courage.   There’s no point being creative if you’re not also courageous because you’ll never have the guts to implement all the cool creative stuff that you come up with.”    
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   Is a culture of ‘us and them’ hurting your business?
    
   A culture of ‘us and them’ is corrosive in any business.  Healthy, friendly and respectful competition between Team members and departments can be an energizer and motivator …but ‘us and them’ is a killer and management needs to deal with it before it tears the business apart.  But, instead, management often ignores the situation or, even worse, fans the flames of ‘us and them’.
    
   ‘Us and them’ can be between departments, divisions or functions within the business.  The sales team may put down the production department by saying, “If we didn’t make the sales, you’d have nothing to produce!”  And production folks may razz the sales team by replying, “If we didn’t produce the product, you’d have nothing to sell!”  The truth is we’re all in the same boat and we should all row in the same direction…together.
    
   ‘Us and them’ can also be between different ethnic groups within the business, or between folks who are different for some other reason.  This is a real killer and must not be tolerated.  Understanding, tolerance, respect, kindness and inclusion must (and can) prevail.     
    
   Is an attitude of ‘us and them’ hurting any part of your business?  If so, who will fix that by creating a culture that honours everyone’s contribution to your growth and success?
    
3. The incredible power of ‘simple acts of kindness’. According to ‘resiliency & wellness expert’, Beverly Beuermann-King, acts of kindness result in significant health benefits.
    
   Performing kind acts can help reverse feelings of depression, decrease feelings of hostility and isolation, decrease intensity and awareness of physical pain, and increase a sense of self-worth, happiness, and optimism.
    
   Beverly is incredibly bright and can be found at www.LiveSmaryWorkSmart.com
    
4. Who might be stealing from you? A former employee of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars has admitted to stealing $22 million from the team through illegal money transactions and has been sentenced to 6 ½ years in a Federal Penitentiary.
     
   I’ve worked with a number of businesses who almost went bankrupt because of massive employee theft…often to support a gambling or drug addiction.  What systems and processes do you have in place to protect yourself from this?  

Now, to this week’s important topic:

Nobody wants to do business with a coward:  

A recent experience reminds me that most of us are prepared to be loyal to businesses that ‘mess up’ every once in a while if they communicate with us and deal with the error quickly and honestly…but nobody wants to do business with a coward.  

Last year we had a local painter come to our country place to look at some repair and repainting work.  He had been part of the crew that did our original painting seven years before and I was impressed with his skill, his attitude and, I thought, his integrity.

When he came by in April, we explained to him that the work needed to be completed by the middle of June when we’d be moving in for the summer season.  He assured us that this would be no problem, so we stopped our search for a painter.  By the end of July not only had he not shown up, he had also not responded to the six messages that I left with his wife for him to call me.

The man is a coward and we’ve now given up on him.  He may have had a health problem, a family emergency or some other explanation, but at this point I’m prepared to assume the worst …that he’s a coward.  I’m prepared to believe that he makes reckless promises and then doesn’t have the courage to “face the music” (as my Grandmother used to say).

Every business messes up from time to time. That’s a given.  The question is how do we then deal with that?  Do we communicate quickly and honestly?  Do we move quickly to fix the problem?  Or, do we hide, deny, stall, lie and ultimately make things worse?

What does your business do when you let a customer down, fail in a commitment to an employee, or mess up in some other way?  Do you act quickly with integrity and courage?  I hope so, because nobody wants to do business with a coward!

That’s it for this week…

Stay safe…live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.