I have recently heard from several people, that the reason why communication fails in large businesses is because people tend to crate their own clicks and groups that allow them to create a pseudo world of friends and people that allow them to either hold on to or scale the corporate ladder. The tendencies that exist in this type of thought are related to selfishness and moral decay.
When you have and executive leader in a company, I submit that this person should be of the highest and greatest character. If a corporation were to hire a person who genuinely cares for the business and its employees, then the environment becomes one of the best you will find. A CEO should be as transparent as can be. The CEO should be a role model to the rest of the company. They should show the ability to sacrifice for the others and blend into those around them.
Let's look at some of the most successful companies in the world: Japanese and Asian industries. There is something in this culture that all company leaderships should consider: Responsibility. There hundreds of stories of CEOs of major companies in the Asian market who take the full responsibility of the performance of the company upon their shoulders. If the company performs well, they congratulate the employees and give the credit to the employees. If the company performs poorly, they take the full blame, and in some instances are shamed and will kill themselves. Now, I am not saying that CEOs in the world over should kill themselves, but I am saying that the responsibility and accountability of the performance of a corporation should be placed upon the shoulders of executive management. If you have a company whose performance and accountability is not placed on the executive management and they are not willing to be responsible for their actions and point fingers elsewhere, I say get rid of them. They will do far more damage to the company than anything else.
I wish to make this a cry out for people to become responsible once more. Don't forget that we are Human and that every person who interacts with and for a company is Human. We all make mistakes, but it is the character of the individual which is demonstrated when we choose cast the blame on anyone else but ourselves. I call for Executive Leaders to look away from the Money for a moment and assess their Character. If they really understood the impact of their example to their employees and customers, then they would not be doing HALF of what they are doing. However, money corrupts only the weak. If we have someone corrupt in our organizations' highest positions making decisions when they are weak, there is something wrong with us.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Successful Business: The Customer Is Always Right!
Do you remember the saying: "The Customer is always right!" I think, personally, that this should be the way to run a business. If you want to be successful, you need your customers. If you want to be able to stay ahead of the curve and do all in your power to avoid the downfalls of the standard s-curve, listen to your customers.
Every person in the world who works with people will have to admit that they have had a hard time with at least one customer in their life. They will tell you that the customer didn't understand what was happening, that they really didn't understand the problems they were discussing. Although this may be true, there is one vital paradox that is found in this scenario: both the customer and the employee are right.
The customer is describing a behavior and a use case to the employee. The employee is understanding the use case and trying to fit it into their knowledge base. The simple solution to all conflicts in a business is effective communication. If you want to have effective communication then Listen to each other!
Here are some links for some ideas on listening:
Every person in the world who works with people will have to admit that they have had a hard time with at least one customer in their life. They will tell you that the customer didn't understand what was happening, that they really didn't understand the problems they were discussing. Although this may be true, there is one vital paradox that is found in this scenario: both the customer and the employee are right.
The customer is describing a behavior and a use case to the employee. The employee is understanding the use case and trying to fit it into their knowledge base. The simple solution to all conflicts in a business is effective communication. If you want to have effective communication then Listen to each other!
Here are some links for some ideas on listening:
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