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Forget the old quote, “Business is business, it’s not personal”
June 16, 2010
At an event earlier this month someone from the audience asked me, “What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to business advice?” I laughed and told them I absolutely hate that old saying, “Business is business, it’s not personal.” In fact, I always tell everyone to forget that quote and just wipe it from their minds. Why? Because I’ve always believed everything about business is personal.
For example, I once had an employee show up over two hours late to work, breathless and slightly upset. Rather than getting angry that the employee was late and had not called in, I sought to find out what had happened. It turns out he witnessed a car accident on the way to work and pulled over to help the victims until medical response teams had arrived and could take over.
Here’s another example: When I worked in medical sales, there was a customer who stopped paying their invoices. After meeting with them in person to understand their situation, we helped them get through their short-term cash flow problems by changing and extending their payment terms. We not only maintained a good customer and relationship, but gained an ally who was willing to sing our praises to other potential customers.
What I’ve learned so far in my 20+ year career is that almost everything in business is personal. And for most companies, their most precious assets go home every night, their employees.
How have I learned to treat business and people in a personal manner? Here’s what I’ve learned to do:
- Listen in order to understand, not reply
- Exude passion for work and compassion for people
- Encourage and exemplify collaborative leadership
- Maintain professionalism at all times
- Remain open to new ideas and opinions
- Demonstrate respect to everyone and treat others as they want to be treated
- Proactively seek solutions to problems
- Treat others as they want to be treated, not necessarily as you want to be treated
~ Lisa Quast
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