DO YOU KNOW WHO'S WHO?

"Man is the only animal which esteems itself rich in proportion to the number and veracity of its parasites."

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish writer.

You know; all those people you think love and respect you.

Some do but many others only look at you as a means to their end.

By definition your true friends are a much smaller group.

Social media all you want but don't use it to measure who'll be there for you when you most need them.

ABOUT THOSE PRIORITIES

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) American statesman/scientist/philosopher

In addition to you there are three constituencies you need concern yourself with in business.

1. Your customer
2. Your competition
3. Your co-workers

If you find you spend more time, or worse, much more time, dealing with number 3 than numbers 2 and certainly 1, you won't for long.

Your company will fail, you along with it.

 

YOU OR US?

"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have."

Norman Vincent Peale

20th century Protestant preacher and author

If you could choose, would more of your accomplishments come from what you do alone or from the collective effort of you and others?

And which do you think would produce more results?

You Are The Company You Keep

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation.  It is better to be alone than in bad company."

George Washington

First president of the United States of America

I'll bet President Washington knew to do this because he didn't always do it himself.

But we can learn from our mistakes.

Be mindful of the company you keep before you become them.

Don't Fence Me (Out)!

"Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up."

Robert Frost

20th century American poet

Nor put one up without first understanding what you want to keep in or keep out.

Business is full of "fences" including official and unofficial, obvious and not.

Easy to erect, difficult to dismantle once up.

Them, NOT Me!

"Much ado about nothing."

William Shakespeare

16th century British playwright/poet

How much of what you do at work does this describe?

How about those you work with?

The Role of Love in Business

"I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known."

Walt Disney

Yesterday's quote had to do with hate and I've selected this one to make the opposite point.

I believe I understand Mr. Disney, given all that Mickey represented to his life's work, but what might his wife Lillian and his daughters Diane Marie and Sharon Mae have thought about that, not to mention Minnie Mouse?

As is true of hate, love is also a very strong word and we should be very careful when and how we use it, in our personal and business lives.

What do you think?

The Role of Hate in Business

"Hate is the consequence of fear. We fear something before we hate it."

Cyril Connolly
20th century English critic/author

A writer, particularly one who is also a critic, would recognize the role hate plays in our lives. And to this I would add envy.

So what about hate, fear and envy in business, and by that I don't mean that directed towards our competitors.

I'm talking about hate towards co-workers.

It's Lonely At The Top

"The courts of kings are full of people, but empty of friends."

Seneca
Roman Philosopher

Yet another quote from our friend Seneca, who in the first century before the birth of Christ, could see how lonely it is for leaders, be they kings, CEO's or department heads.

How do you handle the blurred lines between business and friendship?