No One Trusts Business


by Harlan Goerger - Date: 2007-09-25 - Word Count: 950 Share This!

6 Actions leaders can take to change it

Only 51% of the public polled indicated "trust" in business to do the right thing!

What does that say about how the public sees business today?

Now consider the fact that all these people work for a business of some type! How are they viewing their own employer?

This comes from a presentation by Mark Sanborn during a simulcast on Friday, May 11, 07. Along with Mark were 8 other nationally recognized leaders in business, education, social reform and sports.

So what was their answer to the 51% "trust" factor? What could business leaders and individuals be doing to improve that public perception? Here are six actions they have seen work! ......

First is to understand that Leadership is the core answer. A key point is that everyone can be a Leader right where they are!

So as we go through these actions, be aware that no matter if you are the CEO or the floor sweeper, the President or the receptionist, you have the opportunity to apply these actions right where you are.

Where and what do you focus your leadership on. Tim Sanders formerly of Yahoo, projected that two thirds of all stocks will be screened for their social value, not just the financial value in just the next few years.

That means your focus will need to be more than just financial. People, customers and investors are asking what your values are. What are you doing long and short term that impacts the world and its people?

Organizations as well as people who focus only on financial returns will find themselves in the back of the pack. He had several examples of how financial causes are the least motivating, while providing a more social cause binds people and moves them forward in ways financial focus could not. The organizations with the financial focus as secondary outperform the financial first organizations the majority of the time.

(Check out several of our past articles on Business Culture and focus.)

Focus on actions that give people a long term value rather than just short term result.

John Maxwell gave a great personal example of how his money goes where his values are. John's father never paid an allowance for tasks such as taking out the garbage; he considers these short term results. Instead, he paid for reading books of value and set expectations that tasks were part of being in the family.

John attributes this approach as the main catalyst for his personal success. It caused him to be prepared for opportunities just as he is now doing with his children.

Where is your money going and what values are being communicated? Could a change in focus make a change in your business? In your people?

"Comparisons are a dead end street", according to Mike Sanborn. It's really about going beyond what others are doing. It's about how good you could be if you allow yourself to do so.

The question was how fast can a bicycle be peddled? Some indicated 20 mph; others thought of the Tour de France going down a mountain slope and indicted 70 mph. All of these answers are based on comparisons to what each person was familiar with.

John Howard took his special developed bicycle to Bonneville Salt Flats and went 151 mph, and then a few years later went 166 mph. There was nothing for comparison, just John's own limitations!

Is your organization busy comparing or focusing on what it and its people could be?

Using chemical warfare to outdo your competition. When Google was asked how they beat AOL at the search engine race, the answer was chemical warfare!

You see our brains give off chemicals based on the mood one is in. When under stress or negative situations a chemical is produced which short circuits the brain and can last for days.

When happy and positive the brain produces dopamine which has proven to increase creativity by some 30%! It also reenergizes people and increases stamina!

Google purposefully created an atmosphere where people were happy and as stress free as possible. AOL tended to be a numbers driven culture with a much higher stress level.

How would you rate your organization's culture? How about your personal thinking and environment?

People are born as assets, not liabilities according to Bill Strickland, a social innovator. Strickland takes welfare moms from Pittsburgh's low income north side and within months has them trained and working in high paying positions they could only have dreamed of months before!

With kids he has over 80% going to college where over 50% never get through high school. How, because people are a result of environment and a function of environment.

By creating a high level environment and setting positive high level expectations, these people respond like most people do, they perform at or above the expected levels. Strickland's advice, "Get away from sensitivity groups, treat people like people." They respond when the comparisons are removed!

How would you describe your organization's approach to its people? How would you describe your own approach?

There, six actions out of many, many more from nine leaders. A full day of information on building yourself and your organization.

Every single one of the presenters also indicated that once you have the information and the ideas, it is up to you to develop the skills to apply it. That's why we provide the opportunities to maximize your organization's talent.

Take each of these actions and start applying them. If you need assistance, give us a call.

Till next week, use the slogan "Be all you can be!"

www.busarconline.com www.thesellinggap.com

Harlan

National Director of Training

© Harlan Goerger 5/2007

Related Tags: profit, leadership, deal, business, selling, management, sales, persuasion, influence, goals, strategies, plan, sold, achievment, hogan, goerger, clos

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: