GarthBox

Everyone begins their career path by doing tasks. Checking off the to-do list. All actions taken are task-focused. You’re getting a feel for it all, learning the basics, getting your feet underneath you and–if you’re lucky–making and learning from plenty of mistakes.

Often times without even noticing it, you move into the next phase of advancement. You ask smarter questions. You switch from asking “What is this?” to “Why is it this way?” All actions taken are improvement-focused. You’re now mindful of more than what happens within the four walls of your work; it’s now about the industry and all the people influencing it

The last phase of developing a career you can be proud of is cultural development. Everything you do is focused on benefiting others, ensuring this thing you built keeps running years down the line, and you exercise your experience of having gone through the other two phases by making it smoother and a more joyful ride for others to take.

 

Stay Positive & Where Are You?

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Anytime you are interacting with someone, you have two options: influence or be influenced.

Too often people let themselves be influenced to be less themselves for the sake of connecting.

Better, I think, to do the influencing and raise another up.

Turns out when someone sees that you’ve set a bar, they do try to reach it.

 

Stay Positive & It’s On You To Decide Who Does The Influencing

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People, brands and ideas all die when they stand still. Never should there be a true end-point.

The moment that one shoe company breaks out from the rest, travels to the edge, and creates a completely unique shoe with never-before-used fabric… the other shoe companies follow suit.

Fame and fortune are what you get when you reach a mile ticker on the business marathon. It lasts a moment, then everyone else reaches that marker too.

If you ask me, that’s what makes life so great. It’s not about making a single impact, it’s about making hundreds over time. Same goes for business.

 

Stay Positive & Keep Moving Forward

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There’s definitely a time where it’s too late to give an answer, make a statement or to decide.

It’s rare that it’s too late to ask another question.

 

Stay Positive & Questions Are More Valuable Than Answers

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Is making things easier… for the customer.

Making it easier for someone to get into your industry.

Making it easier for someone to buy what you have.

Making it easier for someone to share what they got.

Making it easier for someone to talk about you.

Making it easier for someone to give their feedback.

 

Stay Positive & What Can You Make Easier?

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Most business owners aren’t trying to purposefully neglect their product or service. They didn’t get into business just to screw people over (aside from maybe the pyramid model, but that’s another blog post).

They also can’t be everywhere all the time. So they train their staff to listen (if they are smart). They read the POS system reports to look for anomalies. They survey customers every now and then to see how the business can improve.

Alas, nothing is more important than the customer who speaks up.

The one that asks to talk to the manager to say “This person and experience was wonderful, I really loved X and wanted you to know” or the person who reports “There has to be something wrong with Y. I’ve had it here before and it tastes nothing like it did.”

The responsibility is as much yours and mine as it is the business owner’s.

Most of the time, the best way to make something better is to suggest a way how or point out that something’s wrong in the first place.

 

Stay Positive & It’s On All Of Us

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As you’re listing your business values, the list can get quite long. To help narrow down your list to 3-5 values, consider the following:

Distinguish between your core values and things you value. You may value confidence, but it might not be what you want your business to stand for.

Consider how the values you’ve chosen will help direct your business decisions. How do the values influence the way you work with stakeholders or whether you try to upsell or who you decide to buy product from?

When you’re tight on money or when staff leaves unexpectedly or when you’re getting pressure from stakeholders, how steadfast will you be with your selected values? If you can be convinced to leave your value behind (even if it’s only once), then you might want to consider a different value.

Do you wear the values like badges of honor? Do you mention them right when you start talking to people about your business? Are the values an integral part of your brand story?

 

Stay Positive & What Are Your Core Values

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