GarthBox

You can do something wrong or make a mistake and it might eat a bit at trust, but for the most part, the people worth working with will acknowledge that you’ve had a learning moment and you’ll be better because of it. Hell, it might even build trust with them.

Poor proactive communication, though, erodes trust faster than anything else.

Here are a few quick examples. They’re personal.

1. I proactively reached out to a distributor and followed up three times (the second and third time with more CC’s to increase visibility and to hopefully get things moving) to get a beer truck for a neighborhood event. After the fourth time, they finally admitted they hadn’t asked their events team and that the beer trucks were now fully booked for the night I needed them.
   
2. There was an equipment supplier that it took three emails to get a response from (this is also your friendly reminder to put an auto-out-of-office email if you are on vacation…). He cancelled our meeting the morning we were supposed to meet. We rescheduled and he not only didn’t show up – he didn’t call, text or email about missing it. I wasn’t rude in my follow up email, assuming he would be in the hospital as a valid reason for not communicating. He shrugged it off like it was normal. When I asked why I should re-trust him, he had no argument. Ouch.
   
3. Another furniture rep I worked with got six emails from me over the span of seven months asking for an update on the delivery of something I ordered. Not a single time did he proactively tell me there was any kind of delay.

I could continue to give examples, but here’s the thing: I’ve found other folks to work with. Ones that I’ve given thousands of dollars to, referrals, praise and appreciation. Some have even become relatively close friends.

So, I’m writing this for both you and me: Some people will lose your trust. There’s more, better people out there.

And if you’re someone that others are putting their trust in? Be the “better people out there” person.

Stay Positive & Put Your Energy Where You Actually Get A Return

Photo credit

Any entrepreneur needs to make the realization that no one will care about the work as much as them.

No contractor. No employee. No family member.

That’s not to say that there aren’t people who care as much as you. In fact, there are people who care more. Unfortunately for you (and in a moment you’ll realize it’s unfortunate for them, too), anyone who cares as much as you is off creating their own ruckus.

There’s a reason “10% stake in the business” isn’t an attractive selling point to recruiting people who care as much as you. Anyone that would want stake in a company is either seeking more or starting their own. Why? Because they care enough to.

Alas, we’re brought to the point that it’s not your responsibility to find people who care as much as you; it’s your responsibility to get people to care more everyday. Not in comparison to you. Not in comparison to competitors. Just in comparison to how much they cared yesterday.

It’s about them.

Once you realize this, you can focus more on being a remarkable leader instead of being pissed that others aren’t caring as much as you.

Stay Positive & Starts With Empathy

Photo credit

In an effort to polish and perfect; in handing over your work for six other people to edit; in redoing the work again and again until it’s flawless, you remove the thing that people actually look for and connect with in the work: humanity, vulnerability…. you.

Stay Positive & Don’t Lose The Best Part

Photo credit

When someone says “it’s good enough” …. and maybe it’s you saying it; it’s worth pausing to define who it’s good enough for.

Perhaps it’s good enough for you given the time restraint you had to get it done.

Perhaps it’s good enough to share in a board meeting.

Perhaps it’s good enough to at least send out.

But what about the person that’s most likely to tell others about it. Is it good enough for them?

They’re the real target, after all, right?

Stay Positive & Good, Now Enough (But For Who?)

Photo credit

To create something meaningful you need a blend of two attributes.

The first is new and shiny.

The second is what works.

At first glance, these two seem to combat each other, but consider looking at “newness” as the “what” and the “what works” as the “how.”

An elastic belt, made out of wood with a plastic bottle opener on the backside of the buckle is new.

Having it handcrafted by someone who gives a damn? That’s what works.

Turns out attributes like generosity, care, empathy – and so on – all work together to help showcase and sell something that’s new, might not work, and is unfamiliar.

Stay Positive & Even The Leap Into New (Something New) Is Inspiring (Something That Works)

Photo credit

There’s a few ways that impatience is actually a virtue.

Take, for example, being impatient with your generosity.

Being impatient about finding the actual root cause of a problem.

Being impatient about an organized and clean space, too.

Stay Positive & Impatience Can Be A Virtue If You Work It Right

Photo credit

More often than not, when someone says “I didn’t sign up for this” they really did.

They signed up for the potential risks, the ones they knew about and the ones they didn’t.

They signed up for the naysayers and pushback and status-quo-upholders.

They signed up to be trusted by others with work on their job descriptions.

Here’s the cold hard truth: we either choose to be accountable or we choose to hide.

When we choose to be accountable, it doesn’t matter what unforeseen event takes place, what the contract lists as your responsibilities or what others ask of you; the accountable person says one of two things.

I signed up for this when I took responsibility.

Or.

I didn’t sign up for this…. but I’m taking responsibility now.

Stay Positive & Lean In, You’ll Be Better Because Of It

Photo credit