Interpersonal Business

Each member of your staff must carry their own weight within your organization. Long-term employees have advantages in that they understand the history of your company and have valuable relationships that contribute to the whole. They can also feel “entitled” to their position solely on the basis of longevity. Managers have the responsibility to maintain the best person for the job or they become part of the problem. All members must bring merit to their profession as well as to the company – no one member is more important than the organization as a whole.

With the advances in technology, it’s more important than ever to find balance; we can have too much of a good thing. Capacity is now the issue, as well as keeping an eye on quality over quantity. Representing too many factories dilutes your ability to maintain quality relationships with not only your staff, but also with the factories, that will survive in tougher times.

Using a friend’s loss-of-job experience – he was a casualty of management’s jealousy over his success while the corporation as a whole was failing – the feelings, anxieties, and path to a successful and fulfilling resolution are discussed in three phases. Phase one’s most devastating emotion is “finding blame,” because it wastes creative potential in finding a solution to the problem. Phase two involves getting past thinking of our employment as how we are defined by society, then having confidence in “our own advice.” Phase three comes in accepting reality, then rebuilding by charting the future and sticking to the game plan.

We must rely on others to “scratch our back.” Effective relationships must include give and take to benefit both parties. Beware of the “takers.” Create a core group of strategic alliances with whom you can pool resources to enhance everyone’s success. It’s time to put egos aside and use collective resources and collaborative effort.