Creating Your Own Rules

I was at the grocery store this morning.  When I went to go pay in the self pay line, there was $40 in cash sitting in the money return slot.  Should I take it?  Should I give it to the cashier just in case someone came back for the money?  For me, $40 is a lot of money.

After ten years of running companies, where my only real direct report was my customers, I have learned I like the idea of creating a culture where I want to work.  I enjoy creating a culture I can believe in.  I like knowing that I can treat customers the way I want to be treated as a customer.  It feels good to know that I can make decisions I believe in regarding how to treat my employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders.

As entrepreneurs, we have no rule book.  No one is going to tell us what to do.  Some may think this allows complete freedom for us to operate how we choose.  To a large extend, this is correct.  However, people fail to realize that the stakes are far greater for every decision we make.  Although treating an employee, or worse a customer, poorly will not get us fired, it could lead to significant legal implications or a loss of our business entirely.  As entrepreneurs we have to realize that we are the leaders of our organization.  It is not only important, it is essential that we create a culture where employees enjoy working.  Our customers must know that we will treat them fairly.

My point here is not that we must take care of everyone on our team.  It is not that we must work to make every customer happy.  More often than not we will leave situations with either party feeling a bit uncomfortable with the results.  Letting an employee go for under performing is the right thing to do.  Neither you nor the employee are benefiting from the situation.  Agreeing to discontinue working with a customer that is draining your resources is the right thing to do, even if you have to repay money on a contract to make things right.  The important thing is that we know in our gut that we made the right decision.  Even more important, it is critical that those around us understand our decision.  We must be predictable and reliable.

Once I asked my trusted counsel over many years who has worked as a partner at some of the top law firms in Atlanta how the most successful people he knows act.  He said to me, the most successful people actually never raise their voice.  He continued to say that these people know once you raise your voice you no longer have control of the situation.

If you plan to start a company or you have already taken the plunge, realize that it is now up to you to create a culture you can believe in.  Take time to assess your decisions and your behaviors.  Realize that as the leader, only you are to blame when things go poorly.  On the other hand, we as leaders must swallow our own ego and pass along praise to those below us when things go well.  Read books and seek professional guidance regarding how to be a good leader.  Some of my favorite books are:

• Energy Leadership: Transforming Your Workplace and Your Life from the Core by Bruce D. Schneider
• Decent People, Decent Company: How to Lead With Character at Work and in Life by Robert L. Turknett
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You by John C. Maxwell

My moral compass pushed me to return the forty dollars to the cashier.  There was no nagging angel sitting on my shoulder begging me to do the right thing.  It just felt like the right decision.