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Seven People You Don't Want to Be
Running a business isn’t
something you can usually do by yourself. One way or another, other
people make their contributions to your enterprise. They could be
members of your team, suppliers, co-directors or even family members who
support you – and they all deserve some personal recognition from you
for what they do.
However, not every business owner combines the wisdom of Solomon with
the personal relationship skills of Dale Carnegie. Some people who are
highly successful in the financial sense manage to alienate just about
everyone around them while they’re on the way up and there’s nobody to
help them out when they eventually start to come down.
There are some classic
personality and behavior types that can alienate just about anybody.
These are seven people you don’t want to be:
The Great Dictator
Don’t share any of the decision making powers. Don’t share any of the
responsibility for running things. Keep it all to yourself and just tell
everyone else what to do. Tell them it’s your way or the highway and
when they desert you it’s only because they weren’t good enough to
measure up to your standards.
The Boss
Forget all that team nonsense. You’re the boss and the rest of the
people around you are just employees, paid to do what they do. Treat
them like interchangeable parts and if they wear out you’ll get another.
And don’t let yourself become interested in the personal side of their
lives; who cares about their families or problems anyway?
The Cynic
Everyone’s out for themselves, so why should you appreciate anything
they do for you? Be suspicious of others who give you advice or support
since they’re in it for themselves and only want to put you in their
debt. In fact, avoid other people because you’re the only person you can
trust.
The Procrastinator
There are tough decisions to be made but you can always put them off for
a while longer. Your people come to you for some assistance or extra
support when the workload gets too heavy but they can go on a bit longer
until you finally decide what to do about it. You have to choose between
two suppliers but just keep them both hanging while you think about it.
Don’t decide – delay!
The Gambler
You’d like to do something but others tell you it’s too risky. You’ve
got a brilliant idea but nobody else thinks it’s financially viable.
Never mind. Just go ahead and take the risk. Be a gambler and it might
pay off. If it doesn’t you can always cut a few jobs and stop paying
creditors for a while. Gambling is fun and you might get lucky.
The Lone Ranger
This person works in splendid isolation, ignoring the marketplace and
not worrying about the competition. Build a better mousetrap and
everyone will somehow hear about it and beat the proverbial path to your
door. Even better is to just keep on doing the same old thing year after
year and avoid change like the plague.
The Bully
Make a point out of putting everybody else down. Whenever you have the
chance to pass comment on someone else’s work make sure to slip in some
sarcasm or negativity. Make sure everyone knows that you’re the tough
guy and remember that fear is a better emotion than love when it comes
to getting what you want from others.
Of course you’re not like any of these, are you? Not all the time,
anyway. But it’s really important to analyze your behavior towards all
the other people that you interact with in the course of your business
and make sure you don’t become anything like these seven characters when
you get stressed or want to impress somebody.
If you recognize any of these traits in yourself you need to consciously
work to get rid of them - and quickly. Your relationships with those
around you will improve and so will the performance of the business
you’re running.
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