Business trends have always swung extreme-to-extreme in conduct, behaviour, and strategy (or tragedy). Human Capital is always the bottom-line for every transaction and reason for being. Losing sight of this creates all sorts of havoc in social spheres and financial spheres. Examples of short-term thinking losing sight of the long-term impact.

A quick buck is seductive, and the market has driven itself to producing a consumer that throws away and buys replacement so that our markets can sustain themselves. Don’t get me started on explaining this – it’s a sore point – as our once ability to adapt and repair has been reduced to throw away and replace, regardless of the expense. Our attitude toward material objects spills into our relationships with people.

In any sphere, as in every business, people make the machines go. We buy, we sell, we make, we serve, we support, and we create. It is in doing all these things that we also provide a basic human need to interact; to know others and to be known. Loyalty, service, value, and earnings are all directly tied to our value upon the human capital, whether serving the company, or a customer of the company.

Whatever it is you are selling, understand some basic principles.

• Relationship: Invest in your relationships on a personal level. Build a commitment to them so that they will engage in return. Don’t worry about the dollar value, worry about the relationship value. Investing wisely will yield tremendous Return$.
• Freedom: People are free to choose and you desire the same freedom of choice. Provide and offer your customers freedom. Whenever they hesitate, offer an alternative. Always focus upon filling their need first. Once they’re committed, the relationship will offer the right up-sell.
• Change: The Top Dog isn’t the Top Dog forever. There is a natural evolution with everything in life. When more choices hit the market, the consumer base may disperse a little or a lot. Always be ready for change, always enable movement and supported change. The more you empower your customers choice, the sooner they can return as you adapt and change too.
• TurnOver: Why are Dynamic websites the most successful, and the way we continue to go? People need stimulation, change, growth, and more. It might be a little more frenetic than is healthy, and it is what it is. Facilitate change, bringing new talent, creativity, and ideas to the organization. At the same time, empower departing talent with the support to transition successfully. Paths may cross at new levels again. As the Culture of Society shifts, so does the culture of the organization.
• Adapt: With life continuing, adaptability, growth, flexibility, learning, change, empowerment, etc., are all encouraged in an individual. As it is in an individual, so it is in an organization. Allow the creativity of life from all fronts be brought to bear upon the marketing efforts, etc. Sure we don’t fix what ain’t broke, but we don’t let it die a slow death either.

You’ll have noted this encompasses an attitude that fits Life, Business, human resources, customer service, etc. If there were a word to describe it, it would be FLOW, the ability to allow Life to move in and out of your grip. Trusting that Life would replenish as she does with the Seasons, and that every up and down is an opportunity for change, improvement, empowerment, and success.

Keep tweakin’!