Years ago I remember my dad telling me that as he matured in business things became more black and white. At the time I did not understand it, but now as experience permeates my bones it's more true than ever. There is very little grey area in business. As you become more experienced things tend to get more absolute.
In business, as in life, you need to know your absolutes where you have zero flexibility or compromise.
Friend and mentor Roy Williams says that you are defined by what you are unwilling to do. An example for me, I am unwilling to be employed by anyone else. I am unwilling to get into any business debt. I am unwilling to spend too much time away from my family. I am unwilling to do a deal if it requires any form of ethical compromise.
Its critical that you create a set of absolute rules you won't ever break. Then when those moments are thrust upon you and decisions need to be made you will have exact clarity and your decision will be made for you.
Absolutes are not just a tool for clarity, they are a guiding light when you're muddled with decisions and work load. For instance one of mine is "any employee who lies to me or steals from me is instantly terminated." No second chance. If you have absolutes you are not easily dissuaded.
One friend lets his clients know up front if they fire his advertising firm he will not ever come back to them no matter what they offer. Why? Because when they start making money they tend to think they are the smart ones so they fire the agency to save money. Yet when the business starts to fail and they decide to go back to the agency to rebuild the business he says no. It makes them think twice before firing him. Its one of his absolutes.
Another acquaintance, a consultant, has a litmus test. If he awakens with his sleep disturbed by thinking about the client three times in a row he terminates them. Why? No client is worth worry and worry is usually driven by problem clients who don't listen.
Sadly, in business circles people who live by absolutes are looked upon as harsh, when in reality its not harsh to save or grow your business. If I don't live by absolutes I waffle by accepting poor performance and excuses because I like the people I work with and tend to not take action when I should. I can't tell you how many times I've told myself that I wish i had fired that person five years earlier or even six months earlier. By having high standards and absolutes about performance you will waffle less and focus more on the success of your business.
If your absolutes and your goals are your guiding principals in your business than anytime you do not follow them you are hurting your business. Yet if something is harmful to your business, getting in the way of accomplishing your goals or slowing your progress, the reality is that more people will loose their jobs when you fail. Better to be absolutely disciplined to make the right decision for the business.
If 120% performance is your absolute than it is required from your team? A great coach will pull a player out of the game if they are not being effective enough. Why won't you? If the behavior continues they trade the player. As business consultant Dan Kennedy says, A malingering problem, especially an utterly unacceptable one, surviving another day without resolution or at least determined, scheduled progress toward resolution is failure. In my mind, if you shrug at that and say “Well, we’ll get after that tomorrow”, you are a failure."
Every business team encounters people who don't carry their weight, who miss their weekly goals, who have excuses for everything. Without absolutes the manager starts to accept the problems, starts to make excuses for them, which then kills team motivation and makes the manager look like an indecicive blob. Then team members stop caring and suddenlty you have a team of slouches. These people, if allowed to continue will disrupt your progress.
If you find yourself saying someone is a "necessary evil" you are probably loosing sleep over someone who should be immediately terminated.
Of course some one will send me a note or accuse me of being someone without feelings who is too harsh. I'm willing to accept that though its not true. Harsh is letting your business fail. Harsh is letting some people carry the load for those who are not carrying their own load. Harsh is failing, going bankrupt, battling lawsuits because you were sloppy, or loosing customers because the whole team was not carrying thier weight.
There are moments and circumstances when I override my absolutes because someone needs a break. My experience is that no good deed goes unpunished and those getting the break are often those who start to slack further, and have to go away. Then I regret not abiding by absolutes.
What are your absolutes?
Who is not carrying their weight?
Who is bringing the team down?
Who is hurting you with your clients?
Who is whining and filled with excuses?
Who is failing in spite of efforts to help them not fail?
Who is lying, stealing or being unethical?
Who do you regret hiring?
What customers are more trouble than they are worth?
Who is growing their levels of incompetence?
Who is hurting your business?
Who is making you stressed or making you loose sleep?
Who is the "necessary evil"?
No evil is necessary. It all starts with absolutes.
