16 July 2001

• "No one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

• The Lexus and the Olive Tree Author: Thomas Friedman. Publisher: Harper Collins. While half the world is intent on building a better car, the other half is locked in primordial struggle over who owns which olive tree on which strip of land. A great read which examines the interaction between globalisation and the ancient forces of culture, geography and tradition.

• www.firestar.com.au Peter Drucker once said that there are only two things in business, ‘innovation and marketing’. This site is both. For only $14.95 per month, you not only get the best price Internet Service Provider (ISP) around (the nearest in cost that I know of is $24.95 per month) but you also get to own a share in the business simply by being a customer. The service includes unlimited time and downloads. It’s sure to be a winner.

One of my clients who shall remain nameless for tax reasons, randomly, yet regularly takes two or three hundred dollars out of the ‘till’, gets it changed into ten dollar bills, and then personally distributes it to all members of staff saying that today lunch is on him.

On other occasions, he spontaneously includes movie tickets in pay packets. This gesture creates a ‘double win’ as mum or dad in turn becomes the hero as they arrive home and announce to the kids that "we’re going to the movies."

When members of staff have gone well beyond the call of duty, they might receive a restaurant voucher. Not because of some predetermined arrangement of ‘if you do this, then I’ll do that’, but simply because he understands, at a ‘cellular’ level, that his people truly are his most important asset. And that spontaneous gestures such as these go along way to demonstrating just how much he cares for them as fellow human beings and how much he appreciates their contribution to the company’s success.

Another client, regularly, but at irregular intervals, leaves a chocolate or something similar on her staff’s desks. From time to time, she adds a hand written note that simply says "thank you".

If, in reading this, you hear yourself saying, "but what about the cost", that is exactly the mean spirited message that your staff hear from you everyday. Words from the song in the movie Notting Hill say it far better than I ever could, "You say it best when you say nothing at all". The translation is that you don’t have to say anything because your actions speak louder than words.

My client in the above examples is also not stupid. He knows that from a purely commercial sense, his small investment reaps a return many times over in terms of the increased contribution his people make to the organisation. But the key here, is that is not the reason he does it. He does it because he cares very deeply about his people.

As an aside, how often do you here business owners and managers say, "you can’t get good staff any more". My answer to these people is, "go look in the mirror and you will discover the reason why staring back at you". Great people are every where. Where are they? They are inside every person on planet earth, but you won’t find them if you are not prepared to look for them.

Expect people to be great, treat people as being great, and their level of greatness will exceed you wildest dreams.

Until next week, many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey APS

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