The "Shield", The Three C's Of Good Business.

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I once served on a Small Business Administration (SBA), http://www.sba.gov/, committee.  The SBA in our region was facilitated through a local community college.  This committee was arranged by the local community college.  The committee was comprised of a few appointed 'local' business owners arranged together to serve one purpose.  The purpose was simple, spend some time with the people who had approached the local SBA about wanting to start a new business.  The prime responsibility of the committee was to help encourage these new business owners and share with them the things they may or may not expect to see when they begin work on their start-up business.

Looking back on the experience I recall one telling pattern I had noticed.  The attitude of the individuals was going to be the determining factor for whether they were going to make it in their start-up or not.  I remember some of the folks I met and the ones with the best attitudes seemed likely to appear as having the best chance to succeed.  I have moved away from that environment long enough now that I do not believe I could re-visit those start-up folks and be able to see who made it or not.

However, we have heard the phrase that "attitude is everything."  It is.  The attitude of the business leader will likely drive the business to its success.  The business success will need good math leaders, it will need good decision-makers and it will also need a leader with good people skills.  So many important skills and attributes will be needed to help contribute to the overall success the business will experience.  Everyone of those needed skills and attributes will operate under one umbrella of respect.  I call this umbrella the "Shield" which becomes the protection provided by the three C's.

If attitude is vital, what key components govern the attitude?  Owners have attitude.  Attitude can help an owner sink or swim.  What governs the owners attitude?

I suggest to business owners and their leaders a group of three important attributes they should add to their "must do" characteristics.  I call them the three C's.  These three "C's" become the "shield" which protects all other business components that help to contribute to the improved chance for success.  The first "C", condemn.  They must at all cost refrain from any form of condemnation.  Condemning people, things and procedures is a form of death to the healthy needs of a thriving business model.  Every business model I know has struggled when the environment is riddled with acts of condemnation.  It is truly a quiet poison working its way through the business model with silent precision.  The owner cannot see what precise levels of destruction are taking place when the works of condemnation flow unchecked inside the organization.  Nothing positive can come out of the condemnation faucet.  Shut it off, and immediately.

The second "C", complain.  Complaining, complaining, complaining.  Murmur yourself to death, and your business will follow.  Every business model will be faced with mountains of complaints to manage.  If you have no complaints, your business is not very large, yet.  Complaints eventually will become part of your management lifestyle.  Complaints will be part of your daily scenery.  The landscape of your business will be littered with complaints of all types.  The trick to this particular "C" is to make sure you do not complain, not even once!  If you are a complainer of sorts, stop it.  If you complain, your leadership is shooting itself in the foot.  I have been in terrible business environments when the level of complaining was so high I could not see anything positive.  How does a business model ever expect to succeed in that type of environment?  It cannot and it will not.  If the leader is promoting this attribute by becoming the lead complainer, that business has absolutely no chance for a healthy survival.  None.  Throw in the towel, or quit complaining.

The third and last "C", criticize.  Criticism is another silent killer.  I get very amused at how leaders have come to believe that "constructive" criticism is useful.  Hog wash!  It is destructive in any form.  Quit justifying why you need to criticize to get your points through.  You are only allowing your mind to become lazier than it should be.  Think harder about how to deliver more effective and constructive encouragement.  Just because thinking this way is more difficult to do does not excuse a business leader when they fail to complete these higher requirements.  Great leaders are not allowed these types of short cuts in their development efforts to success.  Give it up, great leaders do not criticize...ever.

As a great business owner you have the ability to expose the dreams of how you pictured your business to succeed.  In doing so you can build your own umbrella of protection to those efforts.  You have the right, the ability and the desire to make a well-managed umbrella of business protection.  You may want to include the three "C's" as part of the attributes you use as you construct your umbrella's design.  Your attitude will be so thankful for the steps you take in honoring the three "C's" philosophy.  Your business model will move along so much better.  It is very hard work to learn how to properly manage our attitudes.  Many times we will fail.  Failure, however, is no excuse for not trying.  Sometimes it takes a ton of persistence to truly "get it" as we work on new character improvements.  Getting the three "C's" right will go a long way in protecting your business from rotten pockets of destructive patterns.  Your business deserves to be protected.

When you work a long time on making the three "C's" work for you, your wisdom as a great leader will begin to take over.  Your business will not see what you have accomplished, but your customers will feel it!

Until next time...