 |
| Dotty Coleman & Dawn Coleman Gannon |
As a child, I listened to what my mother said – sometimes.
However, as I have gotten older, I often find myself hearing her speaking
inside my head when faced with specific circumstances in
business and in life.
So, in honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, I’ll share the few words of
wisdom from Mom that seem to come to mind most often for me, and apply them to
business.
Honesty is Always the Best Policy – Even When It Hurts.
In business, honesty is always the best policy. But how far does
honesty need to go when dealing with competitors and others whose focus is not
the growth of your business? How much truth do you tell? Is not telling
everything you know about a specific topic, project or program honest or even ethical?
I agree that honesty and transparency is always the best policy, but I also
realize that some people just don’t need to know some things.
Building and
maintaining a reputation for honesty and integrity is fairly simple – you tell
the truth, regardless of whether or not the person to whom you are speaking
wants to hear it.
However, once you cross the line of honesty and move into the
gray area of half-truths or outright fabrications, regaining that reputation
for honesty and integrity will cost you more in terms of time and resources
than you can imagine.
I, for one, prefer to conduct business with businesses and
organizations with reputations of high integrity.
Think Before You Speak.
Anyone who knows me well will tell you that this is one of the hardest
things for me to do.
Many times I hear someone talking, or am reading an email, while at the same time inside
my head I am preparing my response so I will be ready to jump out with my words
of wisdom when they take a breath. In essence, I am preparing my response based
on what I THINK they are saying, when in reality, I am not really LISTENING to
what they are saying.
Growing up, my father always said that my brain was 5 steps ahead of my
mouth. In support of my mother’s “think before you speak” advice, he was
suggesting that I slow down and allow the mouth to catch up to the brain by
truly listening to what the other person is actually saying before responding.
As a business owner, I have come to truly understand the value of this
advice. After all, how can I provide a service if I don’t fully understand the
service my client is seeking?
One good way to do this is to take notes while
listening and then responding by relaying back what you just heard.
For instance, you could say, “This is great! Thank you for asking.
Before I respond, let me just ensure that we are on the same page. I heard you
say that you need X, Y, & Z and …” This gives you an opportunity to clarify
(or catch) information that you may not have heard correctly before moving
forward.
Opinions Are Like Belly Buttons – Everyone Has One.
We've all heard this, or used other words in place of belly button. The
idea is the same, however. In making business decisions, it is vitally important
to consider the issue from as many perspectives as possible – especially those
that differ from yours.
I don’t know about you, but every time I make a decision based solely on my
perspective, it turns out that I missed something important, and then I have to
spend additional time and resources changing course.
In short, don’t make
decisions without examining all the facts and perspectives.
Giving Back is One of the Most Important Things You Can Do.
 |
My Grandmother Levitt,
Dotty Levitt Coleman (my mom),
Me, & Grandma Coleman
at my FCAHS graduation. |
When I was in high school at FCAHS in Brooklyn, MS, my mother was a member of the South Central
Bell Pioneers Clown Troop. She and her co-workers spent considerable time
getting into costume/make up and then driving in a chartreuse-colored Aston
Martin to an event for the Special Olympics or another community-focused group.
A few times she picked my sisters and I up from school dressed and
driving this car … really.
While you are calming down from busting out laughing at the mental
picture the last sentence provided, the important lesson I learned was that
giving back to the community and to others makes a huge difference to those to
whom you are giving. It also gives you a sense of pride and self-satisfaction.
What does this have to do with business you ask? Corporate social responsibility
(CSR) is a term that has grown in prominence and practice in business over the
last decade. What does CSR mean for you?
That’s easy – pick an organization or
organizations that align with your business mission and goal, and support it
(them) with time, resources and financial contributions.
Not only will the organization(s) benefit, but so will you and your
reputation within the community. It’s a win-win for everyone!
As all mothers do, my mother had many other things to say, but for the
moment, I think I’ll stop here and wish all you moms a happy Mother's Day.
To those who are still struggling with infertility on your journey to motherhood, I wish you the peace of knowing you are not on this journey alone, and the knowledge that there are many who have been where you are, and are willing to help you (resolve.org & theafa.org).
In closing, please feel free to comment and/or share your own “Mom Always Said…” wisdom.
Before founding her own
consulting firm, Dawn Gannon served as a respected project management and
administrative operations professional in the military, higher education, and
healthcare fields for 25 years. As a Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt, Dawn’s
commitment and personal mission to improve the lives of others through service
to the community focuses on providing administrative and volunteer management, consumer
education, public outreach, event planning, relationship-building efforts, and
strategic planning. She is the author of the Management in Motion blog, and has written a number of articles
for RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association on the topic of childfree
living.
It's the age-old question of "wouldn't it be great to be 20 or 30 again," if you could do so with the wisdom, knowledge, and perspective that you have now at 40 or 50.
