Over the last 17 years I’ve never met a CEO, Vice President or Senior Director who did not care about people.

When I see their presentations they always say that Growth, Profit, Clients and their People (almost always in that order) are the most important priorities for the company.

But then when they go back to work I see them do different things than what they talked about before. In other words, their action do not always reflect their promises.

What I do see is that clients and own people are almost always sacrificed in order to attain profit and growth.

And it’s such a pity.

Why?

Because I also see companies that take super care of their people. They take care of the well being of their own people. They train their people. Not only in the contents of their jobs, but also in mindset. They deeply understand that people who feel well, function well. And people who feel well will treat your customers better than anybody else will.

And excellent example of this are the Four Seasons hotels all over the world. They are highly profitable and successful in a very competitive market and I stay with them whenever I can. FS told me that they train their people for more than 4 weeks per year and that, in order to work there, you have to go through 4 rounds of interviews on 1 day. Only if all the 4 people are happy, they will hire you.

When I asked them what the number 1 thing is they look for in people they answered “warmth of character”. Number two was willingness to learn and be open by the way.

The ultimate point (the “secret”) I’m trying to make here is simple common sense, but seldom applied well.

It’s this:

When your people feel well they will automatically provide excellent service to your customers. When your customers are treated well, profit and growth will be an automatic result. 

Now that it’s no longer a “secret” you can go apply it to all the layers in your business. Where will you start?

Do this and you will soar.

With Warmth,

Rich