Share successes. The best baseball players only hit .400. You’ll
miss half the time, but how do you communicate those misses
so you don’t take it personally,
but you improve it?
Celebrate the good things
because everyone wants to feel
good when they get in the shower in the morning. Communicate
the good stuff — the ‘Did you
know?’ things. Accentuate the
good along with the negative.
Lose too many times, then they
get locked in negativity and disengaged or depressed.
If you think of ‘The Flintstones,’
Schleprock was always walking
around with the cloud over his
head, sitting in the car, and the
rock wheels fall. If it’s only the
positive, it’s the cheerleader
farm. That’s great and can help
differentiate the game, but it
ain’t going to win the game.
That moderation is important.
As I say to my wife, when we
got married, it ain’t about balancing a day, a week, a month or a
year, it’s about balancing over a
lifetime. In business, it’s no different. In creating the balance,
sometimes it’s going to be more
negative because the things that
are happening aren’t good, and
then there will be months and
quarters where things just seem
to be happening positively.
You have to ride those and
know that’s the cycle in business and life.
Build trust. Whether it’s a marriage, work or politics, it’s all
about communication — open,
honest and clear communication. Everyone says they communicate, but there’s degrees
of openness, honesty and clarity in that communication.
Every day, I have to look in
the mirror and ask myself, ‘Am
I being honest with myself, my
shareholders and employees?’
If I can’t answer that, then it
isn’t going to get any better
down below. It starts at the
top, with the leader knowing
where he’s being honest or not
and being trustworthy.
You’re not going to start out
in business or personal relationships trusting — you build
trust over time. You might
think you’re starting out open,
honest and clear. If you really
ask yourself, you don’t start
there. You start protected.
That’s human nature, and
over time, you get to know
and trust. Then those communications are more open and
honest.
HOW TO REACH: Entrust Inc., (972) 713-5800 or www.entrust.com