Recently, I was brought a strong question from my brilliant daughter (who is attending the University of Florida, and pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing). Her question was…”Do companies sometimes love themselves too much?”

Being the curious and investigative type, it led me to my favorite question, “What do you mean?”

She explained further, “The companies we run, own or work for can be very close to our hearts. We can love the company culture, the way they do business, and even what they do for society. However, our “love” can blind us from the imperfections of our company.  We may think, because we like the people we work with, that they are catching every  error that they make and we may think that our company runs “well enough” and that it is running cost efficiently enough even when it isn’t.”

 So as usual, after stopping being impressed by her comment and thought process, I was compelled to provide what I was hopeful to be a fairly intellectual thought.

 I see it this way; all Leaders of Companies have a dream or a vision. That Vision involves people. People that:

1. Will perform over and above expected deliverables.
2. Have the ability to perform their task that drive their company’s revenues or profits the most.
3. Will give 110% at their jobs, because we do.

We also build cultures where we are “incredibly passionate” about we do.  We expect the people we employ, no matter what their skill set or training, to have that passion and do more than they may be capable of to enhance our dreams. Because we hire great people, and hired them in a specific function of the business in which they are brilliant, we sometimes expect them to be “brilliant” or “experts in all areas of the business. But is that real? Is it fair? Are we “experts” in everything? As my daughter put it, we may just be “blinded” by our “love” for success. However, successful organizations realize there are needs beyond their “culture” or “people’s capability.” Let’s see where that may be applicable…

•   If a legal battle ensues over HIPPA compliance for a hospital based on the breech of electronic information from a server in IT, do we expect the CIO to legally defend our position of electronic security and integrity in court? Or do we seek “expert” legal advice and defense internal and “externally” to ensure we defend ourselves the best?
• If one of our people in HR becomes sick, although they provided the entire company employee base with a wellness program, do we expect them to “heal” themselves? Or do we expect them to seek out the “best” treatment and “expert” resource to become healthy again?
• If our earnings are high, and we need to ensure our tax liabilities are in the “best order”, do we only trust our internal resources to make final tax decisions, or do we seek out the “highest” level of “professional” tax guidance possible to “ensure” we make the best business choices to minimize our ”risks and liabilities”?
• Or even simpler, if our business has a pest infestation, do we ask any of our employees to go get the appropriate chemicals and treat the issue as needed, or do we have them call an “expert” to “remove the issue and concerns?
• Are there not many more examples where we use external resources to “guarantee” we will get the best advice, guidance, resource or service?

 I would say yes.

 As I believe would you, in recognition that no matter “how well run”, “how great our cultures are” or “that our Company runs well enough”, where we can’t better our businesses by “recognizing” our employees may need the assistance of “expert” external guidance, (just as we seek for ourselves) when it comes to making our businesses the “best they can be”.

 Let’s “love” our businesses enough to realize that it’s the right thing to do.

Limitless Technology~CRS

Delivering expert results on: telecom auditing, telecom contract management, telecom expense management, and telecom billing optimization services.

www.limitlesstechnology.com

By Todd Larsen CEO Limitless Technology~CRS Feb, 7th, 2013

When we start our day, we think about our businesses or roles in business. What time is spent on being more effective and efficient vs. getting done what we “think” might be more important? How many times do we go back and say “it feels like the whole day got away from me”.

Why do we do this?

Is it the desire to please others? Can we control the items we let control our day. Does our dream of accomplishment outweigh our desire to fulfill those tasks? 

What else contributes to not accomplishing “what is most important”?

Not enough time, not enough people, not enough knowledge? Are these “not enoughs” within our reach, just out of our reach or too far beyond our reach?

About now you are either overloaded with thought, disappointment, disbelief, denial or are thinking “why is this guy asking so many questions”? And to the last question….isn’t that what we should be doing? Asking questions? (He’s doing it again…)

Shouldn’t we be questioning our methods, actions, processes, operations, distribution, tactics, finances etc.? Should we be challenging ourselves to improve: operations, procedures, knowledge base, and financials? Shouldn’t we be challenging the status quo, the mundane, the same, the “we’ve always done it that way?

I believe so. Problem is, we put that responsibility on our own shoulders all too often vs. utilizing the resources that surround us and actually are available to us! We cripple ourselves by thinking, “we, he or she should be able to do that or handle that.” We sometimes even kid ourselves, believing that we actually have the depth or skills to tackle that situation or define a solution for one in which we have little or no experience. In fact, we sometimes expect too much when we believe we or our internal staff has the ability to “know it all.” We forget there are others, (or don’t want to believe there are others) which can help us succeed quicker, faster…even better. 

Best part is we can change. We can seek: assistance, guidance, help, support, reason, and knowledge to help improve our businesses. Best of all, by using these resources we can prioritize and accomplish what we do best to ensure we are driving, building and growing the Companies we are part of more efficiently, effectively, productively and profitably.

Bottom line…All we need to do is ask for, or seek some expert help.

Limitless Technology~CRS

Delivering expert results on: telecom auditing, telecom contract management, telecom expense management, and telecom billing optimization services.

www.limitlesstechnology.com