I was recently reminded that there are still good people out there in the business world and those are the people that give us all the lift to continue to move forward confidently, when the snow storm of demands gets so thick that even heavy duty boots can’t help you wade through.
A few weeks ago, I caught up with two wonderful businesswomen who I admire for different reasons, who both gave of themselves generously with wonderful advice. I have always been a big believer in being ethical and loyal in business and supporting others, as together we are stronger than we are on our own. These qualities are hard to find in the fast pace, cut throat nature of business and when you come across others with shared philosophies it is amazing.
I founded Red Public Relations when I was 23 and looked for mentors to guide me on my journey in building the Red empire. My only real mentors have been my Dad and husband. Other than that, I’ve often been let down by people in my industry – probably because they saw Red PR as too much of a threat to give me advice.
I’ve had to learn the hard way, take the knocks and trust my gut… and that gut has served me well (a little too well as I am heavier now than I was when we opened 6 years ago).
I certainly don’t want to come across as Jerry McGuire with a “mission statement” or a “memo”, but good old fashioned values shouldn’t be dead in business. We should help each other. We should offer support to those who share our way of thinking. We should give advice if we could save a business associate the trouble of going down a rocky path. We should treat the people we do business with, be it customers or suppliers etc as people we respect, but so few people do.
I’m not saying go and give your biggest competitor the heads up on a pitch opportunity, but I am putting the good vibes out there and I challenge you to do the same. You never know what a difference you may make to someone else’s day and what new path that may set them on.
And finally, a small note of thanks to Tina and Helen.
