Success - What’s Love Got To Do With It?
March 17th, 2008 | Michael Q. Pink
One of our most responded to blog entries was when I recently mentioned (Feb 12th) the need for soft skills. I am proud to say I began with a discussion on humility. (o-; Today I want to introduce a soft skill Paul calls the greatest of all. It’s an awkward one to bring up in a business environment but it has the most transformational power.
I am talking of course about “love.” Talking about it is far less important than actually demonstrating it and there are countless ways we can do that. For example, love lays down its life for another. That’s what service is… laying down your life for the benefit of another. If you do this particularly well in business, you will generate high customer satisfaction and an incredible reputation.
As an example, my friend Wes Cantrell, the former CEO of Harris 3M and Lanier Worldwide told me when he became the CEO of Harris 3M he was in the position of actually chartering the purpose and vision for that company. That’s when they decided to build their purpose and business around the Scripture that says, “A good name is rather to be chosen than riches….” They focused on customer satisfaction and as a byproduct of that quality decision had tremendous growth and tremendous profits. He assumed the reins of a $93 million company and retired leaving behind a $1.5 billion company built on loving your customers.
P.S. By the way, if you’d like to hear more from Wes Cantrell, ChristianBusinessDaily.com is holding a teleseminar featuring him this week called “Insider Information - A Retrospective.” It gets underway on Thursday at 1PM Eastern, and is a fascinating look into the world of a major CEO who integrated his faith into the world of publicly-traded companies. Learn more about this event here.
Digg This Share This
March 19th, 2008 at 6:25 am
Michael,
As a mom of 7 and a grandmother of 4 I have seen how love has broken through when other things were empty. The Love factor has to be the foundation. Not just a side commodity to pull out when other things are not working out. When that gets distorted then we start pulling from the systems that are around us. First we have got to KNOW how much the Father loves us. We can’t know this without a revelation from Him. Our human love is not enough to love God with …. so we ask for a love that is without measure to touch our hearts. That kind of love breaks through the toughest of situations we find ourselves in. No matter what it is, letting His love first soak into our hearts, letting Him love us, feeling enjoyed by Him having that received and given…then loving others. His Love is unfathomable, unmeasurable, other than, more than . . . first to us, then in us and finally through us. . . to the ends of the earth.
let the River flow,
Darla \o/
April 9th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
There is no greater love than the love of the Father but excellent customer care is the greatest love in business that you can offer. Customer satisfaction brings loyalty to your company and customer loyalty means success.