When People Win

I’m not so keen on people who win all the time and I’m not so awfully fond of people who win because they are meaner and more ruthless than everyone else. To me that isn’t winning. It’s just hurting society and I’m a big believer in community.

What I like is seeing people who have to work really hard to make it, look after the people around them and make sure they take those that have helped along for the journey.

In the dreadful world of corporate-speak, we might refer to these people as “stakeholders” but scratch the surface in many businesses and you’ll find a few of what I would call eye fillet steakholders, maybe a schnitzelholder or three and a long tail of minceholders.

If you run or own a business, think about the concentric circles of people around you that make your business work every day. If I may be so bold, at the pointy end might be a Board of Directors, who either have laser focused insights, advice and value to add, or they may have nothing to add but don’t get in the way, or they might be oxygen thieves who clutter up your limited time with irrelevant requirements.

Next might be the shareholders. Sometimes, the shareholders are the backbone of a business. They are deeply committed to the cause and work tirelessly to make it work. If that’s the case, gold. Unfortunately that is not always the case. On occasions things change over time and people you shared a vision with drift off in a different direction and can become a real drag on progress.

Next is you. You are the heart and soul of the business and without you, it would surely fail. If that’s the case, Houston, we have a problem, There is a conversation to be had here about the difference between leadership and management, but that’s for a different time.

After you comes whatever form the management team takes. These people might have become management because they have been there a long time, have been brought in to be “the new answer to everything” or have gained their position by sheer merit. Whichever one they are is pretty important.

Next is the staff, or as we now say - the team members. By the way, these are the minceholders generally. After them are the suppliers and they can be anywhere from eye fillet to minceholders depending on how they are doing with you.

I guess the point in all this is to say, at the risk of seeming fatuous, that the whole concept of having stakeholders is to illustrate the concept of business being something more than its parts. Whether you are more comfortable with the concept of a family or a living organism, the fact remains that for a business to truly fly, it needs to have all the bits working together, feeling valued, giving value and all signed up to a common vision.

Let’s talk about vision later, but for the purposes of this, think of it as being everyone understanding that their own success is dependent on the success of everyone else. That’s how families work and it’s also how organisms work. In a body, when a bit starts working against the whole, it’s usually described as cancer. Not ideal.

The whole philosophy of Regeneration HQ is that business is exactly the same as the rest of life. Be kind and generous and human with everyone. It doesn’t matter where they sit on some invented hierarchy. My thirteen year old daughter isn’t lower in the pecking order than me. She has wisdom that I embarrassingly don’t and occasionally she will concede that I have something to offer too. Mum too.

My experience of what makes businesses hum is when I feel the warm hum of understanding, shared goals, genuine care and consideration between all the people who get up and make it possible. Trust, understanding, generosity and compassion.

That’s why I’ve started this business. I believe that when a business focuses on what we refer to as the 4 pillars of success - Planning, People, Product & Profit, a state of harmony can exist where everyone lives well, feels appreciated and fulfilled and progress is made. It’s the world I want to inhabit and if we can help you achieve this, then I’m content because I like it when people win.