Common Sense and being human…
“It’s not personal, it’s only business!”
For some reason, that phrase has always been immediate cause for me to abandon any relationship with any person using it - whether business or personal. In my mind, there is no difference. Something I’ve been challenged on in the past, but have yet to see an argument to convince me that I’m off in my beliefs.
Today, I saw two blog posts that really hit home for me as great (as in “positive”) examples of this theme and felt they were more than worth sharing.
The first is from Rafe Needleman. Rafe is an editor at CNET and someone I’ve always respected. Aside from a great list of other tips, this one really hit home with me. Tip #58 Agreed. Business is about relationships and relationships aren’t created through contracts. They are created through trust.
The second, is from Lawrence Coburn, CEO of RateItAll. I have never read Lawrence’s stuff before, but found him through Rafe. I love this post and, having had to do something very similar in my past, can relate to his well-deserved rant in, “Layoffs should not be part of your PR strategy.”
All good food for thought.