If I were to ask a simple question, "How do you describe a good business?" Most of us could quickly list a few key words that cause us to return to that business a second time. The first word that might come to mind is INTEGRITY. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Integrity as "the quality of being honest and fair"; "the state of being whole, complete"; firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility". Other words and phrases may follow, but most would be branches growing from the same root of that core principal, Integrity.
Unfortunately, in business, and even more regrettably, in both professional and personal relationships, those shining qualities that used to be just a part of our cultural DNA have been eroded. Eroded to the point that when we do find businesses and relationships that offer even a tiny glimpse of the honor and respect we each SHOULD expect in our relationships, we find it so hard to accept that we think something must be wrong!
Generally, we first visit a business or an online site because we are looking for a specific product. In the case of DuVall Enterprises, companies and candidates come to our site either seeking someone to fill a specific position or someone visits looking for a job or a career change.
Now, after that initial visit and subsequent decision to "try out" a product or service offered, then what? What keeps customers coming back to our/your company or business?
We might ask the questions, "How did the people I talked to and work with make me feel? Did I feel like I was important to that business? Were the people I came in contact with respectful to my needs, wants and/or concerns? Did the company fulfill their promises to me in a responsible, timely and genuine way?
Overall, that's what we call customer service and in times past, not only was that almost always the case in any established business, but was almost a "luxury" that was EXPECTED, and, sadly, taken for granted. Not so today.
What happened, do you think, that leaves us dissatisfied or settling for products and service that are many times, at best sub-par and at worst, horrendous? In a word, LEADERSHIP. Somehow we've exchanged "five stars", "likes", and the appearance of "transparency" and "integrity" for the real deal. We've decided if we have an audience, we'll try to "look good" for the camera and a "selfie" but, behind the scenes and when nobody's looking, a lot of us, frankly, just don't "give a damn", whether we're acting in good faith and being true to our word at all - that is, as long as we don't get caught... Why did we let this happen? Who's at fault? ME. YOU. US.
We've failed to pass on the basic principals and promise stemming directly from our forefathers belief in God and the fundamental tenants of Christianity our Fathers, Mothers, Grandfathers and Grandmothers, THE GREATEST GENERATION inherently knew made things all right. Hundreds of years ago, William Shakespeare penned the notion in his play Hamlet, "“This above all: to thine own self be true and it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man" (Act 1, Scene 3, Hamlet). We've allowed ourselves, first of all, to betray our own person. As Shakespeare's character, Polonius, said, basically, if YOU can't trust YOU, to be right and true to yourself, how can you trust anyone else or, conversely, anyone else trust you?
We've exchanged disrespectful, anonymous "tweets" and soundbites made from people hiding behind their computer screens, for true moral character. We've exchanged hard work, consistent service and quality products for shortcuts, apps, fast money, ego-stroking words, and supposed immediate results leaving most of us shocked and bewildered at the disrespect and hostile behavior of our youth.
Now, that's the bad news side of this post. The good news side of this post is this: if the past few years hasn't taught us anything else, it's taught us that most of us DON'T WANT this cruel, tottering-on-the-brink-of-collapse world we're living in. The more the television commercials and trendy statements talk of a "kinder, more inclusive" world, we've seen the same people crying for these worthy and beautiful things are the same people that usher in division, decay and the rot of our moral fiber.
NOPE. WE DON'T WANT clichés and glib phrases. WE WANT REAL - and, as sure as "be true to thine own self" rang true hundreds of years ago, it's ringing true again today. Big and small businesses have had to evaluate their behavior and business models to survive in the marketplace today. Parents are evaluating what's being taught to their children, and, more importantly, what they're teaching and modeling to their children. Families and relationships are being reconnected and strengthened because we've been forced to see what the world looks like when they're not. We're beginning to hold our elected officials responsible for their failure to behave morally and ethically, setting a low standard for the rest of us.
You want your business and personal life to thrive? Seek God, seek to live in Integrity and, as Horton, the elephant, a wonderful character from the Dr. Seuss book " Horton Hatches the Egg" said, “I meant what I said and I said what I meant…an elephant’s faithful 100 percent!”
And that's the Rebel way for today!
by CAT MacPhee