We vs Me
Recently I heard a business owner post something along the lines of “I don’t care about the we it’s all about me when it comes to getting paid.” My thoughts are – that’s not a good attitude to have.
It’s ALWAYS about the WE. Even if you’re a solopreneur, it’s STILL about the WE. No one is working on an island unto himself or herself. You have “we’s” in the external guests that you work with. External and Internal guests come from my Carnival Cruise Lines hospitality training. External guests are the guests at your event, parents, fellow event pros, etc. Internal guests would be your clients, sometimes an event planner or parents if they are heavily involved in planning. The Me First and the Gimme Gimme attitude has got to stop.
Without your team, you are nothing. You must treat them right, and you must know how to care about them. Frankly, it’s NOT just about money. It’s about giving your team experiences. Recently we participated and helped coordinate a surprise 30th birthday party for one of our team. We not only helped to pull it off but we surprised her with a hotel stay the night of a concert she has wanted to attend for some time. Another team member lives over an hour away. I drove to meet up with him not because I had to because I wanted to.
The purpose was to be sure he is cool with an event and to let him know I care about him.
When one focuses just on me, it’s a selfish thought process through and through. They tend to only think about the money side of things. Sure, you may end up with a lot of money at the end of your life, but what else will you have to show for it? You may have built an empire business and that’s great but if you die alone and weren’t able to share that success with your closest family and friends, what good did you do?
Many people think that the customer is the most important person. Would you agree? Jeffrey Gitomer is fond of saying “If you and your customer were both on a deserted island and one of you have to drop dead, who do you want it to be?” Of course, you say the customer. Well, that disproves that theory. Now we’ve determined the most important person is you.
Here’s the truth: Without you or your customer, you don’t have a business.
Business is a two-way street. It’s the same personally. Focus exclusively on the me and that means you’re pretty much alone and you’re not going to go far. You may have all the might in the world but it’s not going to replace what’s in your heart. You can’t accomplish much as a person without some sort of strong support system in place. Bottom line: it’s ALWAYS about the WE.