As parents or guides we have to ensure, that our children go into business or start on the path to leadership, we imbue them with the right goals and attitudes. As a result, we set the example. If we run in business circles, all those board meetings and micromanaging people can, over time, turn us into something a bit inhuman. As the expression goes, it’s not personal, just business. But taking this home with you and letting it color aspects of your life is not on the agenda. How can you learn to be a good business person but also a good person?
Consistency Across The Board
Treating people the same is a lot harder than it sounds. However, this is the underlying component of an effective business person and person. If you find yourself treating people in different ways, either because you perceive them to be less intelligent, or there’s something about them that you don’t quite click with, these perceptions are going to increase over time. It’s not easy, but you need to stop it now. Treating people exactly the same in business and life won’t just make life easier for you, it’s a way of communicating honestly across the board. After all, it’s more exhausting to be untrue and harbor secrets. By treating everybody in the boardroom and in life the same, it’s consistency in the best way.
Learn How To Care
We can spot people from a mile off when they are talking to you when they’re paying lip service and have no interest in what you are saying. Those people that are truly interested in what we have to say we hold in more regard. This is a trick that many presidents have utilized, either because they’ve learned it or it’s just a part of who they are. Whether they are speaking to the Sultan of Brunei or Santa Claus of the North Pole they have the same amount of focus and attention on what the other person is saying. Try this exercise: every time you notice yourself mentally drifting off when someone is speaking to you, refocus and recenter. You realize over time just how much you’ve been ignoring people, and how much you haven’t cared about what they’re saying.
Practice!
It’s difficult to be authentic when you haven’t been before, and it’s an aspect of personal growth that we have to invest in. Learning how to calm ourselves down in life, so we can focus better and stop that inane chatter in our heads can teach us how to be in the present moment. This will turn us into someone who is more naturally caring and a person who treats everyone the same. Being a good business person is all about harnessing relationships. Yes, there are deals to be done and politics on occasion, but surely we can learn from the best leaders, past, and present, and see what made them a good business person as well as a good person. They say if you want to be a good business person, you’ve got to be a good person first. So let’s start right now and be a better one.