Comments

In the first paragraph, Tom, you said "we're a community." As you may know, the late Pope John Paul II taught a whole bunch about authentic community, because that's what the Church is supposed to be (patterned after the Blessed Trinity itself). So here's a JPII thumbnail definition of authentic community: True community exists when two or more persons come together and engage in mutual self-giving.

Thus, the more open (and vulnerable) we are, the deeper is our 'communio'. You're on the right track!

Posted by Walter Babetski at August 25, 2005 9:19 AM

Tom - I couldn't agree with you more. If there is one breakthrough I believe we must make, it is to understand that business (and life) is all about people.

Anything that works well is personal. Whether we are talking about creating or maintaining a competitive advantage, building something that lasts, or trying to develop a sense of meaning for us and our employees that goes beyond a $$ figure - we must be real, be personal, and help those around us achieve their greatness. I suspect that this was a key ingredient of your mothers well lived 95 years.

Posted by Kevin at August 25, 2005 9:52 AM

Years ago while taking an interest in what people had done in life and particularly in business, one man's name kept coming up - Andre Meyer, the international financier - a capitalist if ever there was one and by all accounts a very finicky and difficult person. Yet all the businesspeople I read who spoke about him did so with respect and admiration, regarding him as one of the greatest business minds of his time. So I went hunting in the New York Public Library for something interesting he'd said, expecting to find a dry financial personality harboring a Scrooge-like understanding. Here's what the great financier said:

"Business is all about people. It has nothing to do with numbers."

Posted by Noel Guinane at August 25, 2005 1:31 PM

Mr. Peters and everyone… life, business, everything truly is about people, relationships, sincerity, and love. And mostly about our capacity to give rather than to receive. Of course most of us here are preaching to the choir. So, do we model the way for others? It has been said that “people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care". As Mark Twain said; “Great people are those who can make others feel that they, too, can become great.” As you said once Mr. Peters; “We learned 25 years ago to let the business run itself…commitment not authority produces results.” Most of us avoid asking someone who seems sad; “are you okay?” We do not have time for the answer or we are afraid that they will answer “no” and then we will have to listen to why. Actually, all that person may need is for us to listen. Kouzes and Posner in their book “The Leadership Challenge” on page 304 talk about “The Secret of Success Is Love” and quote then U.S. Army Major General John H. Stanford. It is the choices we make each moment to help, love, inspire or to receive these things and more that matter most in our lives. If we could all think and believe that each person we share a moment with just might say one thing that would profoundly change our life, we just might really listen to them. Ask yourself when you are talking or posting to this blog; do you not want to be heard?

Yes Mr. Peters choosing to have grace, to be vulnerable, to engage yourself in this one precious life is just that, a choice. A choice that is made with every moment in our lives.

Posted by Randy Reynolds at August 25, 2005 5:41 PM

I'll always remember a good approach I first heard from folk singer Kate Wolf: "That which is most personal is most universal."

Our prayers and best wishes for you and yours for your Mom's celebration

Posted by Rick Terrien at August 25, 2005 6:40 PM

Tom - how true this is. It's all about the personal stuff - the community - those with whom we spend our time. Living 12 hour days at an office with others I enjoy makes my business personal – being a professional is personal. This is the essence of Brand You, and what you have described for years.

Your blog also reminded me of Kevin Roberts’ book, Lovemarks. As he states, “Lovemarks reach your heart as well as your mind, creating an intimate, emotional connection that you just can’t live without. Ever. Lovemarks are a relationship, not a mere transaction."

Great business relationships are about love and learning. In a world suffering from information overload, the most powerful attention-grabbers are the things we cherish, love or want to love. It is very personal.

All of us are here in the office tonight and thinking about you, our lovemark.

Posted by Juli Ann Reynolds at August 25, 2005 7:02 PM

When we share those things that are personal, that expose our most inner weaknesses, and fears and sorrows, when we show our naked vulnerability, we become most human. And when others reach out to say I understand and feel for you, it is because we are one people, a community the is made stronger by sharing our humanity.

May the love and understanding of this community, your family and colleagues, strenghten and comfort you in this time of sorrow.

God Bless.

Posted by Terry K at August 25, 2005 8:19 PM

Yes, yes, yes. Of course it is all about people. We all know it, but for some reason, most of us do not act that way.

I like your lines "enterprises, even while competing vigorously, can be Places of Grace. Energetic? You bet. Hustling? You bet. And also places of "Great Character & Integrity & Caring"

Somehow we seem stuck in structures where we stay where we are, and "compete each other" to death, even when our enterprises are not places of Great Character & Integrity & Caring".

Keep preaching People Tom!

Posted by Klas K. at August 26, 2005 8:26 AM

Tom, your comments are right on the money. I have never heard the Boyd Clarke quote, "I have always believed that the purpose of the corporation is to be a blessing to its employees", and I don't think I have ever heard anything that rings so true.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of us are stuck in corporations where this concept is anathema. In most of corporate America, and many small businesses, too, the corporation thinks that the employees are a blessing to it.

It is up to us, the true believers in a better working environment for all, to continue to either work to improve the little corner of the world that we manage, or start our own enterprises where we can control the environment and culture to ensure that it is a blessing.

Posted by Jodie Susi at August 26, 2005 12:25 PM

Couldn't agree more! You're speaking my language yet again! It's more than being ethical about exchanging products or services with people, it's about being humanistic in your dealings with people...people above you, beside you, below you (speaking hierarchally of course), and people across the counter from you.

Please read my latest blog entry to understand the consequences of business behaviour that is not person-centered!

http://hrsuccess.blogspot.com/

Posted by Tom O'Leary at August 27, 2005 8:12 AM

I learnt some of my best lessons in business from my first boss - a man called Murli Lohia in India, when I worked for Emerson Electric.

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He once told us that we in the company - a startup division of Emerson - were a family. At the time I thought it was BS (I was 21, cut me some slack!! :-) ).

Now I realise that that lesson - treating employees like members of an extended family is probably the most sublime truth and requirement of any organisation that wants to achieve success..

Posted by Arun Sadhashivan at August 27, 2005 10:47 AM

Brilliant Tom - Love it!

Let's have more 'personal stuff' - don't you think it beats writing all those boring reports that no one reads anyway?

Life is pretty personal methinks!

We do not become 'someone else' when we cross the threshold of the office on Monday morning at 9 am - believe it or not we are still the same person who was playing with the kids and generally being silly, immature and creative over the weekend!!

More power to the personal stuff :-)

Posted by Trevor at August 27, 2005 6:41 PM

That words are unvaluable: are dignity and worthyness talking in first person.

Posted by Omara at August 27, 2005 7:55 PM

I find your comments ("its the people stupid") refreshing and inspiring. But I must play devils advocate a bit... I think the VAST majority of businesspeople (and I do mean VAST) still dont get "the people thing".

Ive thus avoided business like the black plague. Everytime Ive worked in the business sector, Ive found it a humiliating, dehumanizing, and sterile experience.

Continue your crusade! You have many battles left to win... gambatte (ie. "kick ass")!

(PS: Its not just business thats about people... everything is about people!)

Posted by AJ Hoge at August 29, 2005 12:29 AM

Dear Tom,
the Black Dog showing up may be related to your mother's death (my sympathy...). Also, another thought entered my mind:
You have been actively enhancing your awareness and celebrating your spirit lately. This does not only create bliss and joy; the ego always makes itself a life. It does so through emotions, through distracting strategies and depression is one of these strategies. Some people think a 'dark night of the soul' is a two week thing that you can sit through drinking a cup of coffee, but it can take many years to get your spiritual stuff in gear.
Also the intention to overcome certain obstacles, 'wrong' perceptions and heal certain parts of yourself will create the perfect situation for you to heal this.
I feel you have taken on a very courageous journey and role in this life, part II has just begun.
You never travel alone.
I lovingly point you in the direction of the works of Caroline Myss (www.myss.com) and Gary Zukav (www.zukav.com).

You never travel alone.
A.H.

Posted by a corporate mystic at August 29, 2005 4:02 AM

Allow your employees every opportunity to succeed. If they can not, then - though painful - it's your job as a leader to push them in a new direction where they CAN succeed.

I think Marcus Buckingham touched on this a bit in one of his books.

Doug

Posted by Doug Karr at August 29, 2005 4:37 PM

Love this! Work as a place of grace. Why don't leaders get this?

Posted by Tim at August 30, 2005 6:58 AM

Tim, I love it too, in response to your question: What for are we not being gracious to others at work? If a leader does not guide us on this direction I am sure we are able to kindly remain them about it by example, aren't we? They could suffer of temporary amnesia/stupidity after all.

Posted by Omara at August 30, 2005 9:31 AM

Tom! You are a kick in the ass. And that is why I love you so.

Posted by Troy at September 8, 2005 8:29 AM