The Power of the Minority of One

I had an opinion last week. It was a brave opinion; one that I was fiercely proud of, one that fought for higher standards and our best interest, the kind that many secretly agreed with. That was the problem with it.

The opinion that others secretly agree with is deadly. When it comes to supporting you, standing behind you, joining forces with you, there may be no one there. You may find that you are a Minority of One. They may whisper their agreement to you, but refuse to state it within earshot of another.

Shortly after stating my rather unpopular stance, I was blasted with the anticipated hate mail followed by a slow trickle of private thank you notes and you go girl emails. Several days later, I was quietly assured that I had more friends and supporters than antagonists. But the person remarking that looked uneasy at the thought of someone seeing us together.

Dont be bothered by them, I was told. The trash talkers werent the ones I was bothered by. It was the people who secretly agreed and wouldnt speak up.

I didnt understand it. The people who secretly agreed felt passionately about the issue at hand. Why didnt they say anything? Were they all talk, no action? Were they fearful of losing their popularity in the group? They clearly did not want to be associated with the sole dissenter; were they really willing to betray their friendship with me in order to maintain phony agreement with the majority?

Days later I was asked if I would have done the same thing if I could go back in time. I didnt hesitate a second; I emphatically replied, Of course, because it was the right thing to do.

Would those who secretly agreed and kept quiet respond the same way? I was adamantly proud of what I did. Were they?

Then it hit me. The problem was that I cared. I cared about the best interest of the group. I was not about to tolerate unethical actions or let an aggressive and intimidating minority control the rest of the group.

If you ask people why they keep their mouths shut, theyll respond by saying that they dont want to get involved. Their involvement is selective; they are front and center when things are going well. Once a problem pops up, they shut down and wait for it to go away. These people are checking out right when we need them to check in.

Unfortunately, there are still people in this world who, similar to a child, will push boundaries until someone pushes back. The game is simple. How much can I get away with? How far will they weaken their standards, values or ethics? How much do they really care about protecting their image and reputation? How much will they fight for the best interest of the group, the community or the environment? Can I manipulate these people into doing something they probably wouldnt do on their own?

Ive seen this occur in all areas of life. Business leaders do it by purposely neglecting to be environmentally responsible or with illegal business practices. Several people in the organization know exactly what is going on, but keep their mouths shut, sometimes waiting for a brave Whistleblower to emerge.

In sports, players may urge teammates to play dirty when a big game in on the line, even if doing so could result in unnecessary injury or a bad reputation for the team. It is common to hear, Its okay as long as the ref doesnt catch it.

Girls Gone Wild. Need I say more? The game here is to see if the crew can manipulate the girls into lowering their morals and standards low enough to entertain an audience of strangers. People dont respect them because their behavior tells us how easily they can be manipulated and used for anothers entertainment. And they just give it away, demanding nothing in return.

In each of these cases, there was likely someone thinking that they should say something. Theres an employee who feels guilt in averting his eyes, a player who doesnt want to see anyone get hurt, a friend who doesnt want to see her friend do something shell later regret.

The system of manipulation only works if no one stands up and says anything to challenge it.

The Minority of One can have a lot of power behind it. All you need is one person to stand up. One person to ask a question or insinuate that further discussion may be needed. Or one person to simply say no.

When one person stands up or speaks out, it opens the door for others to walk through. Pushing the door open is a heroic act, especially when the issue at hand is of a serious nature. Honor the act and the person by stepping through that door if you happen to agree with them.

You may be thinking that you dont want to get involved. Being involved in the good times AND the bad times is part of being an adult and it is part of the commitment. If you cannot commit to being there through the thick and thin of it, reconsider being there at all. Many marriages fail because one partner checks out every time the going gets rough. Whether its a relationship or a company, protecting the best interest can be killed by fair-weather people who check out when danger strikes. The more people check out, the easier it is for manipulators and those who have hidden agendas to prey upon the feast before them.

It is tremendously easier to get INTO something than it is to get OUT of something. Do not fall prey to others manipulations unless you enjoy the paralysis of being in too deep and a lifetime of regret/guilt/shame.

Taking the position that stands for justice, for dignity, for whats right may be the hardest one to take. Standing up and challenging the majority can be heroic. Give a voice to the thoughts that fight in your gut and heart to be spoken. And when another stands up for something you believe in, be ready and willing to join them.

For more articles by this author, please go to: http://healthefield.blogspot.com

To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]

Written by info on November 1st, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.

Honesty In Business - Does It Pay? Is Honesty The Best Policy?

I guess you have heard it said that honesty is the best policy. Unfortunately, many of the people who say that are dishonest themselves. They only pay lip service to honesty. Consequently, they lie and cheat whenever it is convenient to do so.

The truth is . . . many people are honest only to the point where there is the possibility of being caught and when sanctions are applied without fear or favor. Those same people will be dishonest whenever the chances of being caught is slim or where sanctions are hardly applied due to corruption of the institutions meant to apply the sanctions.

The result?

Explosion of corruption.

Now to the business world. The goal of every business is to maximize profit. The more transactions a business engages in, the more the profit potentials. And the greater the profit margin per transaction, the greater the overall profit of the business. Hence, business managers seek to maximize the returns per transaction in order to maximize the profitability of the business.

Honesty in business, on the other hand, means you lose opportunities to make more from each
transaction because you tell the truth. Here’s a typical example: Suppose you’re an electronics technician. A client brings her electronics to you. The fault? The electronics equipment does not come on when she powers it. You do a routine check and find that the problem is a blown fuse. If you tell her the truth about the problem, she will pay you less because it will take just a few minutes to fix.

Bottom line.

Your earnings for this transaction will be small. Several small transactions like this will mean your earnings for the month will be small. And you have serious bills to pay! Therefore, you may be tempted to get more from this client by magnifying the problem. For example, you may tell the client that the problem is a burnt transformer. She believes you. She trusts your judgment. So she pays for the cost of getting a new transformer. And since installing a new transformer takes a lot of time, she pays much more in service fees or professional fees.

You go home a happy man because you made a nice profit for the day. You fooled her successfully. And she may never know it. The problem is that you won’t stop there. Once you’ve tasted the ease of making huge amounts of money for little work, your greed will take over. You will begin to look for fresh ways to cut corners, outsmart your clients, and make more money.

The good news is this . . . sooner or later you will be caught. Then the news will spread like wild fire. Your credibility will be consumed by the flames of your clients’ rage. And so will your source of income.

So, does honesty in business pay?

Yes.

How?

When you’re known to be honest, people are comfortable doing business with you. They know they can trust you. Often they will test you out to be sure the reports they heard about your honesty is true. Then they will begin to trust you big time. They will return to do business with you. And they will tell friends and family. They are proud to recommend you because they know you won’t let them down. They know they can trust you to keep your word.

As the news spreads, your business grows. Honesty in business results in customer satisfaction which results in more business. Yes, your profit margin per customer may be low, but multiply that by the increased volume of business you get due to your honest dealings and you get a huge profit. There’s another advantage of honesty in business . . . you build a long-term business.

Dishonesty destroys your business. Any gains and benefits you get from being dishonest is only temporary. When the truth gets in the open, you will lose everything. Want to build a lasting business?

Make honesty the only policy in your business. Honesty in business is, indeed, the best policy.

For me, it’s honesty or nothing.

Do the same and you will be happy. You will build a real business . . . a profitable long-term business.

About The Author

Samson Itoje is a freelance writer. He is the author of http://www.nigerianewsjournal.com and http://www.lagos-nigeria-real-estate-advisor.com.

To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]

Written by info on November 1st, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.

Is The Customer Always Right?

What business owner hasn’t been subjected to a brazen “The customer is always right!” thrown their way during the course of their working days? Whether you’re in retail, mail order or are Internet-based, and regardless of what you sell, you are going to hear this more often than you’d like to. So how do you deal with it? Do you cave each time something unrealistic or outside of your policy is demanded of you?

Here’s the deal: Every human on earth shares a lot of behavioral traits, which is why when things are good or bad to any degree, we can make a pretty safe assumption on how someone will act. When things are good, it’s universal to smile, right? Yelling and shouting are behaviors that pretty much guarantee something’s not going well. Sure, we all have variations and that’s what makes us special and different — but overall, we can’t escape the fact that we’re pretty predictable in a lot of ways.

Back to business. All of us business owners have also been customers, so the first thing to do when confronted with a belligerent or upset customer is to throw yourself into their shoes and forget that you’re the business owner. Listen to their complaint IN FULL, even if the first few minutes are grating your nerves because they’re overly emotional and attacking your character (which will happen when people act out of emotion.) Focus on the facts: Did they order something from you that was never sent, even after 2 weeks of waiting, when your policy is to ship within 48 hours? Did they send something back for a refund and have proof it was sent, but 3 months later their credit card still hasn’t been credited by you? Or were they confronted with an obnoxious salesperson who refused to help them in your store and instead was glued to the phone? In the grand picture of life, none of this is grounds for a public beheading — but, at that moment the customer is feeling taken advantage of by YOU. Mistakes happen every day, but sometimes one mistake will happen to catch a live wire, so to speak. And now you have to figure out what to do.

If what happened really and truly was an oversight, just fess up. You’re human and your customer will appreciate hearing it. Let them know you’re sorry, there was a shipping/billing/clerical error and you would like to fix it for them. Tell them first what you are going to do. Then, ask them what else you can do to make it better. Chances are, the only thing they really want is what should be coming to them — maybe a refund, or the product they already paid money for, or some basic customer service from the sales staff. Most people feel guilty even asking for extras they didn’t rightfully earn. But then you can over-deliver for them to make up for it; simply let them know you’ll be happy to overnight the missing course to them at no extra cost, and to make up for the trouble you’d like to throw in a special bonus trinket (this depends on what you sell, of course). Or even though you got the item back a day or two late, you’ll credit them because they’ve purchased from you before. Or you’d like to assign a special sales member to cater to only them and an extra 20% off if they come back to your store this Saturday. These things are all most likely outside of your standard policy, and that’s exactly what will help smooth any hard feelings over with the customer — if they were really acting on good intentions.

Believe it or not, if you run a reputable company you will rarely encounter a vicious, nasty thief only wanting to bleed your company dry. Those are easy to spot, because nothing you offer to do (short of handing a blank check to them and asking them to fill out how much they want) will appease them. Unjustified accusations, threats, and bullying are not standard customer behaviors — and because of that, you shouldn’t reward those types of people by accommodating them. You’ll be paving the way for others just like them to target your company because you’ll develop a reputation for being ’scam-able’ — and they’ll spread the word to everyone. You would be amazed at how many blogs and forums exist with people who spend months on end just learning how to scam businesses… and looking for their next target.

So is the customer always right? Somebody who takes a chance on your company with their hard-earned money deserves the benefit of the doubt. If they prove otherwise, you reserve the right not to do business with them anymore. Again, you’ll be surprisingly pleased at how easy it is to maintain good customer relations as long as you’re running your company legally and ethically. The ‘bad seeds’ will come around every so often, but your good, solid customers more than make up for those.

Sonja Vukas for Platinum Acquisitions, INC

To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]

Written by info on November 1st, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.