Misc
The Future Of Business – Do You Build Community Or Tear It Down?
I have been struggling with this question mostly because of what I have been witnessing in my area where I live. I know a great many people who love building community, they like to build things that make the world a better place. I also see and know those who do the opposite.
I think we should all ask ourselves this question, maybe everyday. When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is say, Thank You Jesus. Why, I woke up, I got another day, I get to be useful to those around me. I love helping people, which why I do what I do, workshops, public speaking, think-tank sessions, I love asking questions, I love the creative process. Helping others is a cornerstone to building community, building others up, speaking positively about people, helping solve problems, it’s a fun way to live don’t you think? Even helping your competitors, yep, there I said it. Helping those who are in competition with you or your business is a great way to add more value to not only what you do, but to who you are.
Recently, I have noticed a few so called businesses bashing and calling people down in public, is that really what’s in their hearts? There is a person, with a website called The Valley Voice located in Chilliwack, BC, they fancy themselves kind of a news source or a Newspaper. I have yet to see them say anything positive about anyone, in fact, all they do is speak poorly of others in their community, and in other communities close by. It doesn’t matter who they are, yes even I have been attacked by them, and they have no idea who I am! So they would fall under the category of Tearing Down A Community. If you don’t provide them with the answer they like, with the information they want, they immediately start bashing you in public, and here online. Tell this wasn’t in the business plan from the get go, because I can’t imagine anyone wanting to talk to them or work with them if this is the model they have chosen. It would appear that they are about drawing attention to themselves by being extreme in controversy. I get the feeling they wake up every day wondering what dirt they can dig up for the purposes of drawing attention to themselves. It disappointing, it’s rude, and its extremely unprofessional in my humble opinion.
Then I see others in the community’s around me doing awesome things, helping people, raising funds for charities, actually doing something that makes living worthwhile. Imagine that?
So I’m curious, do you build community, or do you tear it apart? Are you a builder or a destroyer?
I know I sound naive but, I would rather be on the builder side, I would rather The Valley Voice just kept their mouth shut. But I can’t control that, they would scream the freedom of speech defense, so my world has an Asshole to deal with. At some point this person and his team will be avoided by it’s community for fear of being aligned with a person or organization that tears down it’s community, and the people in it. The Internet has made it possible for us to say what we want and not have to pay a price, we can hide, but that’s changing, we are going back to small town rules, where word of mouth is gold. Your legacy will be determined by others, what you do and what you say will create that legacy, and those around you will determine your worth in light of it.
The Future Of Business will be built by those who value people, who want a better world to live in, want better ways to accomplish this thing called life. My hat is off to you, especially if that’s you.
So I beg you, be a builder, lift those up around you even if you disagree with them, maybe you don’t even like them, speak in positive terms anyway.You will be happier for it. If you are going to criticize, at the very least offer a solution or another option.
Related articles
- Community Only Means Something If You Keep It Warm (chrisbrogan.com)
- We Need The Positive Impact Of Builders Not The Destructive Nature Of Destroyers (pastorpaulvbsblog.blogspot.com)
- Real Estate Agents, Politicians & Social Media GURUS (owengreaves.com)
Remembering Trey Pennington – A Kimberly Kelly Tribute
“There are three basic human needs we ALL have…
Everyone wants to be heard
Everyone wants to be understood
Everyone wants to know his or her life matters.”
-Trey Pennington
When Business Doesn’t Matter
I want to share from my heart today, please indulged me. I know you can’t imagine a time when business just doesn’t matter, but today, it just doesn’t. On March 4th, 2001 business didn’t matter, and it really hasn’t since, on that date, I suffered a heart attack and today I live to tell the story. Today, my wife & I are dealing with…well, we don’t know what we’re dealing with. You see, my wife’s Father is in the hospital, and he believes he is going to die! He will, but just not yet. There is a possibility he has cancer, and is also having problems with his heart, the diagnoses is still unclear.
Now obviously living is important to business, but a business living, is only important if the one who owns and is responsible for it is alive and healthy. I know what you are thinking, well OK I don’t, but, I know we all get wrapped up in our work, our projects, and we’ll do anything, we will kill ourselves trying to get a business off the ground. But for what? Why?
I can tell you this, if you have ever had a brush with death, the things you chased and worked for, just don’t matter. No one has ever said on their death bed, geez, I wish I had a faster car, or a bigger house. Almost 100% of the time, they say, I wish I had spent more time with my spouse, my kids, and or my immediate family. We are messed up as a people, are priorities most of the time are dictated by things we think are important.
Hell, in some of our businesses we won’t do FREE, we won’t give anything away, but we are the first one’s in line when some other business is giving away something for free. We won’t even help someone in desperate need, most of the time we walk right by. That was random, but it shows the hypocrisy of mankind.
Life is far too short, and when you don’t have your health, not only does business not matter, nothing else matters too! So a pre-requisit to the Future Of Business should be this, take care of your health, your personal health, and it will be much easier to take care of your businesses health.
We need a healthy heart for everything we do, without it, your health and the world you live in, will die with you, and that’s when business doesn’t matter. We have things in the wrong order don’t we, look after personal health first, then, everything else that follows.
Live long & prosper, but only if you have a healthy heart.
Be sure to give to the Heart & Stroke Foundation while you are at it.
Blog Post #300 Is To All Commentors Here At Owengreaves.com – I Thank You!
This past week I was wondering what the topic should be for the 300th Blog Post of Owengreaves.com, yes, 300! I was kind of surprised myself, but that’s what a Blog is for, submitting Blog posts. I threw out your way on Twitter, FaceBook, Buzz, MySpace, Google+, a question, what should #300 be about, what problem should I solve, what topic should I cover. I got a number of reposonses, but one jumped out at me, and I shouldn’t be shocked and or surprised at the answer considering who it was from.
You should know I don’t always agree with, but I have huge respect for this man for hundreds of reasons, but I won’t list them now. The person in question suggested I write about you, the commentors of this blog, afterall, it is all about you. You are the reason I even exist as a business, in fact, I learn more from you than you probably ever will from me!
I would love to list every person that left a comment here on owengreaves.com, but that would be the longest blog post in the history of blog posting. I wonder what the world record for blog post length is? I would also love to tell you I thought of this, but I didn’t, Chris Brogan suggested I say thank you to all who commented on this blog. Humbled yet again. And that my friends is called transparency, honesty, and openness. It’s what I write about here, it’s foundational to the Open & Free Business Model, it is the very core of what the Future Of Business needs to be.
Without you, this blog is just another newspaper lying in the trash, just another person standing in the forest screaming at the topic of his/her lungs, and no one hears them. Without you, there is no conversation, no dialogue, no reasoning, no creativity. How could we ever get to know one another’s interests and passions? How would we ever discover the right path to take? I am forever gratefiul you even think of coming to this blog, I would like to believe you are here looking for some nugget or perspective that will help you take another step forward in your business. No matter how big or small your business is, you make a difference, regardless of size or how much money it makes.
Remember back when you used to hangout under the street lamp with your friends, gossiping, chatting, and just hanging out? That’s what we do here, it’s a safe place to hangout, to ask questions, share perspectives, and have meaningful conversations, but mostly, build relationships. This doesn’t happen without you, you are the most important part of why I write!
I won’t lie, there have been many, many times where I almost shut this blog down. At times, it feels like no one cared or was interested in what is found here, or considered the content valuable. And maybe it isn’t on a grand scale, but there are those who are in need of learning, and a new way of thinking, it may be a very small audience, but the Future Of Business matters and it is a new way of thinking. Remember, Mind Set Trumps Skill Set Everytime.
I must confess, you who visits here and shares your thoughts, validates my work. Everything I do here is for you, I only hope it helps you. With that in mind, I hold (not free) workshops locally in my community on the Open & Free Business Model, what it is and what it might look like for your business, and how you might adopt the model. My question to you is this, would this workshop be of interest to you in the form of an online webinar?
So, To All Commentors Of Owengreaves.com – I Thank You, there is no business without you.
The Fastest & Cheapest Way To Detect Radiation In Your Home
You’ve probably already heard of this but I thought it was amusing, with all the fear of radiation fallout from Japan these days, here is a simple, cheap, effective homemade radiation tester you can assemble. It’s easy and it works everytime.
Just follow these simple instructions:
1.) Open a bag of Orville Redenbacher Microwave Popcorn.
2.) Leave it on your kitchen counter.
3.) If starts to pop, you’re screwed : )
Have a great radiation free day!