Last week I heard David Brooks speak about his new book, The Road to Character. His premise is that to be a person of good character requires that you lose yourself to find yourself, give to receive, and conquer your desires in order to get what you want. The people he writes about are the ones you meet who seem to shine with an inner light. They are few and far between, but that doesn't mean we can't aspire to shine as they do.
In business these are the people who sell without effort because, for them, it's all about the customer. They focus on helping the customer and the customer embraces the opportunity to be helped. They ignore their desire to be rewarded and wind up being rewarded on multiple levels. In management it's called Servant Leadership, in social circles it's called Paying it Forward, in BNI it's called Givers Gain. No matter the venue, it's faith in the idea that it's not whether you win or lose but how you play.
Aspiring,
Dave Ferguson
