There is a lot of volunteerism and philanthropy going on all the time. Most businesses I know devote time, energy and money to showing up at fundraisers, volunteer events and simply giving for the sake of helping the less fortunate among us. Thank God for the generosity of so many in the business world. Giving back is a wonderful thing and many companies make it part of their business plans.

When we see and hear the authentic gratitude of individuals who are helped immeasurably by the generosity of corporate and personal giving, we get emotional because that’s where our selfless love is manifest – one child, man or woman at a time. It is in that one home (hopefully with more added and multiplied) where we witness the evidence of the goodness of our charity.

There are other, more profound works of charity being performed by a small portion of our society. They happen on the street, in the office, the classroom and even the boardroom. They are performed by people who have something in common. What that “something” is, I leave you to ponder.

Doubtless, you have been surprised at some point by extremely valuable help coming from others at great expense to them. Perhaps you felt obliged to pay them back, tried to and they forthrightly refused.

Who’s calling?

The simplest things like answering a stranger’s phone call, returning the calls and emails from salespeople you’ve engaged or from job hunters are acts that one can avoid without a business penalty (usually). He might even think it’s best not to waste the time because his time is far more valuable remaining focused on paying customers and weighing important business decisions. Maybe that salesperson or job hunter would be helped or encouraged by a brief and cheerful dialog.

Spending half a day of prime business hours, filling a gas tank and burning through tires costs real money. Doing things like that for non customers who need your professional expertise is a very kind thing to do. Such is an act of charity; selfless giving that fewer and fewer people seem willing to do. But these kinds of things create ripples in the world, noticed or not.

The latest example of business related kindness in my circle came from a man who wouldn’t expect an article to be written about him, nor would he consider whether or not the favor would be returned. So, to honor his genuine humility I’ll just offer a hyperlink to his website and let you know that my students really needed to hear from him yesterday and they did. Thank you, Steve!

The post Showing up is fine. Helping unexpectedly is priceless! appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

There are these really old guys out there, some passed like Zig Ziglar, who no longer appeal to new generations striving to succeed in business. A new breed has come along. They promise miracles if you will only follow their formula to the letter. If you try and fail, it’s your fault for not doing it right.

There are golf equipment marketers who claim that if you will only switch to their brand of clubs or balls, you will shave a number of strokes off your game.* The asterisk is for the lawyers. How about weight loss products, exercise equipment, even software for business efficiency? Sure, truly breakthrough technologies from inventors and brilliant engineers offer new tools that leverage your skill more efficiently (sometimes exponentially), I get that.

But, there there will always be scam artists out there like the late PT Barnum who know full well, “there’s a sucker born every minute.” More subtle marketers can make believable claims about removing the hard work from business so you can “make money in your sleep.” Yeah, again, I get it! E-commerce technologies can automate transactions and bill credit cards for you, but what made that possible and how will it be sustained?

Please let a recently deceased and universally loved gentleman drive my points home, for I fear the risk of wearing you out. Please take over Zig… READ MORE

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This article may start out sounding like a sermon but it is more of an observation.

Hire the best suited people you can find for the various roles in your organization. Pay fair and equitable wages for work performed. Provide the best possible training and working conditions for your employees. Be sensitive to individual employees’ needs and unique backgrounds. Be sure to reward achievement and praise your team often. Freely give some of your profits to the community and the charities you choose to support.

Conserve resources and open spaces for future generations to enjoy. Strive to continually improve the efficiency of your operation. Make smart, economical use of recycled products and innovations in efficiency. Reduce consumption and waste. Clean up after yourself. Carry in, carry out. Leave each place better than you found it.

All of the above are rules of common decency. These are good habits that when practiced have always paid dividends in the short run and the long run.

Conventional wisdom today seems to convey that private business enterprise is inherently bad and its management greedy unless it conforms to a proclaimed standard of “socially responsible” behavior. Consider these key points from a leading socially responsible business advocacy website:

• Businesses can do well while doing good.
• Social responsibility begins locally, with each of us.
• Businesses can be financially successful while bringing out the best in the human spirit, enriching the community and being respectful of the natural environment.

Most successful businesses have already been doing these things for a long time!

The underlying assumption is that these are newly enlightened positions; to do well financially, one previously had to shun these ideas or not care about people or the environment. Can you point to any business in America that has done well by doing bad, being an offensive neighbor, oppressing workers or destroying the environment? If there were such companies, they have long since cleaned up their acts or justifiably gone out of business, rejected by the marketplace.

There are a few major US firms that promote wonderful, sustainability and socially responsible practices here at home but have most of their manufacturing operations in countries with little or no environmental regulations so they can avoid compliance with ours; where workers are paid only a fraction of a fair wage. Are these companies having their cake and eating it too? You be the judge.

I love the convenience of K-Cups for brewing my coffee. Isn’t it ironic that millions (maybe billions now) of those little plastic containers have massively added solid waste to the environment while the company that designed and produces them will have you believe they are singlehandedly saving the planet? Please don’t get me wrong. I’m very brand loyal to that company because they make an excellent product. I don’t personally believe the extra plastic is going to destroy the environment. Obviously, neither do they.

Free markets always correct themselves – they must!

Free market forces include movements by disturbed customers and concerned citizens. It can be a wonderful thing. In an ethical and free society, people won’t tolerate business practices that abuse and pillage workers and resources. They will respond by taking their business elsewhere or demanding punitive responses. Government mandates only make matters more complex, confusing and ultimately worse, especially for small business. Just look at the healthcare debacle.

If you haven’t noticed, American business, especially small business, is heavily taxed and regulated. It’s getting much harder to thrive economically in this formerly business-friendly nation. We should pause to think long and hard before we place even more mandates on businesses to be “socially responsible.” The motivation should come from the head and the heart. Beware the violators. We, the marketplace, are watching!

Look around the country. Witness the vast open spaces, shining cityscapes, suburbs, parks and even strip malls (except in Detroit). Perhaps you’ll notice as I do that in spite of the comparatively high consumption levels in America, we have a clean and beautiful place to call home. There are many millions of good reasons to keep it that way and each one has a name and a tender face.

The post Social Responsibility or Common Sense? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

By Chuck Sink

The default position of almost every corporate communication decision is the watered down, safe, politically correct version of the story. Unfortunately, that’s the bogus version.

The risk of offending one vocal audience member has executives cowering in fear of the social and political mobs. Honesty and truth are hiding in the minds of communicators as they try to offend nobody and please everyone.

Did you know that you are often right and those who disagree with you are often wrong?  Seriously, did you know that your deeply held, principled values are very likely better for our society than the values of those vehemently opposing you? Yes it’s true and you need to speak truth to power as well as to ignoramuses.

If you know something to be true and have the evidence behind you, be forthright and honest in your communications, regardless of whom may be offended. I’m fairly certain I will lose 2, 3 maybe 5 subscribers over this newsletter content. That’s okay with me because I have a very loyal core of readers in this audience. You are the people who make good things happen in my world. Thank you! <3

Trust in business is vital to our economic freedom and vitality. The only people we can really trust are those who are willing to tell us exactly what they believe to be true. Keep in mind that discretion and judgement are important in guiding what needs to be said, to whom and when.

Keep all communications relevant, in proper context and based in love. That way, even your adversaries will hear the ring of truth in what you have to say.

The post Crack a Few Shells to Get Food for Thought appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

The day before a recent holiday which many love to celebrate, I wanted to ordersomething nice for my wife so I called the store of one of my networking contacts. This store owner and I had developed a typically nice networking relationship. One of the topics we’ve talked about is email marketing, something she knows I do for clients. Early in the day of my call I got an e-blast from her business and it made me pick up the phone to order from her.

I knew the store would be busy just before this holiday and I was doing what new customers do. Call ahead, ask about options and place an order for pick up. I asked for my contact by name and the person who answered was a bit stiff and guarded asking “Is she expecting your call?” My answer was no. “Hold on a minute.”

The owner got on the phone and I stated who I was. “Oh, hi Chuck.” Her tone was rushed. I said. “Hey, like we talked about before, email marketing works! I got your e-blast this morning and it prompted me to call.” Then she said, “Chuck, it’s the day before Valentines Day! We are super busy here! Can you call back another time?” I knew at that point she assumed I was making a sales call to her. I followed with, “Yes it is and I need to order a bouquet for my wife.” Then, realizing I was a customer instead of a salesman the conversation turned to business, became more friendly and there was a happy ending. I bought a couple of nice things for my wife – more than what I set out to buy – and felt good about patronizing a networking contact’s business. But I didn’t forget about the initially cool response to my call.

This experience stuck with me because there’s a pointed lesson here. Treat everyone, including sales reps, with kindness and respect.

Did you know that people who sell for a living buy a lot of stuff just like anyone else? Most business owners are the top salespeople for their firms. And did you know that many sales professionals are excellent referral sources for their prospects as well as their customers?

Most professional salespeople are respectful of their prospects’ time and avoid wasting it. Treat them like the fellow professionals they are. Avoid the assumption they’re always looking to clean out your wallet or waste your time. They might just be your next new customer. They might even refer the biggest sale you ever made – to you!

The post When you ASSume… appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

I have a one-year business plan in place. It’s a blueprint for a successful year of growth. A reasonable goal has been set and an activity plan following a proven strategy will be implemented. It’s my plan and I’m sticking to it!

If we all have an intelligent, ethical strategic plan requiring focused and determined activity every day and then execute, we can renew the prosperity of the nation and change the direction of the culture. We can make 2013 the turnaround year if enough people work hard enough!

2012 proved to be a very disappointing year for countless millions of us. Ninety nine percent of my friends and associates could not rid their calendars of 2012 fast enough. I join them in welcoming 2013.

People who happen to be superstitious about numbers needn’t worry about the “13.”  I read somewhere that 13 is a very lucky number when preceded by the digits 2 and 0.  😉

What’s your plan to improve your business and community, thereby making the USA at large an industrious, vibrant and culturally rich country again?

Yes, you can!

You see, thousands upon thousands of solid business plans executed daily drive wealth creation, economic growth and higher performance standards among those businesses. Success breeds competition and more success – unless the culture rejects the notion of enterprise, dignity, ethics and the value of work. Frankly I’m worried about what I see going on in the culture and will leave that topic on the table for now.

I remain optimistic this year because I’m amazed by the fantastic people in my professional network and other circles. There is so much good stuff out there to which we can turn our attention while ignoring the negative garbage in the media echo chambers. We can also turn away from gossipy chatter in the workplace.

Throughout history it has been the determined efforts of a few that have managed to turn the many away from destructive paths toward revitalization, prosperity and cultural renaissance.

It’s now abundantly clear among business leaders everywhere. I feel it’s safe to say that most of us have reached consensus; Washington has become a putrid cesspool of corruption and incompetence and it may get worse. Too harsh? No way. The national dept heaped upon young people and future generations is unconscionable. The federal government has failed to enact and implement any effective policy direction to help build a strong economy again.  My opinion is we’ve completely blown it during the last decade.

So, it’s up to you and me. Let’s take some risks, work our butts off and fix the economy ourselves, regardless of this cliff or that crisis. Nobody else is going to make conditions right for your business. Step up to the plate ladies and gentlemen, seriously!

The post Your business plans can revitalize the country. appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Growth by “acquisition” has two dimensions. You can buy up competitors and you can also acquire top people in the market with the connections that pull new business right in. The latter dimension requires having a brand people actually want to wear on their golf shirts; a company culture that shouts to the market, “This place is great! Come work with us, you’ll love it here!” The best people, nurtured in a culture of collaboration and rewarded excellence, are an unstoppable force.

Totally rethink Human Resources!

What is culture, really? Well, quite a lot it turns out!  The specialized field of corporate culture is one of the fastest growing consulting fields today. An engaged and productive workforce is the most valuable asset in any business. Employee engagement through culture and team building is a concept starting to permeate Human Resources departments in today’s best run companies. The old paradigm of HR as an administrative function has to go. There is a reactive, almost defensive posture to that model.

Happy and oh, so productive!

Simply having people show up and do the work is insufficient. You need to garner the maximum effort and productivity of your people while improving company morale at the same time. It can be done and there are examples everywhere! “Human Resources” needs to be seen as a long term strategic initiative, coupled more with marketing than administration or accounting. HR processes and policies should energize and engage employees, not suck the life out of them!

Mirjam IJtsma, president of Cultural Chemistry, a fast growing HR consulting firm, is out to shift the thinking about the old “personnel” department. “My company wants to redefine what Human Resources means to a business.” She sums up why organizational culture is so fundamental to better performance. “It’s about why things are done. It’s about the attitude, the approach and the application of talents.”  Organizational Culture is the amalgamation of beliefs, traditions, behaviors and processes in an organization. It is built step by step from every interaction with employees, clients, suppliers and media.

The effect of culture on organizations is profound. It will make or break any organization. The kind of culture that leads to a power brand in the market takes total commitment and strong effort. Hubspot employees and executives will tell you it’s worth it! Company founder Brian Halligan keeps it simple. “We’re trying to rethink work.” He importantly notes, “We’re competing for talent.” An informative and transparent look into Hubspot can be seen here:  How Hubspot is Rethinking Work.

The post Company Culture is a Success Indicator appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.