Welcome to the We Economy: 3 Positive Business Conversations to Have Today
To succeed in today’s economic environment, check your ego at the door and embrace a new way of doing business that is about more than what you can control and manipulate. That’s your ego talking.
The Ego Economy is dead.
Welcome to the We Economy.
This rising tide of the We Economy can lift all of our companies on thrilling waves of positive profits or capsize and drown us in red ink. We choose.
How do you navigate the change and positively succeed at work?
Here are three positive business conversation transformations to have today that say “good bye” to the Ego Economy and “hello” to the We Economy so you will positively profit.
“I did it” becomes “We did it.”
In the Ego Economy, you could afford to get by on what you alone could do. The We Economy requires the creation of partner relationships with your employees, customers/clients, vendors/suppliers and more to generate a profit built on what “We” can do.
How?
Ask your employees, “How would you build a better business?” They are on the front-line of interaction daily. Listen deeply and tap their wisdom. Act to implement.
Ask your customers/clients, “What can we do better?” They bring you their hard-earned money in exchange for your services and products. Listen deeply for themes and respond immediately.
Ask your vendors/suppliers, “What are some best practices you see out there?” Take notes about the one that makes sense for your business and ask your employees what they think and how they would implement it.
In the We Economy, we succeed as we create partner relationships with everyone who touches the business. We do it, not I.
“I already know that” becomes “Please show me how.”
In the Ego Economy, you stayed on top of the change-of-information trickle with little effort. “I already know that” was a reflection of the predictable growth of knowledge.
In today’s We Economy, the info flow is more like a fire hose than a trickle. You as a business owner or leader simply can’t drink from it alone. “Please show me how” replaces “I already know that” to generate more profits. Be teachable.
Your business is your tuition ticket to matriculate in Biz U. You hire people smarter than you in certain areas and learn from them. You cultivate an “always on the learn” environment in which results are shared, graded, and evaluated for next time and do-over’s.
Keep saying, “Please show me how” until it rolls with delight because you’re about to learn something that makes your company more profitable.
“I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps” becomes “We wear loafers.”
In the Ego Economy, we all wore boots and bragged about pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. As self-made men and women, we created it all.
In the We Economy, we wear loafers. In a boot-wearing market, loafers are innovative—more comfortable, easier to pull on and off, with no socks. In the We Economy, you’re comfortable in responding to the changing demands of your partners and learning as you go. You’re pulled onto and off of teams according to project needs, not siloed departments. And who needs socks?
Relating with all who interact with your business and creating new learning generates creative innovation which takes your company to greater profits and higher margins. In an economy of boot-wearing, ego-driven, know-it-all’s, innovators who are loafer-sporting, team-focused, and learning-as-you-do-it have more to say about success than anyone.
Avoid talking about “I” because the Ego Economy is dead.
Instead, start a positive work conversation about “us.”
Welcome to the “We” Economy.
(Loafers only.)
How do you talk to your child?
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Can you imagine the mother of Christopher Columbus saying, “I don’t care what you’ve discovered, you still could have written!”?
Or, George Washington’s mother saying, “The next time I catch you throwing money across the Potomac, you can kiss your allowance good-bye!”?
Or, Thomas Edison’s mother saying, “Of course I’m proud you invented the electric light bulb. Now turn it off and go to sleep!”?
Do you think that Albert Einstein’s mom ever said, “Can’t you do something with your hair?”
Or, Michelangelo’s mother said, “Can’t you just paint on the walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?”
Or, Abraham Lincoln’s mom said, “What’s with the stovepipe hat? Just wear a baseball cap like the other kids!”?
You just never know who your child will grow up to be, do you? Talk to your child like you want to be talked to as you live positive at home.
