Several years ago, I was talking with a friend who was a CEO in Chicago. I don’t recall the context of our discussion, but I remember him becoming agitated and saying, “People think business is all about money! Don’t they know business is all about people?” I’ll never forget those words. In fact, they’re so meaningful to me, they’re on the back of my business cards and at the bottom of my email signature.
Later, I moved to California to become Managing Consultant of the LA office of a global HR firm. My regional manager told me during our introductory meeting, “I want you to focus on people. That’s your biggest expense. All other expenses are minor in comparison.” I followed his advice to focus on the people, but reducing costs wasn’t my direct motivation. I saw each person’s talent. I learned what they wanted to do and achieve. I helped them use and develop their talent to reach their goals while simultaneously fulfilling the needs of our office, clients and organization. They became more engaged and productive. Though I didn’t know it at the time, I was using a coaching style of leadership. Our clients experienced our team’s engagement and used our services more fully. Our team’s increased engagement led to increased productivity, client satisfaction and profitability for our organization.
It’s all about people!