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How can “Developing meaningful relationships” preserve value in today’s turbulent times?
During today’s stressful times, more businesses are reaching out to employees, customers, and others, even if there’s nothing to sell. However, to make the most of such connections, you need to recognize how they help safeguard yourself from the crisis around you, in addition to providing goodwill for future sales and employment.
For example, a relationship with a colleague helped me relax and make better decisions about toilet paper. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, I’d just argued with my wife about our small toilet paper stash when I saw an email from #AjitGeorge of #SecondChanceFarms. Ajit asked colleagues to PLEASE purchase his restaurant-supply herbs and veggies for home use. If I didn’t care about Ajit’s business, I would have ignored his email: my refrigerator was broken and I couldn’t buy. However, I do care, and so I paid attention, and realized that I was confused. I couldn’t understand why Ajit struggled to find customers for his food when supermarkets had half-empty shelves.
My eldest son, Devin, cracked the mystery: he pointed out that everyone is eating at home and not at restaurants. Ajit was struggling to find customers because his business was only set up for restaurant distribution.
Devin and I used this insight about food to understand the toilet paper crisis. Covid stress doesn’t cause hyperactive pooping: we only need the same amount of toilet paper as before the virus. But we’re using a lot more home bathroom paper and less business (commercial) paper. People selling coarse industrial toilet paper are struggling to find customers, while those selling home TP are overwhelmed. And once people think we’re running low, they rush to grab every toilet paper roll in sight. If you can’t find enough home toilet paper, reach out for the commercial stuff; it may not be soft and fluffy, but it works fine.
Ajit didn’t tell me explicitly that we have a fluffy backside paper shortage, not a true toilet paper shortage. But my relationship with Ajit was key to understanding the situation. By focusing on Ajit, I learned more about how the world works, which helped me develop the right tools and strategies. As a result, I saved a few bucks and hours by choosing not to chase toilet paper further.
As we look to safeguard our own life and career in this turbulent crisis, how can we preserve what we have?
- Look to others, as our relationships are more critical than ever. And that means you must weave trust and sincerity into everything you do.
- While the goal is effective collaboration, we won’t find a meaningful tool to help every time, and that’s ok.
- View the world through others’ eyes. Doing so provides new insights about our own situation, which we tend to look at the same way, day in and day out. And by doing so, we find new ways to preserve what we have and move forward.
Where might you find insights into your own challenges by learning about others’? Safeguard your future today. And position yourself to thrive for your children tomorrow.
Rod
Dr. Rod Wallace is an economist, consultant, and speaker who helps businesses make more money by solving society’s problems. A Fulbright Fellow, he has led multi-organization billion-dollar initiatives worldwide and partnered with a Silicon Valley pioneer to explore the impact of Artificial Intelligence on society.
Rod speaks about how to integrate social responsibility into business to maximize profit and purpose. He highlights digital technology’s impact on society and the strategies and tools with which business can solve our big, systemic problems.
Contact Rod at info@RodWallacePhD.com.