It’s Both Business & Personal, Get Ready For Your Website Redesign, Spring Clean Your Digital Assets.
We hear it all the time: it’s business, it’s not personal. And I can understand the import, sentiment, and intent of this statement. Sometimes it is very beneficial to take as much emotion out of a decision as possible in order to more easily do what is best for the business. But my business (and yours) is personal. Your business/brand is an extension of you and your brand. And the work you do is personal to all the people you help on a regular basis. So, when we make a decision that is not in the best interest of our business, it absolutely is personal and its effects can be devastating.
The area where I see this being the most difficult is employees. At one point, I was speaking to someone I trusted about a team member that I was struggling with. I said: “If I were to make the best decision for my business I’d……” And, yes, I stopped mid-sentence hearing the words coming out of my mouth. The decision I would make if it was based on the best interest of the business was to let this individual go. And it felt harsh, because a person is involved, and it isn’t something to be taken lightly.
But the person wasn’t right for my business, and the work wasn’t right for the person, and I wasn’t doing anyone any favors by not doing the hard thing.
The wrong people will devastate a culture, will devastate the customer experience, and will devastate the brand. And your brand is your reputation.
Your business is your baby, it is to be cared for like the precious entity that it is. It was created by humans for humans, and the humans will make it or break it. So yes, it’s business but it’s also very very personal.
