The joy of doing business

Paul O’Loughlin

Have you ever thought why it is that the most “enjoyable” business relationships are the ones that constantly come with that constant tinge of success?

Years ago, I attended a company talk fest which was being hosted by a well known Harvard Business School Professor by the name of David Maister, who wrote a renowned best seller called the “Managing the Professional Services Firm”. David maintained that business should only be conducted with those who we like and respect, because the antithesis of this is having to deal with people who lack integrity, respect, and appreciation. They are the ones who will always challenge your fees and see no benefit in creating a business relationship. They are “bottom dwellers” opportunistically feeding from the less experienced, or in some cases the desperate, and they leave a sense of ill-will when the transaction has been completed.

Maister went on to say dealing in an eco-system of mutual respect creates an element of “joy” throughout the engagement, often resulting in a complete sense of “win-win”. You get what you want and they get what they want. Simple! How many of us though continue to do business within a context that is completely unsatisfactory to say the least. Time wasting, commercially unviable relationships that dismantle your sense of value and grind at the very soul that should be celebrating success.

To jettison those “disenfranchised” relationships that only bare ill-will, will see productivity improve, a sense of value as well as an overriding feeling of re-focus. It also gives an amazing feeling of “self-empowerment”.

The recruitment industry is full of these types of relationships. Client-recruiter relationships where the leverage is always weighted to one side, and where often inexperienced recruiters will find no joy operating. The good ones will eventually wake up, and the not so good will fall by the wayside.

Its food for thought as most of us at some times have had that troubling encounter with a client who just doesn’t “give”. My advice, get rid of them!

Ubidy | Global Talent on Demand