I am Wacky (LifeMotivations.com Article)

I love my new job, President of Life Motivations. I am subject to a lot of criticism. In fact, my wife is my biggest critic. She called last week’s article, “Lying in the Corporate World; Can we be Collaborative?” wacky. Of course, she thinks it is wacky that I gave up a perfectly good job to start Life Motivations.

You see, I am red, and she is yellow. Or I am A, and she is C. We have been married now for 11 years, and I love her and wish to be married to her for another 50 years. (The smart thing would be to end the article now.) We are different in our perspectives. And where else can I get the true, unvarnished version of my business? Quite frankly it seems everywhere. You should see the e-mail, “they” hate the ice cream story too, but more on that later.

I like to get things done; I am a doer. She is analytical, and likes to look at things from many different angles.

She works for a Fortune 100 company; I now work for myself, in a start up company. She thinks this is wacky. And last week's article about lying and collaboration -- she thought was “out of the park” wacky.

We needed a new TV in our upstairs bedroom; the old TV was dying. It took her almost a year before we bought a TV. She had to analyze the situation, and do research. All this for a 350 dollar TV. What if it had been a major purchase? (Don’t ask - I’ve been there.)

My wife is the perfect Fortune 100 employee. (I know my target audience is Fortune 100 companies, so this could blow my whole deal, here and now.) When she is asked to do something she then analyzes whatever it is that needs to be done. I am not sure they get much done.

But no! I am wrong! They get a lot done. As a matter of fact the president of the company was forced to resign last year, along with some of his cronies. What for, you ask? Lying, and bribery, and other criminal actions, oh my! And not just against other companies in commerce, but also against the Federal Government.

Oh, he also had affairs with secretaries in the office and other questionable ethical activities. That president certainly understood the collaborative part of last week’s article.

He got fired, got a golden parachute, and is now what? Playing golf with OJ? I don’t know. What kind of message does that send to your employees?

I know in another article I speak of employee motivation being with the people that you work with, and that is true. It is also true that top executives send a signal on how their employees are supposed to act.

Now let’s see. I started my own company, and I tell all of my associates the truth, and they tell me the truth. We don’t lie, cheat, steal, and bribe anyone to do business. This, according to my wife’s company, could be a serious setback to our success.

I don’t cheat, or fool around on my wife, unlike the past president of her company. Oops, could this be another fatal blunder on my part to get to the top?

Wacky, I guess I am wacky. I grew up watching Superman in the 50’s. You know “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” Well if we look to the Fortune 100, it appears to me they could use a little Life Motivations. Because doing business the right way will produce more, and create more intellectual and real wealth for companies. I know this to be true, and most of us know this to be true. What kind of collaboration do we get from people when we are examining our business problems from the strength of truth, or from the weakness of questionable, or even criminal ways?

We as Americans want to be truthful. We do like justice, and the American Way -- to build companies, create wealth, be productive, and to do business in an honorable way.

But we do need a voice. We need to have guides and remembrance of what is right and wrong. It needs to talked about, written about, and studied because evil is a temptation for everyone. Even the president of a Fortune 100 company that really had it all. Did he need to lie, cheat, and steal? The company is doing fine now, so it appears the wrong behavior was not necessary. In fact when is wrong behavior ever necessary, does someone wish to explain this to me? We need a voice to keep us guided in the right direction, to remind us of what we want to be, and what we want. Success. Is that just wacky?