I miss my Dad everyday of every week of every year. Not just as my Dad but as my business mentor and that is why I produce each week The Engaging Brand podcast - to keep alive his desire for me to learn and for me to share....and for me to help others.
Dad was a simple soul. He wasn't 'educated' like all of us are today and he was dyslexic to boot. However his simplicity in his view of business stays with me. Here is what he said when I asked for tips on leading a successful business
- When I went to and indeed left work I didn't enter through the main doors, I always went through the factory. Never forget the shopfloor is where people painstakingly make your ideas reality. Never forget that the shopfloor is full of people who can see how to make the business better.....never fool yourself that people will follow because you are a leader, they follow you because they believe in where you are going together....that walk on a morning keeps me close, and keeps the conversations flowing.
- Remember a customer is a human being first and a consumer of your ideas second. Too many see it as the other way round.
- See business as the ultimate treasure hunt...you are searching for that hidden talent, that idea hiding out there in the world and that feeling that you have done your very best for the world.
For all the business books I read, I return to these wise words. Simple but true...but then aren't the most complex problems, in reality simple...it is just us human beings who make them hard!
Happy Father's Day from your little girl who has realised Dad's do know best!
