Values and profit

I have experimented with many methods in money-making schemes. From stocks to starting my own business, to upgrading my negotiating skills, after a while I began to realise that technically competent I am, I cannot seem to last long in a single direction. This got me thinking if I am so good, why am I not rich as I am suppose to be.

I then realise that techniques, profits, strategies and tactics might not be as important as values.

In everyday life, we often favour profit above everything else. It might not necessarily be money but any form of competitive advantage or leverage that we can get from our actions. This means that our actions are often targeted at personal enrichment-  be it tangible or intangible benefits. This I believed only leads to short term gains.

We only profit from the gains that we can see but often loses on other areas that we missed out. Take for example, an aggressive salesmen who would do everything for sales, he might be successful in bringing in sales for the short term. But he often looked at his remuneration and who well he is supposed to be paid relative to the sales that he bring in. Thereafter, when he no longer feels adequately compensated, he become distracted and his sales begin to drop.

This is a personal story, I was quite a successful banker in the finance industry. I was always the top few in my team in sales. I was doing so well that I begin to realise that everyone was beginning to copy my sales pitch. I didn't like it as I had spend time and effort in coming my own sales pitch that I didn't like it when people enjoyed the fruits of my labour. I complained to my boss but it was ineffectual as I do not have any patent of what people can say or cannot say.

I then begin to ask for more benefits since I was not able to gain any advantage from complaining. I asked for a promotion and I got it. I then begin to ask myself if I am such a valuable part of the team I should then begin to adequately compensated from other means. Since I am so important, I told my boss I wanted to be the CEO- not now but at least to be build to be one, it was preposterous but it was worth a try. My boss didn't laugh at my request but she referred to the HR department. After a while, I felt I was making a no headway in my request, I began to be distracted and my sales fell and my hunger for furthering a career in the bank begin to waned. I left the job even without a job but I got another quite quickly after quitting due to my sales record.

You see I worked very hard to get what I was and I felt that I inadequately compensated. I didn't really believed in what I was doing- I was really doing for the money, doing for own egotistical satisfaction and it was not about helping people in their financial matters. It was not about others but about myself. I failed because I don't value the people that was helping me to succeed. I was not thankful for my customers for believing in me and my bosses for pulling me up and my colleagues who were helping me in other ways. I did not realise that I was who I am because so many people had helped me along. I totally missed the big picture. Had I viewed this more positively, I would probably been a managing director now but I did not made it there because I did not do it for the right reasons and I was not prepared to make the personal sacrifices to succeed.

Hence I believed that if you put profit over everything else, it would lead you only to defeat. Just like what happen to me.

Therefore in my recent posts and my other posts, I have stressed the importance of values. When you have positive values, you will meet people that will help you towards the common goal. The strategy will settle itself. Hence when you have the right values, it is not just about monetary profit, it is about strategic or tactical profit, it is also important in politics, in economics and in business.

What then are the values that are important to be successful, firstly we must place positive performers over result performers. We must encouraged positive colleagues who often placed others before self over result performers. This will encouraged teamwork and unity in working towards a common goal over colleagues who performed very well in various metrics but are often discouraging and selfish in their  actions and care more about their own personal metrics than the team performance.

Secondly we must encourage ethical behaviour over achievement-oriented behaviour. We must be ethical in our actions rather than going all out in search of "conquests". When we do it right, we treat our customers right or our electorate right, and they will come back. When we "overcome" everyone, we only choose to convince them through external rewards, they will not be loyal neither will they stay when the goings get tough.

Lastly we must do it right over what is profitable. We must always do what is right even it is not profitable- in monetary or strategic terms. We will only attract only the right people to our organization and that's the only way to build a long-lasting institution.

Eventually with all the right people in place which are both positive and ethical, this will only leads to overperformance. The organization will be an out-performer over all other similar organizations.

In sum, and I cannot stress it further, we must placed our values over profit. Only in this way, can we have our long-term vision in place.