Why Do You Care?

Why do you care? Seriously, do you have an ulterior motive? Is it because of what is in it for you?

One of the bedrock philosophies of capitalism is that humans are essentially selfish and self-serving creatures, and that the 'trick' to good business is to manipulate a situation so that it is in someone's best interest to pay you for a good or service. For all the glorious rhetoric of having a "fulfilling" career, at the end of the day, most of your employees are there only because it is in your best interest to pay them,

If you want your business to be run on nobler principles, then you will have to sow something greater than just a paycheck into the lives of your employees. You will have to sow the seeds for a relationship if you want to reap loyalty, enthusiasm, and commitment. You may run a high tech service-based business, but you cannot escape one aspect of the old agrarian economy: The prerequisite for a harvest is the sowing of the seed.

On the surface, it seems counter intuitive that if you want more corn, you must first go stick what little corn you do have in the ground and leave it there a while, but that is how it works. It can seem equally counter intuitive that if you want your employees to buy into your vision for the company, you must first listen to them, but that is fundamentally how building relationships work.

It is a leadership thing. In deed, President Kennedy tapped into this very concept in his Inaugural Address. Just change his word "country" to "company" and see how it flies. "Ask not what your company can do for you - ask what you can do for your company." The next paragraph is not quoted as often, but it goes, "ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you." This was a speech designed to build a relationship with the citizenry, and it illustrates motivational leadership in getting people "on board" with the vision.

Taking the time to build mutually beneficial relationships with your employees means that you work for them as much as they work for you. And yes, caring is a little bit selfish in both directions; they will come to see that buying in to your company vision will help them too.