Grow everything in your path

A Recent Blog from One of My Favorite Thinkers...
http://sanderssays.typepad.com/sanders_says/

If you want to succeed in business or life, grow everything in your path. 

If you are a manager, grow the people that report to you.  Make them smarter, more confident, healthier and happier.  (In that order)  If you are a service provider, grow your customers and partners by being generous and mentoring.  If you are a company, leave more than you take.  Find ways to create more value than just money. 

That's what it means to truly be green - To grow everything in your path.  I find it ironic when companies claim to "go green" when they are really just being less bad or a little less harmful.  They shave some carbon impact off their product.  They recycle a part of the packaging.  They send a portion of the profits to a charity.  While they do this, they browbeat their suppliers, over work and under pay their talent and decimate smaller local competitors.  I'll say it again: you are green when you grow.  

This is a philosophy that should permeate everything you do and every transaction where business meets people.  As you work today, ask yourself: Is there an opportunity to grow somebody today?  Can I teach, share, inspire or provoke someone to stretch today?  Can I introduce a few people to each other and improve their quality of their networks? 

As I've shared before, life insurance sales pro  Elmer Letterman <http://sanderssays.typepad.com/sanders_says/2009/07/a-networking-plan-for-success.html> made this a way of business life.  He shared his wisdom and his address book to all customers, partners and prospects -- and he grew quite a market for himself in NYC> 

All too often, we capture value and share it with our workers and vendors.  We figure that by paying them their "fair share," we are managing the system well.  Wrong.  Sometimes, our "employees" or "vendors" have needs that go beyond dollars and cents.  If they suddenly lose confidence or focus, we capture much less value - and everyone suffers.  

Think of this philosophy as a holistic way of doing business:  First you grow the people, then the business grows from the people's energy, then you grow the people more to adapt to the new (bigger) world. Measure the growth (knowledge, network, confidence) of each person year over year and judge your leadership strength from the year over year improvements to "their personal resume."  

This is the path to real sustainability in business.