Your Own Worst Enemy

You are a walking advertisement for your business.

If you lie, your customers will eventually find out.  If you lie, your employees will eventually find out. Moral of the story? Don’t lie.

If you are a jerk, potential customers will find out whether you are on a business call or in the supermarket. Wherever you go, you are an advertisement for your business. So, doesn’t it make sense to present the best possible impression?

Customers aren’t only judging your words and actions while they are purchasing your product. They are watching you when they enter the store, literally or metaphorically. They are watching you solve, or not solve problems as they come up. They notice when you say something stupid in the media. They are paying attention to how you treat the clerk at the grocery store.

Employees also are watching you. They aren’t only judging your performance during typical “managerial” activities. They watch how you interact with others, both higher up and lower down on the food chain. If you’re a jerk to the person who cleans the office, it doesn’t matter how nice you are to the president of the board. In fact, if you are nice to people who can help you and nasty to those you believe to be below you, it won’t make others respect you. If you do the opposite, they might. But better yet, just be kind and respectful to everyone.

You may want to have some time off, time to yourself, time to be yourself. You can, but not in public. In any public space, you are representing the company. Act like it.