September Newsletter
September Theme: People Over Profits
Hello PFP’ers! We hope you had an amazing summer and are looking forward to the changing of the leaves right around the corner.
This newsletter’s theme is “People Over Profits.” We’ve seen from leaders, like Sir Richard Branson, the incredible business outcomes that can be achieved by focusing on putting our employees first. Sir Branson’s equation was Employee Happiness -> Employee Productivity -> Company Profitability.
Companies with leaders who are high in EQ tend to show empathy, caring, and understanding for their employees, which has a 78% correlation to high levels of corporate employee engagement according to Gallup.
Organizations with highly engaged employees report high productivity, profitability, lower turnover, and more, according to a TalentSmart 2018 study of the global workplace.
We will introduce some resources to further explore the value of putting people over profits in the business world, recap recent events and it's never too early to start talking about SantaCause2!
Mark Your Calendar:
Speaker Series: Networking with Purpose - HQ Raleigh - TOMORROW! October 9th - Register Here
The Santa Cause 2 - Marbles Kids Museum - December 10th Tickets are Live Here!
Recap: August Networking Best Practices Event
PFP has made a purposeful change to our quarterly networking events going forward. Previously we delivered general networking meet and greets with the goal of connecting like-minded, driven professionals in the local area.
Beginning with our August networking event and going forward, PFP networking events will have a specific enablement topic focused on networking best practices. We then have a call to action with our attendees to leverage the best practices discussed.
On August 21st at HQ Raleigh, we talked specifically about best practices you can use to remember people’s names in networking and social settings. The fear of forgetting a new connection’s name creates lots of anxiety and limits personal connections during networking events, so we wanted to provide guidance and confidence for our members who are looking to build their network.
Some of the tips we reviewed:
Commit: you must mentally commit to remembering people’s names. Take a deep breath and commit to yourself, “I will make it a focus to remember people’s names,” before you go into a networking event.
Repeat: repeat people’s names to yourself and use their name regularly in conversation. Most importantly, use their name when the conversation ends and you part ways. It not only creates a lasting impression (we all know our favorite word; our name) but it also is a proven way to maximize name retention.
Connect: try to find ways to connect the individual’s name, to their person. Maybe you know another “Bob” that looks like the Bob you just met. Maybe something about their name has a ring to it that you can connect to a short rhyme or somehow resembles their physical appearance. Just find mental landmarks to connect the name to the person.
Book Review: People Over Profit: Break the System, Live with Purpose, Be More Successful
By Dale Partridge
Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/People-Over-Profit-Purpose-Successful-ebook/dp/B00PWOH1BA
As the Founder of Sevenly and never-ending entrepreneur, Dale Partridge is always sharing the knowledge he has gained from his extensive experience of starting businesses. His current project, StartupCamp, encourages and equips people to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.
This book provides the perfect blueprint for creating a "people over profit" company or transforming your workplace into one. The business principles introduced challenge everyone to think differently about the bottom line, and every principle has been tried and proven by Sevenly's existence and overwhelming success.
So, here are ten takeaways from the book:
The world of business is changing - don't get left behind.
We are stuck in a vicious cycle, so take time to learn how to break free.
Recognize the value of people.
Understand why honesty is always the best policy.
Learn how to be vulnerable and accessible.
Realize everyone must stay true to who they are.
Develop and maintain quality standards.
Be generous without intention of getting something in return.
Identify and overcome fear.
Make "good" in every aspect of your life
Monthly Challenge:
Where am I guilty of putting profit over people in my life?
PFP wants to challenge our members to take a look in the mirror and think about ways they might be contributing to the issue. So we challenge you to take these 4 steps:
Focus on one area/relationship: Customers, Co-workers, direct reports, people in your ecosystem, etc.
Think about different times in the last few months when you may have put “profits” over the people in your life. Did I get a sale, but at the expense of someone else’s business? Maybe I had a successful customer event, but the way I managed the event put tremendous amounts of extra work on the marketing team. Did I deliver a project for a customer knowing that it wouldn’t completely satisfy the customer’s needs?
Put yourself in their shoes: How did my decision affect their life/job? How might our relationship have been negatively impacted and how does that change affect me?
Address it with them directly. Recap the situation, admit you didn’t think about the impact to them, apologize and find ways that you can help them.
This will help you drive more fulfilling relationships and more purpose in your career. Most importantly, this is a chance to repair a relationship you may not even have realized was damaged, which will open more doors and create more opportunities regardless of what you do for a living.
Video: Philanthropy Update with Austin Wiser
Around the Web:
Corporate Social Responsibility Comes Before Profit, 180 Top U.S. CEOs Declare
The article begins with “Corporate America is responsible for providing economic benefits to all, not just its investors, the Business Roundtable group said on Monday.”
We at PFP could not agree more but this sentiment flies in the face of a 30 year-long ethos that corporation’s sole purpose is to service shareholders. So it's fascinating to hear leaders from the likes of Amazon, JPMC and American Airlines about face.
This group-commitment has been met with a lot of pushback from investors, but these CEO’s continue to live by their statements made about the importance of shifting “how we treat and care for our people in a tight labor market.”
“The statement outlined five commitments, including to invest in employees by providing fair wages and “important benefits,” support communities and “protect the environment.”
So is this a sign that the world’s largest companies are committed to change or just another marketing ploy?
What do you think?
