Now Tagainya and Tesfa are businessmen…very successful businessmen. They are from two different generations as Tesfa is about 75 years old and Tagainya is about 40 years old.
Tesfa is retired now but he owned and ran a shop for years…again very successfully. His shop sold a wide variety of items from food to clothes to hardware and all things in between. Now he had slow times and fast times but on the whole he was extremely successful and set up his family well.
Tagainya is in his prime as a businessman. He owns a rice factory, two gas stations and is building a hotel. He has a family too…a wife and two kids…and if you ask him he would say his life is wonderful!
When you look at either of these two men they seem to have little stress. They both smile a lot, joke around a lot and are always reaching out to help others. I am very impressed with them and enjoy my time with them.
Of course, since I am always curious about leadership and business, during the many conversations I have had with them I asked them - separately - what their secret was. Why did they think they were so successful in business.
Each man - remember they’re from 2 different generations and been through different business climates - both gave the exact same answer.
And it came in one word
Respect
I couldn’t let it sit at just one word so I asked for more. They didn’t give much more because they said it is so simple.
Respect those who work for you and they will treat the business like it is their own
Respect those who you do business with and they will give you fair deals
Respect those who buy from you and they will keep coming back.
Oh…I forgot to tell you one thing…
Tagainya and Tesfa are from Ethiopia. Their businesses are located in Ethiopia in an area that would be considered…well…very poor by our standards. But these two men are rich in both the conventional way of thinking of the word and by how you would describe their lives.
Other businesses in the area come and go…rise and fall - or fail. But Tesfa stayed in business for over 50 years and Tagainya’s businesses are successful even by American standards.
And they give the credit to
Respect
And remember what they said - if you treat those who work for you with respect they will treat your business like it’s their business.
A case in point - Tagainya can’t be at all of his business each day. He relies on his people. Each evening one of his workers brings him the daily receipts…in a cloth bag. I asked Tagainya if he has any idea how much money should be in the bag. See there are no cash registers in his business and it’s all a cash business. Tagainya says “nope…I have no idea.” I ask him if he’s worried about that. Again he replies, “Nope.” And he goes on to say that with the respect he gives his team he absolutely never worries about how they will take care of his business.
And it works…
See…the bag of money…in it there is generally between $5000 to $20,000 and it would be so easy to “lose” some of it. But no worries…
Wow
Oh…I forgot to talk about Manny. You guys may know Manny. He was a Major League baseball player - Manny Ramirez - and he had one of the best bats in the game. He made a lot of money and played for 5 different teams.
However, Manny had some issues. His issues weren’t with swinging the bat…again he is considered on of the best right handed bats ever in the game…his issues were with just about everything else. There was even a phrase coined…”Manny Being Manny.” See Manny was so good at what he did that people put up with his issue by shrugging them off as Manny Being Manny.
But where Tagainya and Tesfa showed respect…Manny did not.
He didn’t show respect for the game.
He didn’t show respect to his teammates.
He didn’t show respect to his talent.
And the teams he played for soon grew weary of Manny Being Manny and no matter how great his bat was they were willing to trade him away.
Manny Being Manny wears on a team…
So…do you have Manny’s in your store or do you have Tagainya’s and Tesfa’s? I bet you have both.
Are you a Manny or a Tesfa or Tagainya? I am sure in our own management ranks we have both.
The reason I’m talking about this today…well I was planning on talking about this sometime in the future but today seemed like a good time. And I say that because on Tuesday I went to a conference - a big HR conference here in Atlanta - and one of the speakers talked about respect. I took it as a sign that the time was right for me to talk about Tagainya, Tesfa and Manny.
Do you and your team show respect or accept Manny being Manny?
See like the Boston Red Sox…like the LA Dodgers…we can’t accept Manny being Manny anymore. Our culture is changing and to solidify that culture we can’t afford Manny’s in our operation. No matter how well they give you numbers - Manny hit a lot of home runs - they will wear on your people…they’ll wear on their co-workers and destroy the culture you’re trying to create.
Again…do you and your team show respect or are you accepting Manny being Manny
One will help your business the other will hurt it…
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