Have You Showered Today?

Written by on July 7, 2010 - 0 Comments
Categories: "Biz Soup"

When we talk about value, we often think of getting more for your money. In business we may think of increasing our value as increasing our income, or improving the product or service that we sell.

There are many places and people talking about value differently. In “Love is the killer app”, Tim Sanders talks about ‘biz luv’, and defines it as
“the act of intelligently and sensibly sharing your intangibles with your bizpartners”.
He defines the intangibles as: your knowledge, your network, and your compassion (there’s that word again:).

He refers to ‘bizpartners’ as every person in your work life. From customers, to bosses, to competitors.

What I am talking about is adding value to others as people. Not even JUST people in your work life, but all people. Afterall, it is a small world. Do you really know who will or won’t be a customer or referrer one day?

Adding value to all people, is about listening to what matters to them, and helping them in ways that don’t have anything to do with what you sell. As I discussed in my post on compassion, it is about sharing in what matters to them and contributing in some way.

Sanders talks about knowledge and the need for all of us to be continuously learning and reading in order to stay relevant in today’s world. We can no longer expect to go to college, get a degree and work at the same job for 30years. For that reason, we can no longer expect to get by on the knowledge that we acquired back in college, or expect to thrive in business with only a few friends or connections. Whether we are entrepreneurs or employees, we won’t get very far with a ‘gimme gimme gimme’ mentality.

In this economy or any other, you can’t absolutely count on one thing:
the more you share the love, and the more people you share it with, the greater your value. If you go through life “filling the buckets” of others, you will inherently fill your own.
I’m not suggesting that you ‘give to get’. I am suggesting however that you aren’t ‘spending’ your time and energy just ‘giving away’ value. The value that you give serves others, but it fulfills you as well. And when that day comes when you need an introduction, or a recommendation, or a job, or a favor, or a [fill in the blank], you can’t run around and start filling buckets then. You can’t create relationships to serve you when you need them.

Look at BP and the oil spill as an example. For years they have been working on alternative fuel initiatives. Had they been using social media, engaging and adding value to those who were interested, they could have had an avid, loyal following. They could have had a ‘tribe’ of people defending them. Obviously the spill would have still existed, but they would have had a tribe of people behind them who liked and trusted them.  Instead, they jumped on social media after the fact and ‘tried to make friends’. Didn’t work for them, won’t work for you.

So, I encourage you to ask yourself “How am I sharing the love? How can I share the love?”
Look for ways to shower others with love, and you will find them. When you bump into someone at the grocery store and they mention how hard it is sending their kids off to college, go home and send them an article or book on how to handle that. When someone mentions that they are struggling with their website, or blog, introduce them to someone who can help. If you notice someone with a problem on twitter, and you know of a website or person that could help them, jump in and offer them that information.

It isn’t hard. It simply takes some conscious effort until it becomes a habit.

You remember to brush your teeth everyday, you find the time to shower, why not make the time to ‘shower others’ with love and compassion. Fill their buckets with value, and yours will overflow!

YouTube Preview Image
 

Related Posts: