What’s at Stake in Your Business?

I had a long, fascinating talk with a business coach yesterday. Which led to this little thought experiment.

Imagine that you make a mistake in the course of running your business and that mistake resulted in someone almost dying.

Example No. 1 “New Hope for Cancer South of the Border”

Let’s say a reputable magazine publishes a story about a breakthrough cancer treatment that’s happening at a clinic in Mexico. “New Hope for Pancreatic Cancer South of the Border”. Experts are cited. Patients are interviewed. Testimonials abound. Sick people flock south.

But there’s a little mistake. The research is flawed. The testimonials are fakes. This clinic is nothing more than a crew of negligent, incompetents intent on getting sick Americans to part with their greenbacks. Two people take a quick turn for the worse. The publisher, and the writer, have made a serious mistake and almost cost two people their lives.

Example No. 2 – The Unhappy Auto Mechanic
A car mechanic is seriously distracted by personal and financial woes and one fine day makes a big, bone headed mistake with someone’s brakes. His customer drives away and soon thereafter gets into a serious accident. Thankfully, in this thought experiment, no one gets hurt.

Now consider physicians and nurses, airline pilots, military people and all those other folks whose work can so often mean life or death. When those folks make mistakes, people can die. Lives are on the line.

Now think about your own business - what do you do everyday to keep your self happy and afloat? And, more important, what are the stakes for your customers?

For most of us, the stakes are not life or death. But if you think about it for a few more minutes, you’ll realize that the stakes are probably higher than you might realize. If I write a crummy headline, no one will die, but my client loses business, my own reputation suffers, and to stretch this further, I’m not exactly helping my profession, either. If you sell someone a mortgage they can’t afford, the stakes are very high. Sadly, we’ve seen this one play out, and it’s not over yet.

So this business coach said to me, “This is very serious for me. I take this so seriously because I’m dealing with people’s livelihoods, with mortgage payments and so on.” She went on to say that for her the work of coaching a business owner was a very, very big responsibility. And in all the important ways, I believed her.

For her, my livelihood, my ability to make mortgage payments, my ability to fulfill my professional potential along with her own professional reputation was at stake. How could I not hire someone like that?

So, what’s at stake in your business? Would love to hear from you.