Awesome Martha Arifin has been one of those characters who stand by you. Very lucky to be friends with an amazing operator like her and this article is dedicated to her!
“Bad People”, “Good People” are common labels we hear to describe people. Especially in the media and our society’s zeitgeist – we all seem to love really labeling people. I am not saying this is good or bad, more that this is what we seem wired to do.
If someone does something great, we label them positively and if someone does something very bad – we can vilify them. Not just what I learnt in my Government Days and saw on the streets, but also thinking back to my original Under-Graduate Degree in Applied Science (with a double major in Chemistry). When people get labelled “Bad”, especially in the context of one of my most favourite Marketing Strategies “Business Networking” this can often lead to lots of trouble for them. I don’t just mean socially either, if someone gets renowned as someone “Unreliable, Shonky or just not a nice person” – that can mean the end to all their referrals and whatever monetary gain they were deriving from that particular networking group.
I did quite a few Biology and Biochemistry subjects and although I wasn’t a massive fan of most that area of science, I clicked with the concept of Evolution and how development of a species occurs. Even though I was 19 I think when I first studied Biology at the Academic level, it made perfect sense to me and seemed to explain what I had observed in my quite short-lived life span (now talking as an old 35 year old Persian man LOL).
The concept of evolution was adaptive evolution, which is is how a species change over time in response to their environment. As directly quoted from Wikipeida:
– “Adaptation refers to both the current state of being adapted and to the dynamic evolutionary process that leads to the adaptation. Adaptations contribute to the fitness and survival of individuals. Organisms face a succession of environmental challenges as they grow and develop and are equipped with an adaptive plasticity as the phenotype of traits develop in response to the imposed conditions.”
If the science speak doesn’t float your boat, in short it means:
– Species adapt to change or die out.
I know that sounds a bit Peter Jackson dark of me, but it’s very true and has not only been observed in nature – you can see it playing out in Business and also Personal Relationships. Talking Small Businesses, Large businesses and the like I can demonstrate evolution quite easily:
– Betamax, Blackberry, Nokia
– Apple, Microsoft, Westfields
Speaking more positively and talking big winners, Apple, Microsoft and Westfields (a massive Australia based Global Shopping Mall / “Galleria” company) – these companies do make their mistakes YES, but are always leaders of their field. Steve Jobs saved Apple several times through innovation and talking the Westfield’s Story – they just did it “better” than everyone else and kept expanding and expanding.
Even on a more tactical level, Westfield’s were the first Malls to prominently put couches in! Now everyone else is doing it – giving fatigued shoppers a chance to tune out and recover to only get up and punish their Credit Cards that bit extra. Blackberry? Remember them? They owned the market and was the first decent phone based email platform. Now they are fighting for their very lives.
Small Businesses are no different and in fact our advantage is that we can move faster. If something isn’t working we can change it, sometimes within mere seconds and keep doing that till we get the Marketing Results and Sales success that we want.
Talking more on a personal front (which of course has a massive impact on business, especially if you are doing business with them) I have really noticed how:
– “Good People” turn bad and “Bad People” can turn good!
I have seen this play out quite a few times in 2013 and even though 2014 has just started at the time of writing this article – I have had “Good” turn “Bad” on me already! On a funny note too, I have known people that I don’t really like and judged early – and THEY TURNED OUT TO BE AWESOME! I think there are several mechanisms going on. Firstly we all can judge too early, be it positive or negative. We can assume a not so good person is wonderful and vice versa – so it’s always great to give people a fair shot – and of course be trusting, but don’t expose yourself too much! (Especially if there is a business risk, i.e. you accidentally refer someone bad to one of your clients!).
I am more giving commentary to when people change. Everyone changes and if you go back to Adaptive Evolution it’s either change for the better or change for the worse. I have seen questionable characters look themselves in the mirror and come back for the better, seen great “Friends” screw you over when circumstances suit them – but interestingly, you know they are now somehow “Different” and the original friend you made with them would NEVER EVER have done that.
And the good news? The people that change for the better’s bank accounts quite often are much healthier in a few months. No-body likes buying off mean people and will avoid it if there is a better “Nicer and Friendlier” alternative!
My great friend Simona told me this one quote which I really appreciate to this day:
– Always judge people by their actions. That is really what they are thinking.
Purely brilliant! If a friend is at your side it says one thing, if they move on from you as several have on me – they can really say whatever they like, but you know. Doesn’t feel good, but their actions speak very loudly! Positive or negative, I think it’s vital to listen to what they are really saying and you pick and choose your circle accordingly!
For me, I am very keen on my awesome friends in business and beyond to want to be with me and I more keen on what they actually do. I believe in giving first and if they are around and reciprocating – they are awesome. If they enjoy taking then move on – then I like listening to that too! They are either taking advantage of my good nature or having a giggle – and that’s okay!
Your real friends will be at your side when the game isn’t so much going your way and I have seen that so much throughout the year – and of course my fine start to 2014! My advice to all for 2014? Have an open heart, be the first to give, the wrong ones may use you and move on – but the majority are totally awesome loving people and I promise you will have plenty surrounding you.
Thank you again for reading this article from The Edward Files and if you like what you see, make sure you check out my Awesome Marketing Vault – A Top Online Course full of Powerhouse Sales & Marketing Strategies.
God Bless and have a brilliant day everyone!
Edward Zia – Marketing Mentor who stands with Awesome Operators x x
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