White Papers & Articles

As generations continue to evolve in our country so do the thoughts and feelings of people in present day. 

One thing that has been consistent through the years is the questioning of authority across all sectors: government, public and private.  Those who are in a position of authority certainly have a tough job ahead of them as they are constantly under fire by the very people they claim to serve, whether its justified or not.

Which leads me to an important question: Does questioning authority help or hurt us?

Let’s examine some current situations in our country:

Wells Fargo Scandal
Wells certainly isn’t the first bank to ever have dealt with a large scandal.  Most of us recall the recent recession where banks by the hundreds got rich off of consumers thanks to unscrupulous business practices.  Nothing new here.  What is new with the Wells Fargo scandal is that it went on for a period of five years with almost zero questioning by internal management.  Customers were certainly questioning Wells aggressive sales tactics however I’ve not been able to find one single instance of an internal person in management which stood up and said, “this isn’t right”.  Two comments are appropriate here: 1) it’s highly possible this did happen it just hasn’t been publicly released; 2) when you’re an internal employee it can be incredibly scary to blow the whistle on your own employer, especially when your employer is the largest banking institution in the world.  In this case, the lack of questioning authority proved to be harmful as thousands of customers were negatively impacted, jobs lost and countless tax payer dollars will be spent and wasted dragging this banking giant through the legal system.

CDC & DTaP Vaccine
In June of 2016 the CDC (Center for Disease Control) announced in a 13 page report that one of the nationally required vaccines, DTaP - which all children are required to take to enter school, has now been linked to cause autism.  In 2016 it is expected that 1 in 68 children will develop autism in comparison to 1 in 150 in the year 2000.  Autism is a major issue within our country with its occurrence rate doubling over the last 15 years.  While this information is still very new to the general public it was eventually brought to the surface thanks to hundreds, if not thousands, of parents who stood up and demanded transparency from our government.  In this case, questioning authority has proven to be helpful as the general public will now have more transparent information in which to make decisions by.

Societal Altercations with Law Enforcement
It’s a tough time in our country to be in law enforcement.  It’s equally tough for many of our fellow Americans who feel their rights have been stricken from them as a result of discrimination.  Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on its one of the most sensitive topics in our country today.  As shootings during police altercations continue it’s increasingly difficult to discern what is justified versus what is crossing the line, infringing on the rights of the common person.  When we question authority in these moments it is vital that we do so with a quest for transparency and truth. This is why I believe Martin Luther King Jr. was so successful as he believed violence was not the answer toward successful activism and change.  As a result he was able to lead our country through some of the largest equality reforms in our nations history.  In this instance questioning authority is appropriate however the way we go about it can either support or diminish our cause which is why it’s important to think before we act. 

Kaepernick Takes A Knee
Colin Kaepernick, NFL Pro Quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, started a movement which makes a statement about the inequalities within our country, addressing the law enforcement altercations mentioned above.  While he certainly has the right to a peaceful protest are his actions impacting change or causing further issues?  Furthermore is the forum in which he’s doing it, employed by private organization (which the NFL is), appropriate?  While I may not agree with all the things that go on in our country I still respect the flag and our national anthem as they symbolize the freedoms which were brought about by men and women who gave their lives so we could enjoy a life of choice in this country.  There are plenty of other countries in this world who have much harsher living conditions, sometimes I think we forget how good we have it here even with our current day challenges.  Are there equality reforms which need to be made, certainly, but we can’t lose sight of what’s important just to make a point.   In this situation I believe Kaepernick’s questioning of authority and the way he is going about it is actually counterproductive to what his original cause is.

I’m a believer that questioning authority or the status quo for that matter is always a necessity however perhaps the real question isn’t ‘Does questioning authority help or hurt us?’  Perhaps the better question is ‘What is the best way to go about questioning authority to drive actual change?’ 

​Please feel free to share your thoughts and remember to be respectful of other people’s views – it’s what ultimately makes this country great.
 

​Assumption is the KILLER of opportunity. 

When we assume we make stories up in our heads about what our experience or expectations should be.  In business the act of assumption can lead to major loss of opportunity simply because many of us aren’t aware we’re making the mistake in the first place.

Many of us do this, including me!

Last week I had the opportunity to attend an interesting workshop put on by Mark Leblanc, small business guru, author and keynote speaker.  Marc’s approach to success in the small business world was straight forward – take things one step at a time and measure your success constantly.

Throughout the morning Mark covered a variety of topics ranging from the 9 best small business practices to high value activities.  As the morning came to a close I caught myself laughing as I had recently committed one of the simplest mistakes people can make in business.  I didn’t just do one of them, I did both on Mark’s list which he refers to as the ‘Two Deadly Business Sins’.

Are you an assumption sinner?

Business Deadly Sin #1:
If my customer wrote me a check once they’ll call me if they need me again

Business Deadly Sin #2:
If my customer wrote me a check once they automatically know all that we can do for them

(note:  the word ‘customer’ is meant to reference an actual external customer however it can also be considered an internal colleague, cross functional team or business unit if you do not interact with external customers)

The first of our two delightful sins points at the assumption that if we’ve done business with a  customer once they will “of course call us back the next time they need help”.  This couldn’t be farther from the truth yet so many of us in sales, services, entrepreneurship, small business, you name it, fall victim to this fallacy. 

Mark further shared with us that it’s not uncommon for our customers to think “Matt hasn’t called me in a couple months, he must not want to do business with us any further.”  The assumption on Matt’s end that the customer will just call him when they’re ready furthers the issue as Matt doesn’t follow up leading the customer to believe he’s no longer interested in their business.  For Pete’s sake!  That couldn’t be farther from the truth it’s just Matt doesn’t know it yet.

The second deadly sin addresses the assumption that if you’ve done business with a client once they should then automatically know every aspect of your business, where you can help them and where you can’t.

If you’ve ever had a customer say “Gosh Jillian, I didn’t even know you offered that type of service.  We would have loved to work with you but we just signed up your competitor because we weren’t aware you could help us in that area.”  It’s like getting slapped in the face with a wet leather belt which leaves a welt for weeks.  Your customer, who self admittedly loves working with you, went to your competitor for help simply because they didn’t know you could help them.  Ouch. (and yes, I’ve actually done this more than once)

So how do we remedy this?

Let’s start by focusing on never assuming about the relationships you may or may not have with your customers or what they know about your product or service.  It’s always better to pick up the phone and call rather than wait for the phone to ring on your end.  Take the initiative!

When speaking with your customer ask questions about how their business is doing and which areas they need help in the most to best determine how your product or service can be a value add to their pain points.  Remind them often about what you do and how you do it.  Be consistent!