There Are Only Two Ways

No matter the business or organization, they all have this in common when it comes to employees and the value they represent. Employees either save the entity money or they make the entity money. These are the only Two Ways to justify your existence.

If you are in a revenue generating function the evaluation is pretty straight forward. Your worth to the organization is equal to the revenue you generate. For every dollar they pay you, you must generate between ten and twenty dollars in sales at a minimum. This is called the; "cost-or-sale" and will have dynamic range based on the industry, company's development status, competition and other factors. That is why; if you can't sell, you can't stay.

If you are in a position that does not directly generate revenue you must be so productive and flexible and adaptive that the company does not need to hire someone else to help you get your job done well and on time. Demands on companies change all of the time and these changes will absolutely result in your function changing. To the extent that you are willing and capable of adapting, your worth will be measured and improved.

Companies and organizations are only as good as the people they employ and the people they do business with. The difference is where the control lies. Companies control the people in the building (employees) and have no control of the people outside the building (customers) and that is why they can only have two types of people in the building; they that make the company money and they that save the company money. Which are you?

Mother

My Mother was, without question, the most influential person during my formative years. She reared six children without much help from my Father. She worked, at times, three jobs to make ends meet. She always looked professional and was always on time to her job. She rode the city bus and took her meager lunch in a brown paper bag. Every day she would get up and prepare breakfast for her six children. We ate a loaf of bread and consumed a gallon of milk every day for breakfast. Often the milk was the powdered kind because it was cheaper. Mom either made us lunch to take to school or would give us enough change to buy lunch or she would buy a book of lunch-tickets. Mostly in the early years of school, we took our lunch because it was cheaper. Mom cooked dinner.

My Mother always had too much to do but she never missed a Little League game, or school play or open house or teacher conference (although I wished she would have taken a pass on the stressful teacher conference events) or a Boy Scout important event or a speech tournament or a choir performance or anything that was important to me and I was one of six. Mom never missed signing my report card or responding to the teachers when I behaved badly, which was far too often. She never missed a chance to discipline me when I deserved it. I was probably the most challenging child she had, but she never let me know it. She was the ultimate multi-task driven person. We never missed a meal and we never wore dirty clothes. She had a washing machine and a dryer but she often hung the clothes on the clothes-line to save money. We had one phone and one bathroom and she regulated and directed traffic for the use of both of these critical areas of our lives. She took me to work and picked me up.

Mother always expected more out of me than I gave because she saw more in me that I did. Now many years after she is gone, I am writing to tell you and remind me what a remarkable person she was. She taught me to get up every day, put your left foot in front of your right foot and start walking.

Mother prayed continually for me and her prayers were answered. The answer has a name: Norma. She taught me to dress and act like I owned the place and always behave like God was watching, which of course He is.

Discipline

There is simply no getting around it. If you are going to be really good at what you do you are going to have to do, whatever it is, repeatedly and improve every time you do it. Additionally if you are going to endeavor to learn something new that will add to your skill-set, you are going to have devote time on a regular basis that is focused on that effort. Both of these objectives: getting better at what you do and learning something new, are going to demand discipline.

Discipline means that you are focused and dedicated and that you are going to accomplish your task without allowing anything to get in your way. One step at a time, always moving in the direction of your goals, will demand-discipline. When you have made the connection to the value of discipline you have made a giant step in accomplishing your goals and becoming more successful. In order to get something you are going to have to give something. When you are disciplined you are committing to a greater level of achievement because you are willing to focus and make the time to make thing happen. Giving up a few things that are less important and devoting the time to new and more important efforts, is a great trade, one that will require tour discipline, focus and commitment. Discipline of the right kind, creates good habits that will serve you well in life and in business.