As Jeff Haden says on Inc.com: “Some business principles come and go. Fortunately, there are some business principles you can use forever.”
Here are Haden’s eight enduring business principles:
- “Look past the messenger and focus on the message. When people speak from a position of position of power or authority or fame, it’s tempting to place greater emphasis on their input, advice, and ideas. That approach works to a point. Never discount the message because you discount the messenger. Good advice is good advice — regardless of the source.”
- “Focus on collecting knowledge. Continually striving to gain more experience, more experience, and more knowledge is the second-best way to succeed.”
- “Focus on collecting knowledgeable people. You can’t know everything. But you can know enough smart people that together you know almost everything.”
- “Give before receiving. When we network, we want something. But, especially at first, never ask for what you want. Forget about what you want and focus on what you can give. Giving is the only way to establish a real relationship and a lasting connection.”
- “Always work on next. No matter how successful you are today, always have a next in your pipeline.”
- “Eat as many of your words as you can. Own every mistake, every miscue, and every failure. Say you made a mistake. Say you messed up. Say it to other people, but more importantly, look in the mirror and say it to yourself. Then commit to making sure that next time things will turn out very differently.”
- “Turn ideas into actions. The word ‘idea’ should be a verb, not a noun, because no idea is real until you turn that inspiration into action.”
- “Occasionally we all need to lighten up.”
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Two points within these eight enduring business principles really stuck with me. The first one that stuck out to me was “Eat as many of your words as you can”. I think it is extremely important for all people to have the ability to admit that they were wrong, even though it is sometimes an extremely hard thing to do. By doing so, you are turning yourself into a better person and showing that you have enough dignity to admit your wrongdoing. The last principle also stuck with me because it needs no explanation and, in my opinion, is the most important if you want to live a successful life.
Jeff Haden suggests that these eight business principles are ones you can always depend on for guidance. Although some of them are definitely viable, I am sure there are points made by others in the business world who think the principles they highlight are equally important to one’s finding success. He says that “Good advice is good advice regardless of the source” and advises that we should never discount the message just because we discount the messenger. I think that advice would be hard for some people to follow. Usually when we have a negative impression of someone, it is hard to give credibility to their suggestions and opinions. His other points seem more solid and reliable. I particularly like his last two principles which are “Turn ideas into action” and “Occasionally we all need to lighten up.
From the standpoint of someone who is not directly involved in business activities daily, these points serve as encouragement along with the “if you can believe it, you can achieve it” ideology. Of course, as a businessperson one would definitely have to focus on maintaining strong relationships with the right people and being direct and sincere since you can’t move up the success ladder alone. And as always, must be lucky enough to meet the right people to help along the way.