Friday, January 4, 2013

It's not personal, it's business


Close your eyes and imagine mixing family with business, such as hiring a friend,  or your spouse, or your mother; what comes to mind?  With varying degrees of comfort would you venture forth on such a course.  You know that person's fears and flaws, foibles and faults as well as their assets of experience and expertise.  Inevitably, you are bound by a firmer relationship which holds you both accountable to one another, and to the community that you share (your other friends and relations, classmates and congregation and colleagues). 

By common vested interest, the value of hiring a close relation can be immeasurable!  When trust and loyalty meet experience and enthusiasm, the shared vision is nigh guaranteed. 

There is a flip side.  With equal passion, and equal measure, the opposite is tempted to occur.

What this deepening of the relationship does is test the strength, durability and quality of the material which binds you together.  Like tug-of-war, each of you will be tested by your own merits and faults throughout the course of the relationship.  Will you be able to balance and endure one another so neither of you fall into the slimy pit?  You will if you both thoughtfully attempt equilibrium. 

When you fall, become unbalanced, (for no one is expected to be perfect at all times) is your partner able to lift you up without becoming unbalanced as well?  Will you be able to be forgiven, or will your stumbles be counted like pebbles in a jar, adding up in your partner's mind to be thrown against you in a weak moment of their own?  Will you be able to be the one who forgives when it is asked of you?

Entering a business relationship with a close friend or family member takes trust and constant assessment on both sides.  It is work on a different level, and the benefits are full of grand potential.  Now, close your eyes and imagine that your employee is your brother.  What comes to mind, this time?

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