[Tom Peters] Women get it

Relationships are the hardest part… It sounds like a Celine Dion song, but Tom Peters, speaking live in Midrand today, 12 March 2008, emphasises that relationships are the hardest and most essential part of successful business, not the number crunching or plans. And women get it, he says, better than men.

Men are only useful for a couple of things, he says, but only really good at one thing – violence. Of course he’s generalising and trying to deal with humility as to the constraints in the modern workplace, which is still, let’s face it, dominated by men. So it’s only fair that men get the blame for most of what has gone wrong then? (I can see his point.)

The really really hard stuff in business is relationships (values, people, customers, but primarily relationships).

The hard numbers, plans, etc, have got to be there… “But the way you make money is because of the relationships with your clients.”

He spoke at length about the ROI (return on investment) in relationships (with customers, colleagues).

“I am a guy, you know, at the end of the day. It is news to guys that relationships are important. Women carry it with them. So consider this part of the presentation for the boys…”

He relates the following… There once was a time when a three-minute phone call would have avoided setting off the downward spiral that resulted in a complete rupture in a relationship. But ego gets in the way and people don’t make the call, because it wasn’t their damn fault and why should they call?

“A lot of things have gone south in my life that could have been set back on track with a three-minute phone call. We should set aside time at the end of each day to make a couple of three minute phone calls.” The only thing that gets in the way is ‘he started it’… Then you lose the customer.

“I believe the problem is never the problem… the response to the problem invariably ends up being the real problem,” peters emphasises.

Next time, try… “I screwed up”, says Peters. It is one of the most powerful things in the world to apologise for things you didn’t do, or were only partly responsible for. Take the moral high ground next time, he says.