Do They Pass Your “Doorway Test?” Do You Pass Theirs?
Right now, think about each of the people you depend on to make your business run: Partners, employees, customers, suppliers, vendors, contractors, landlord. What’s going through your mind?
- Is your relationship with each of them moving your business in the direction you want it to go?
- Does each of them demonstrate a real interest in helping you succeed?
- Do your actions show you care about helping them achieve their goals?
- If you have written contracts, are they up-to-date and do they reflect your current expectations of your relationships?
- Are the unwritten rules of engagement that have developed as a matter of habit, productive and constructive to that relationship?
- When he or she appears in your doorway, do you brighten up at the prospect of an interesting and constructive interaction or do you brace yourself for a tedious conversation you wish would end as soon as possible?
It may sound kind of arbitrary, but here’s the thing: Whether or not you ask this question consciously, you’re asking it subconsciously about everyone you do business with — and they’re asking it about you!
Whether we like it or not, we’re making thumbs up/thumbs down evaluations about whether our relationships with others are positive and productive. And they’re doing the same with us. That means we have to pay close attention to how we treat each other in each and every interaction.
Think about your last interaction. Pay attention to your next interaction: Are you doing everything you can to make it the best it can be?