{"id":425,"date":"2014-12-17T10:00:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-17T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=425"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","slug":"in-your-business-decisions-risk-only-money-never-people-or-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/in-your-business-decisions-risk-only-money-never-people-or-relationships\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIn your business decisions, risk only money . . . never people or relationships.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Business is all about relationships, isn\u2019t it?<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We need strong relationships with:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Employees.\u00a0 We set policies and give direction, but it\u2019s our employees who do the work and get stuff done.\u00a0 We will get their best, most energetic, most creative efforts only if we\u2019ve nurtured the right relationships with them.<\/li>\n<li>Vendors.\u00a0 If we\u2019ve taken the time to forge strong relationships with them, when we really need them to perform for us, they will.<\/li>\n<li>Customers.\u00a0 We don\u2019t want customers to bolt at the first bump in the road or for a few cents difference in price.\u00a0 With a good relationship, they won\u2019t.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So it behooves us to learn everything we can about building strong, lasting relationships.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Below is an idea for building relationships that you will probably find surprising . . . maybe even unorthodox . . . but if you\u2019d like to learn about it, please read on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cIn your business decisions, risk only money . . . never people or relationships.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Jack DeBoer, Businessman<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Al Ritter is a friend and colleague who speaks and consults on leadership issues, and who has also published several books on leadership.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In one of those books, \u201cThe 100\/0 Principle,\u201d my friend Al takes a very counter-intuitive position.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He says that the secret to forming strong, enduring relationships is to take 100% of the responsibility for the relationship.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That\u2019s counter-intuitive because most of us think in terms of a 50\/50 relationship wherein both parties share equally in the responsibility for nurturing the relationship . . . if you trust me, I\u2019ll trust you back;<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">if you treat me with dignity and respect, I\u2019ll respond in kind;<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">if you\u2019re a good friend to me, I\u2019ll be a good friend to you.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But Al says no, if the relationship is important and you really want it to work, the way to do it is to take 100% of the responsibility for the relationship on yourself, expecting nothing in return from the other party.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Let me repeat that.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You discipline yourself to expect nothing in return.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Pretty crazy, huh?<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Well, maybe not so crazy when you hear the thinking behind it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here\u2019s the problem with a 50\/50 relationship as my friend Al explains it.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We enter the relationship with the <\/span><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">expectation<\/span><\/span><\/em><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> that the other person will hold up his or her end of the bargain.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">When that doesn\u2019t happen, we feel betrayed, frustrated, disappointed, and even angry . . . not the sort of feelings on which to build a good, long-term relationship.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On the other hand, when we take responsibility for 100% of the relationship, we can avoid those negative feelings . . . there are no unrealized expectations to trigger them because we didn\u2019t have any expectations in the first place. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">One of the keys to this is dogged persistence.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You need to continue to nurture your 100% of the relationship even when the other person doesn\u2019t deserve it.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Be the better person.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cKill \u2018em with kindness\u201d as the old expression goes.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Or remind yourself of the Ed Harris line from the movie, \u201cApollo 13\u201d when he said, \u201cFailure is not an option.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This is the way we forge relationships with our children, isn\u2019t it?<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We offer them our unconditional love.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They may disappoint us or anger us from time to time, but we love them anyway.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Al would suggest this is the 100\/0 principle at work.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It\u2019s the \u201cno strings attached\u201d principle.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The more \u201cstrings\u201d (expectations) you attach to the relationship, the less likely that it will flourish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In his book, Al makes a much more powerful case for his 100\/0 principle than I\u2019ve been able to do in a few words here.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It\u2019s not a big book, and it\u2019s a very easy read, but it\u2019s packed with compelling arguments that support the 100\/0 principle, thoughts for how you can implement it, and stories that demonstrate the power of it.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">You should read it.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Even if you think your relationship-building skills are pretty sharp, you\u2019ll find something in \u201cThe 100\/0 Principle\u201d to make you even better.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Guaranteed.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Business is all about relationships, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 We need strong relationships with: Employees.\u00a0 We set policies and give direction, but it\u2019s our employees who do the work and get stuff done.\u00a0 We will get their best, most energetic, most creative efforts only if we\u2019ve nurtured the right relationships with them. Vendors.\u00a0 If we\u2019ve taken the<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/in-your-business-decisions-risk-only-money-never-people-or-relationships\/\">Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,33,26,22],"tags":[76,75],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}