I had read somewhere “It’s not about you, it’s about everyone else”. Is this really possible in letter and spirit? This is what I thought initially.

Recently I got to see how is this not just possible on ground, but also how its making businesses boom.

Attending the Business Network International or the BNI’s online weekly meeting few days back, was a real eye-opener on how business owners help and support each other grow. The spirit of cooperation and growing together is beautifully embodied by this international organisation.

This was the Noida chapter, where business owners from various streams join every week to bring in leads, business and needs to the table. Not only do they refer each other to people in their respective networks but also seek help in connecting to specific industries, persons and institutions.

The fact that this could result in a whopping growth of over 150 crores in terms of business generated was something that blew my mind. 

What is it, that does the magic?

The answer lies in when you help others grow, nothing can stop your growth.

In the cut throat world of competition today, people are more jealous seeing others grow. In this context, the mutual respect and camaraderie that I saw here was really heart-warming.

I hadn’t laughed so much in a long time. With people pulling each other’s leg before getting down to business, it was not just fun but it showed deep rooted friendships and pillars of support for each other.

My friend Bhavna Jain, who invited me to this meeting says “It is like family. I can ask for anything for my business and I know my family will not let me down”.

I saw this happen effectively as on Bhavna’s demand, several members of the BNI, immediately enrolled in our joint online workshop “Reboot Life: Discover The keys to Success and Happiness”.

Each one of us is playing a role in the matrix of demand and supply. As a professional or a company, everyone is catering to a demand of a product or service in the market.

What if this role is performed with a sense of not just doing it for yourself? How about doing your job or business with a sense of service?

Remember, Indian culture has for ages advocated the tradition of service in “Athithi Devo Bhava” or treat your guests as God. In business parlance, this could be customer is KING. Businesses which pay due attention to their customers, their issues, likes and dislikes, provide prompt customer care today, flourish the most. In other words, those who do business/work with a sense of service register higher growth.

Robin Sharma, global leadership expert exhorts people to deliver more to their clients/customers than what they anticipate. Bring the wow factor at the end of the transaction, a feeling of being delighted of having done business with you. This works like magic in multiplying the numbers.

Every business works on the model of maximizing profits. Profits can keep ringing if businesses operate with a sense of purpose that focusses on making lives better for others. For example, if a company making diapers for babies ignores the needs of being heavily absorbent and super soft to avoid rashes, it cannot expect its customers to return back. But if this company makes diapers with an aim of giving the best service experience through their product, it has the potential to grow by leaps and bounds.

Humanising business in the fastly automating world is the real growth mantra today. The more lives a business touches in its operations, with an aim of delivering value, the more exponential growth, it is set to register.

A service mindset is what global companies are focussing on these days. This means delivering better value to all the stakeholders. Employees are a big part of this calculus as they are the ones who deliver value on a company’s behalf. A dissatisfied bunch of employees can never give their best to a company.

 It is high time businesses realise that ‘charity begins at home’. You can’t make your clients happy if your employees are not happy at work. An employee pours out his heart and soul only when he takes pride and is happy doing his work. This is possible when the needs of employees are taken care of, by the employers.

Sharing a personal experience, I worked at NDTV for 15 years. All because, it cared for its employees. The work culture was much better than the competitors. There was a sense of delivering my best and I felt being valued for my work. The scenario changed some years back. Issues of dissatisfaction surfaced and I felt I was not using my potential full enough.  The urge to deliver more and doing justice with my potential drove me to quit the company.

It is all about value. What value do you bring to the table? How much value one gives and receives in business is what makes the true difference. This value determines one’s worth and reputation. As a consumer, if I am not receiving the value and worth I was expecting, I will not go back to it again.

At the end, if one can operate with a sense of meaning, service and not just profits as the net result, growth rings in gradually. As then ‘you don’t just care about yourself, it becomes about everyone else’. This is the quote by Jay Abraham, one of the world’s top business coaches in the world who has led huge transformations in hundreds of companies at global level.