This is an inspiring article from Ken Proctor that most certainly makes me want to conduct business with character. As a professional who is just starting out my career, I’m learning by example and learning from every piece of advice I can get. Therefore, I really enjoyed Ken’s article and I believe I’ve received great advice that I can take with me throughout my career. Thanks Ken!

Mary

Last week, I attended an early shoe show which did not have a lot of participation.  I consequently had time to really engage my customers and ask them about their business.   One conversation with a new customer prompted the subject of this weeks article “Does character matter”?

The account I am speaking about is relatively new to the shoe business.   They have another successful business in the city in which they do business in and have had it for many years.   They felt that the city had the population to support a shoe store as there was really only one other shoe store in town.   They opened their store adjacent to their existing business which happened to be located in the general vicinity of the existing shoe store.   Not wanting to make waves, the owner of the new store visited the owner of the existing store and studied the product assortment. The new owner did this so as not to duplicate the brands in her own store.  She further attempted to make contact with the other owner to offer assurance that she intended to send him customers if she could not take care of a customers needs.   The owner of the existing store was not interested.   In fact, much to the surprise of the new owner, the existing owner bought the domain name of the new shoe store and when a customer clicked on it, the customer would be directed to the site of the existing store.

So, is the owner of existing store being a good business person?   Many would argue “yes”.   I do not agree.

Brass tacks here my friends…our industry(and our society) is more narcissistic then ever.   Dog eat dog!   Forget working with people…it is all about survival.   Right?   Wrong!

Those that operate this way may indeed enjoy success but the success will be hollow.    Success can be fleeting..a strong character is not.

For those of you who do not recognize the character in the picture above, it is George Bailey from “It’s a Wonderful Life”.   While I realize it is only fiction, I aspire to have George’s reputation with regard to character.   George was governed by a principle of doing the right thing, and blessed with a strong moral center.

I have a friend I used to work with at Timberland.  I remember clearly at one sales meeting, we went to volunteer at a habitat for humanity site.   Tom’s job was to rake a whole pile of yard waste.   We had been at it all afternoon and by 4 p.m., we were all bushed.   Every single rep was sitting in the picnic area enjoying a cold drink except for Tom. Tom did not finish his job so he kept on working.   We all were on our second round, and Tom still had not finished.   He could have put the rake down and no one would have ever have known…except for Tom.     A smart person once said that “character is what you do when no one is looking”.   Tom did not keep working because he thought people were watching..he kept working because he wanted to finish the job he started.   I am proud to call Tom my friend.

Yes, character matters.   If you do not believe me, at the next shoe show, look for a guy that has had many, many jobs since you met him.  What is his character?   My guess, nothing like George or Tom’s!

Ken Proctor

Front Man

Twig Footwear, LLC

Ken@twigfootwear.com

www.twigfootwear.com

501-276-0140