What a relief it can be to lose! There is a liberating feeling to be able to say, ‘you win’ and ‘I give’. We are taught that the best highs come from winning. From coming out on top. From getting what you want or think you want. Believe me now when I tell you a high can come from saying, ‘you win and I am not playing this game anymore’.
I have been in a loose, loose situation. A situation that I knew I would never ‘win’. I didn’t want to ‘win’ nor did I want or ask for the fight. I wanted everyone to play nice and get along or even pretend to get along because, frankly, there was no grown up reason not to. I was mistaken. I wanted to be a grown up and move forward with mature boundaries. Unfortunately, I was the only one who felt this way.
I can remember feeling this way only once before. I had to fire a customer. Yes, you heard me right. I had to fire a a very demanding customer. One who felt they knew my job and the abilities of my company better than I. A customer who felt it was within their right to boss my employees around and make unreasonable demands. This customer pushed the envelope in directions that I was not willing to go for reasons that were sound. So, I fired them and took the negative energy my employees and I were sending in their direction and turned it into positive energy that went in new and very productive directions. It was a whole ‘close a door and open a window’ event and the result was stronger business and better customer relationships elsewhere.
Was this an easy decision? No, not at all. This customer paid on time and did great business with my company. They were a top 10 customer many months in a row. I lost a lot of sleep over the thought of losing their cash flow. But, they were draining me and my staff’s emotional energy in an unhealthy and unprofessional manner. So, I had to finally be responsible and fire them.
Just like now, I’ve been backed into a corner and as a result have reached firing mode. I’ve lost and in loosing I hope to feel like a winner. In loosing, I plan to move forward. When is the last time you were happy to loose and in doing so moved forward? When was the last time you closed a door and a window miraculously opened?
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Fabulous business lesson - I still remember a similar situation in my banking background when an arrogant & abusive customer thought they could treat our staff very poorly & would never be "fired" but they were wrong and were asked to leave...great decision although I risked them moving their deposits elsewhere. It is important for employees (and bosses!) to feel a sense of justice in their work to carry on with the minor inconveniences & irritated customers if the major injustices are set right.
ReplyDeletethanks again, Annmarie. I'll look out for doors that need closing and windows flying open!