Most attribute the phrase, "It's not personal, It's just business," to Michael Corleone who uttered the now infamous line in The Godfather (thanks, of course, to Mario Puzo). It's quite possible that more damage has been done by uttering those six words as an excuse for or defense of questionable ethics or morality than any other words in history. I'm sure Bernie Madoff thought them or said them more than once. And you can bet they were smugly spoken in the halls of Enron, WorldCom, AIG and countless other companies. You may have even said them yourself.
I have heard those six words spoken by a few people over the course of my career in business. Most of those folks were nice people. People I respected. People I would consider a friend. People who, in their personal lives, are committed to family and high moral values. In each case, it generally affected my life, the lives of people employed by me and the lives of vendors and others in my personal and business world rather negatively, to say the least.
So what is it about business that can turn good people, bad? What makes it okay to toss the standards we live by in our personal lives out the door? How has it become so easy for otherwise decent folk to rationalize cheating people out of fair compensation, stealing their money, or taking insane risks that affect thousands, even millions of lives?
For many, it seems business is a sport. A win-at-all-costs game where the concept of "Win/Win" is a losing proposition. Greed is another obvious reason. But greed is an emotion. In order for greed to succeed, it needs a wall to hide behind. In commerce, the rationalization for bad behavior almost always comes down to those six incredibly powerful and oft-spoke little words with such big ramifications... "It's not personal, It's just business."
The fact is it is personal. Whether you're dealing with customers, employees, partners, vendors or negotiating the deal of the century... take "it's just business" out of the equation. If nothing else, the events of the last year have shown us the fallacy of the concept. Live your business life as you would your personal life and you can't go wrong.
Of course, if you're a crook to begin with, disregard this post. Someone will get you, somehow, some way. I'm sure you're familiar with five equally powerful little words... "What goes around, comes around."
Thanks for the thoughts Online PR. My point was that I think a lot of people in this country were on their knees praying earlier this year (at least the religious folk among us) that everything they had worked so hard for wasn't going to go to hell in a handbasket. And if the bailouts hadn't happened to save GM and AIG, then yes, I think the country, economically at least, would have been brought to its knees. My opinion, those six words have become an easy out for questionable ethics and moral decisions by business people in this country, allowing for behavior that led to situation we all find ourselves in now.
I actually agree with you that, "everything personal is changing to business." I just hope you don't think that's a good thing. Business is not inherently bad of course, and most of us conduct it with integrity and honor. But the day that EVERYTHING in our lives becomes business, we are really screwed.
Thankfully, at least, I still don't have a business relationship with my parents or my own kids... okay, I do sometimes engage in allowance negotiation with my son - he's a pistol!
Posted by: Russ | 08/01/2009 at 11:43 AM
nice caption russ..but i didnt understand how those six words brought america to its knees... :P
we are livin in a world where everything personal is changing to business..even parental relationship becoming a business affair
Posted by: Online PR | 08/01/2009 at 08:30 AM
Thanks Mike and Gene. Guess it all comes down to fact that honesty really is the best policy!
Posted by: Russ | 07/31/2009 at 10:03 AM
Good post. I can see your webcam is working well. Nice photo. Are those new glasses?
With the bust of doing 'business as usual', we may come out of this with more accountability for our actions over-all.
Posted by: Gene Brady | 07/28/2009 at 11:35 AM
Good post, Russ. Yes, this year saw the explosion of concepts like transparency and social media hit across the entire business spectrum. Customers can see what you're doing and find out what you're all about too easily now. You can't act as if business is a cold, just do what I want you to world. It is personal and brand persona is becoming more and more a factor in the success of a business. Good words to ponder
Posted by: Mike McClure | 07/28/2009 at 11:18 AM