Don't expect applause

I have been running the treadmill this week – at the gym and in life

Like most small business owners – I have had a deadline and I have been running.

I have felt defeated, deflated and definitely beaten - under siege by my cashflow, my deadlines, unrealistic expectations – feeling I am not good enough. For anyone or anybody.

In the midst of all that – I had a Birthday.

Now – I am the first to say – I don’t understand birthdays – yeah so we celebrate the day we are born – big deal – so many other events and moves shape us and our lives – being born – surely our birth mothers should be celebrated not us! The pain, the sacrifice ….

Any way – what was super interesting was the people who reached out to me this week. Sure Social media makes this easy but I was truly touched by were thoughtful gestures by some ‘almost strangers’ who wished me well on a special day . There were some notable omissions and some who sent private messages (they are even more special to me) and I am sure some who were just being polite .

I think I realized that Birthdays cause us to reflect – who is in our lives - who is no longer a part of our journey and why.

Birthdays are all about who gives us 'applause' for being born.

It got me thinking about business – my business and yours

When do we take the yearly reflection? When do we decide who to work with and who to walk away from - how do we seek applause?

I was feeling a wee bit melancholy about the whole experience so I opened a book that never ceases to inspire me - Seth Godin “Whatcha gonna do with that duck ?” Now I read A LOT and I discovered Seth’s blog a few years ago – so imagine my delight when I found his book in a discount book store – wow – here was my hero – in print and for a discount price #inheaven.

So today I opened pg 69 (stop it – stop it right now!) http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/04/dont-expect-applause.html

“Don’t expect applause”

“Accept applause, sure, please do.

But when you expect applause, when you do your work in order (and because of) applause, you have sold yourself short. That's because your work is depending on something out of your control. You have given away part of your art. If your work is filled with the hope and longing for applause, it's no longer your work--the dependence on approval has corrupted it, turned it into a process where you are striving for ever more approval.

Who decides if your work is good? When you are at your best, you do. If the work doesn't deliver on its purpose, if the pot you made leaks or the hammer you forged breaks, then you should learn to make a better one. But we don't blame the nail for breaking the hammer or the water for leaking from the pot. They are part of the system, just as the market embracing your product is part of marketing.

"Here, here it is, it's finished."

If it's finished, the applause, the thanks, the gratitude are something else. Something extra and not part of what you created. To play a beautiful song for two people or a thousand is the same song, and the amount of thanks you receive isn't part of that song.”

Wow – just wow

Seth nailed the key principle of birthdays and of reflection in your business – I have got to play to the audience but not play for their applause

Indeed, in your business you need to please your customer yet do it for yourself

It made me reflect on the reasons I do what I do

I had 2 important interactions this week that brought the applause theory back to me

A new client – referred from an accountant - said “I don’t know why I need your help – I set it all up myself – why should I pay you to look over it”

Needless to say – we booked some time and she came in and after 30 minutes she said “ I’m so glad I found you - my figures are upside down, I have made ‘pigs ear’ of it and now I see what I need to do”

Wow – just wow – there was my applause right there - her ensuing success is my applause.

The second interaction as an accounting practice taking over an existing client (many accounting practices are bundling bookkeeping services now). The complete lack of understanding by the CPA of the ‘micro help’ we give clients was amazing.

They really had no clue what they had pitched.

This client has placed her trust and numbers in the hands of someone who has demonstrably no understanding of what she does. I didn’t expose the newbie’s misunderstanding to the client and I certainly did not alarm the client about the choice she had made - my role is about building and enhancing relationships – not severing ties. What I did reflect upon was the ‘applause’.

The client doesn’t know what she has lost – the newbie doesn’t understand what she has taken on - but that’s ok – I don’t need to be thanked and have a ‘standing ovation’ for doing my job – I know what I handed over was my work (and it was awesome) and that is applause enough.

So another year – another birthday will happen – more clients will come and go – but I am no longer playing for the laughs, itching for the applause - I am going to play to the audience and acknowledgement that my best work is done is applause enough.

In my business – my key mission is to help small business understand their numbers – that is my applause.

So – in your business - what is your applause ?