Forget the Profits!

I had a recent discussion about Football, during which an interesting conclusion was reached. Personally, I am not a Football fanatic, but I am passionate about principles that lead to prosperity. Now, you might be thinking wait, forget your profits, isnt that a contradiction? I will explain further, as the discussion progressed I was asked what is the purpose of Football? The question was asked with an assumption that the answer is to get goals. With the context of League 1 professional football, as a business, I replied with the answer: to win games. This lead to the question: how do you win games? I replied: through teamwork. The reason behind this answer, and not the idea of just scoring goals, is because not every individual in a team is a top goal scorer. What good would it be to have a football team full of superstar goal scorers who do not know how to play together? They will not win games. The very focus on buying players based on previous credentials and talent alone is flawed.

When Zappos was brought by Amazon, Amazon did not try to invade their culture, and overtake Zappos. They understood that the team at Zappos had gotten so far because of how well they functioned, underneath the Commander and Chief Tony Hseih. Companies that focus on profits, are like Managers who focus on only buying players that score goals. Some players are really good at defending- your legal team, accountants, brand evangelist etc. Others, are best at assisting goal scorers. These are your secretaries, personal assistants, administrators, managers Profits should always be a bonus, an outcome, not the main goal. Profits are a measurement of your success, not the success. Focus on your team, all stakeholders in the business, whether it be customers, sales team or investors. They are the ones that make the Business what it is. Focus on profits, and choose to make hasty, short-sighted decisions. The costs will outweigh benefits when profits are the only motivation. Like I have heard: teamwork makes the dream work. Feel free to like this post, and share with others that may benefit. You can also give me a shout on twitter, I promise not to bite: @LesliePoku