“You see,” David explained, “the way industry has come to work, the way that you seem to despise, is how a business can go about making the largest profit.”
“It’s not that I despise it. I mean, I know that businesses need to make money. It’s just that it seems so self serving.”
“I understand. I see the same thing. But the way industry is progressing and what I try to get my clients to see is how they can serve the greater whole. How to not be so self serving, but how to offer the best possible service. As capitalism has progressed, the bottom line has been determined by the revenues created for the owners and stock holders. In too many cases, service has become secondary.”
“That’s the way it seems,” I said.
“But it doesn’t have to be that way,” David explained. “We can do better.”
“How?” I asked.
“By remembering that our first purpose is to serve others. If we first look at what the demand is, then we go about creating the supply.”
“How is that so different from the way things are now?”
“It’s just a slight shift in perspective. All too often, businesses see their customers simply as part of the machine that helps to create their abundance. The way we need to look at our customers is to see them as the abundance. The customer is the reason that businesses exist, not the other way around.”
“And this is what you teach your clients?”
“I teach them to be the change they want to see in the world. I teach them to look for needs to be filled and provide the goods and services to fill them. That’s really the essence of marketing. Find out what your customer needs, find out how to supply it, let them know you have what they need, and give it to them.”
“It sounds so simple,” I said.
“It really is. Once a business realizes what its purpose is, it must commit to concentrating on making that happen, willing it to happen for itself and its customers. Using a little imagination, the business visualizes how to best achieve mastery in its field, to provide the best service that it can. Realizing its resources, the business takes action, daring to utilize all of its organizational skills to fulfill its role. And then it dedicates itself to being the physical embodiment of its vision, to create the supply for what is demanded.”
“Okay, you lost me at `once a business’,” I said.
“Think about it this way,” David explained. He held up a fist, raising his index finger. “First, you need to know what you need to do and commit to it.” He held up his second finger. “Second, visualize the extent to which you can take it and set your course.” He held up the next finger. “Third, realize and appreciate all of the resources at your disposal.” Four fingers stood aloft. “Then, dedicate yourself to continual action and improvement as you manifest your goal.” His thumb unfolded. “Understand that all you need to change your world is already in your hand. You are the change you want to see in the world.”
I looked at my own hand, the fingers stretching back and forth, and wondered what I was capable of.
“If you take these basic principles,” David continued, ticking off his fingers again as he counted them down, “your mind to conceive the idea, your spirit to enliven your will, your body to carry out the action, and your heart to carry on, whatever energy you bring to
these things can help you to do astounding things. With the right concentration on these things, you have the ability to turn any idea into reality.”
“Even one as radical as putting customers before stockholders?” I chuckled.
“It’s not that radical an idea,” he said. “That idea spawned one of the strongest movements this planet has ever seen. Ever hear of the idea of loving your neighbor as yourself?”
“Yeah, but that’s religion. We’re talking about business.”
“Who said they have to be different?” David asked. “Religion is something that you practice consistently, something you give yourself over to. Does that really differ that much from business, the service you give to the community you live in and planet you live on?”
“But religion is meant to align a person with God.”
“But is it the only way to align yourself with God. Can’t you just as simply align yourself with God by fulfilling the purpose that you were designed for?”
“Are you saying that God put us here to practice industry?” I asked.
“I’m saying that most every concept we have of God points to the fact that He put us here to serve one another. The more we identify with our purpose here, the more we identify with our Creator. If our divisions are what have created our problems, perhaps connecting those divisions is the answer to them.”
He held his hand up once again. “The power to create is in your hands. Do what you will with it.”
I watched him retract his hand as Molly brought our food.
“Is there anything else I can get you gentlemen?” she said.
“No,” I said, looking at my hand. “I think we have everything we need.”
This is an excerpt from How to Survive an Estralarian Mind Meld. Come back weekly for the next part or order your copy in ebook or paperback today!
