Attitude and Gratitude

To date I don’t believe I’ve ever crossed the line into political commentary.

No, this is not about what is happening South of the border (being in Canada that).

This is about our own little world here in St. Albert. We have been supporting the St. Albert Youth & Community Centre for quite a few years now.

In fact, we did what we could for them in the way of time and product as the service they provided to the youth of St. Albert touched very close to home for me.

Attitude

The attitude is in how we take full and complete responsibility for what we do in our business, in our community, and within our own personal lives.

This attitude seems to be a direct antithesis to the prevalent “blame anyone but me” we see in the news, politics, and unfortunately in business.

We seem to live in an era where the word “responsibility” is a four letter one.

The local St. Albert administration pulled a significant chunk of the Youth Centre’s (YC) funding last year. So, when the YC got into a bit of a spat with the landlord over who should fix the very leaky roof (not drips but _gallons_ the standoff ended with the YC needing a new home.

When the City Council pulled funding last year the YC decided to keep in trying to serve the Youth of St. Albert. They worked very hard to build funding from other sources to replace the well over $110K they lost from the City.

Unfortunately, due to the pulled funds when the row with the landlord came to a finish the YC did not have sufficient funds in place to find a new location.

The City Council’s and Mayor’s spin on the loss of the YC was sad to see. At no point did this council or mayor take responsibility for the fact that they pulled the funding needed for the YC to survive in a new location. It was the landlord’s fault that the YC needed to close.

We picked up the last of their equipment this Monday as they closed up shop. It was a sad day for the both of us but most especially for the youth that no longer have a safe place to go.

And, it was a first-hand experience of how folks in politics can seemingly spin anything to defer responsibility for something they were a party to. This truly saddens me as well.

Gratitude

And finally, when we receive a referral either from a client or fellow IT Provider we make a point of offering some form of thanks.

Gratitude, that is being thankful for the business referred to us is a very important thing. Folks did not have to reach out to us in the first place or could have gone somewhere else with the business.

Thus, when we reach out and bring another IT firm, or specialized service firm, or whatever they may be doing into the mix one would expect at least a “Thank you” or even a small finder’s fee to toss in the company coffee fund.

When that does not happen then what are we to think?

Suffice it to say we would probably be taking those kinds of needs to another company a lot more willing to “partner” in the true meaning of the word.

Author’s node: Yeah, it’s been a bit of a tough week.

Thanks for reading. Our clients and you make things all the more worth it to keep plugging along. :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
www.thirdtier.net/enterprise-solutions-for-small-business/

Windows Live Writer