KARL SMITH: Greed Destroys Business Relationships

Karl Smith

As a business networking coach I interact with people from diverse backgrounds and I am often intrigued by the reasons which motivate people to contact me. Needless to note, large part of South Africa’s population is still very poor. So you will find aspiring entrepreneurs hailing from these past deprived communities and those individuals from the opposite spectrum attending my courses. They have one thing in common: to make money. That’s why they attend a course dealing with “growing your business through business networking”

If you have attended my workshops, you will know that I make my point of departure for my course, my book and my life known, upfront. Why? Because I belief people should know from which perspective you as a speaker, chief executive officer, manager, employee etc. comes from. You may ask why? Tell me, how can they belief in what you say? How credible is your message? What will the impact be if people don’t know where you come from? Imagine the miscommunication, the doubt, suspicion etc. if people don’t know where they stand with you? So what is my point of departure? I have a people centric approach towards business networking and referral training. You will not find any manipulative techniques! Through my motivational presentations and facilitation I call on my audiences to genuinely and sincerely care about themselves and people. Why themselves first? Because if you don’t care about yourself, your own well-being, your own future…will you care about that of others?

My message about “caring and giving” is in sharp contrast to the challenge of greed, in particular for people who have a lot, and who want more. So what is greed? “Greed” as per the Webster’s dictionary is defined as “an overwhelming desire to acquire or have, as wealth or power, in excess of what one requires or deserves”. Dr. Duane Scott defines “greed” as “you work all day to try and keep up with your neighbour, your neighbour is trying to keep with your boss' neighbour and that neighbour is living well beyond his means in order to impress his latest girlfriend on the side…” The problem is that we never know when this wild card variable (greed) will take root. We cannot account for it in all of our statistical analyses and because of this humanity gets burned by it time and time again. Business in its present form knows it exists but at times wants to pretend it is not there.

I believe that business networking coaches and networkers should be aware of this risk to sincere networking and mutually beneficial business relationships. Where there is money, wealth and power, greed and vice are sure to be present. Top that with no checks and balances or no consciousness, and you have the perfect recipe for dishonesty. I fully agree with the comment made on the Financial Awareness Blog: defining greed should focus on the first part of the definition “an overwhelming desire to acquire or have, as wealth or power …” Desire is usually created from feeling lack. This can apply to several situations, including, lack of self-worth, lack of self-love, lack of money etc. Many people look at money as the cause of greed.

Yet, greed is not about the money. Greed is about the reason why a person wants money. Yet, you may ask, isn’t greed about abundance (having too much)? No, greed is about feeling of lack. If a person believes in abundance then he would not feel the need to acquire excess wealth or power, rather he will share it freely. The first step in transforming lack into abundance is to identify all areas of lack (or fear of lack) in your life or an area that you fear having lack. Look at any areas where you believe if you have a little bit more, you will be happier. For some, this may be money. For others, it may be love (self-love), respect, self-worth, kindness, caring, etc. The next step is to believe that you already have an abundant supply of what you lack.

A good way to do this is to tithe and practice gratitude. Taking the opposite action (being thankful and giving it away) is what changes belief in lack. To practice gratitude, make a list of things you are grateful for around the area of lack. To practice tithing, give what you believe you lack because the action of tithing symbolises that you already have enough. By being grateful for what you have and freely giving it away (tithing) will show you that you have enough versus having a lack. If you believe you are lacking money, be grateful for the money you have and give it away freely. If you believe the world lacks kindness, then give more kindness and see the kindness that is already all around you. This is because what we focus on (with gratitude and tithing) will expand. A mindset of abundance also defeats relationship killers such as “self-interest” and nurtures the principle ingredient “giving” or “reciprocity” required for mutually establishing and building beneficial business relationships.

Karl Smith is South Africa’s Business Networking & Referral Coach and the owner Business Networking South Africa, a division of ExecuEdge Consulting - a successful consulting and business relationships training company. Visit www.businessnetworkingsouthafrica.co.za to see Karl in action, see what Karl’s clients says, book Karl to speak or to do in-company training, attend a public event, subscribe to his newsletter, to use the free networking resources or to buy his book “Beyond The Business Handshake: Dare To Build High-Trust Business Relationships”


For more information, please visit Karl's TNNW Bio.

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KARL SMITH: Greed Destroys Business Relationships