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Being blunt can be good
Do you remember that old song…
“To everything turn turn turn. There is a season, turn turn turn.”
It’s actually a bible passage… but the reason I bring it up is because things constantly change… and in business we business owners and managers need to be “in the know” about our business. We need to know when we need to change.
Recently I heard through the grapevine someone called me “blunt”. Boy was that an understatement. Truth is I call it like I see it and I don’t pull the punches. Now mind, I never try to be rude, i just won’t waste time sugar coating the truth. And sometimes the truth HURTS.
If you don’t want to know specific things to change in your business, it’s no use asking me about WHY your business is struggling. I’m not going to lie. And taking 3 weeks to “hint” at what’s going wrong isn’t helping you. No, it can be harmful to waste that precious time. If your business model is lacking, then it’s time to change your business model. If your advertising isn’t working, then it’s time to change the advertising – even if your spouse does the graphics work.
Maybe it’s wrong of me, but I don’t care if my mother did something to “help” my business. If “Mom” isn’t helping, then it’s time for her to get out of the way so we can be more profitable. It’s not rude. It’s just common sense. In this case I might say something like…
“Hey Mom? Thanks for the work you’ve done. I really appreciate it. I’ve been thinking about how we can continue to grow and be more profitable and I want to try company X or person Y to work on this project. If they have questions can you help them out? Thanks. How about Lunch?“
Notice I mentioned something positive both before and after the point of contention? And I didn’t waste time. Being blunt doesn’t have to be rude. Being blunt can save your business.
At the same time, you can’t be everything to every one. You are bound to make some people unhappy no matter how gentle or blunt you are. I recommend staying on the side of saving your company.
