An Aston Martin Run on Wine & Cheese
Whether you’re a fan of the Royal Family or not, you couldn’t really escape the King’s Coronation celebrations over the weekend. As you know, I’m a curious fellow, and when reading up on the history of Coronations, I came across this fact (of course, Aston Martin caught my eye!):
“The King purchased an Aston Martin DB6 Mark 2 Volante in November 1970, which has since been converted to run on E85 bioethanol made from by-products of the wine and cheese industries…”
This didn’t surprise me.
And that’s because King Charles has been a champion of environmental issues for over 50 years, first speaking about his concerns on pollution and plastics and their impact on the natural world back in 1970.
My point this week is the importance of walking your talk: putting your words into action and showing that you mean what you say by actively do it yourself.
One of our Maxims is:
“How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything”
But I come across too many business owners who say one thing – be it to themselves, their team, or their customers – but act and behave in another.
Think about this, particularly the ‘Anything’ aspect:
- If you’re more of a ‘winger’ than a planner and are often late with work deadlines, then it’s likely these characteristics are present in your team and in your personal life.
- If you have conflict with family or friends, you’ll probably find you have conflict in your work life.
- If you’re constantly rushing around and don’t pay much attention to the detail in your business, then chances are these carry over into your team and your home life.
- If you treat people with little respect and make unrealistic demands on them, it’s likely you won’t be on the top of their priority list when you need their support or help.
The most successful business owners we work with are ones who do ‘Anything’ right, with pride, and better than anyone else (even if it’s something they don’t particularly enjoy doing).
And the best bit – they have a team that thinks, acts, and behaves as they do – and the entire company cares about the brand as much as the owners.
Nobody is perfect, but this week is a good time for reflection on how we may sometimes act and behave, and what effect this has on others around us in both our professional and personal lives.
BW,
Martin
Martin Norbury
Investor | Business Mentor at Advocate | Author of I don’t work Fridays