Question of the Week
Is there Nobility in Selling Paper Clips?
Q: I’ve heard Fr. Spitzer encourage leaders to inspire their people with a “noble vision.” How do you convey a noble vision if you’re selling an ordinary product like hardware or office supplies?
A: (From Fr. Spitzer) Sometimes it’s hard to see an inherently noble vision in the product you’re selling, but you can always find nobility in how you sell it and what you impart while you’re selling it. So as a leader, you need to ask yourself, where is the opportunity for nobility in my workplace? We might sell office supplies, that’s true, but what are the virtues we embrace when we’re doing it? What are the principles we uphold? How do we show people that they matter?
Look at the relationships you have with all your stakeholders – your customers, your employees, and the community. What do you impart when you go out and sell something to someone? You could impart the impression, “All you mean to me is the product you’re willing to buy.” But no matter what you’re selling, you can always treat your customers empathetically. You can always impart dignity to people by treating each customer as a person and not just a sale. You can always share your thoughts on what’s happening in the culture or the community, so long as it isn’t something hypercritical. You want to offer something that will enhance people – something they need to hear. When you do that, you’re telling people that there’s more on your mind than making the sale.
The other thing to remember is that all your workers – by virtue of what they do each day at work – they’re taking care of commerce and they’re taking care of their families. And sometimes by doing that, they have the resources and time to take care of the community as well. As a leader, how can you use your position to do some good and have some leverage? It may be helping out the Little League, or motivating people to do a service day, or rewarding the good work your employees are doing.
There are all sorts of ways to define a noble vision for your organization, but you also need a personal noble vision for yourself. I’d encourage you to write that vision down and look at it every morning, so you start every day asking the right questions. What can I do today that’s noble? What can I do at my workplace? What can I do for my staff? What will I say when I meet this person and that person?
Nobility doesn’t always have to come from what you sell. It comes from making the optimal positive difference to people around you, day in and day out.