Treat All People With Great Respect. When Rick was given the opportunity to be involved with his father's business, he said "No thank you," because Rick did not approve of the attitude his father's partner had toward people. Rick did not want to be in business with a person who had little regard for employees and customers. Rick and his brother Jeff are betting and building their future on the virtue of respect.

Topic for Discussion: Why do people work at a particular place?

Answer: First and foremost, people work where they are treated with personal respect. Take that one step further and discover that people want to be able to tell others, with pride, about where they work and what they do in their work. Work is extremely important to every human being. One mentor told us the most important thing about work is that it structures our time. How simple that sounds but when you think about it, people with nothing to do are bored and depressed. People who feel as if they are doing something important are energized and focused.

All Brand instills pride in many ways. First, they are the best in their niche. Second, they do what they say they're going to do so employees feel safe. Third, they treat employees like family. Fourth, Rick and Jeff like to give everyone a job then leave them alone to do it!

These management techniques have created many long-term loyal employees. They are valuable because this guarantees continuity and institutional memory which is powerful. An employee who has been with you for years knows about so many interactions that they are able to predict how to handle the future; they can save time and heartache by doing the right thing intuitively. And, when good employees come and stay, you don't have the cost of turnover, which hurts financially, in terms of public relations, the cost of hiring and the cost of training.

Remember the customer, Joe? Do you remember how long has Joe been purchasing parts from All Brand? 18 years! That is what happens when you have the right products, the right price, and a relationship based upon respect. This means All Brand gets Joe what he wants, when he wants it, and in the way he wants it. All Brand has low turnover in key positions so the people helping Joe are knowledgeable. Joe is confident that he can depend upon All Brand.

You think about it: What can you do to instill more pride? What can you do to show more respect for employees and customers?