Growth vs. Profit

I read an interesting article this morning. It looked at the interesting business perspective, and practice, of Amazon. Specifically, it examines Jeff Bezos' belief that Amazon must, "keep investing, because to take profit out of the business would be to waste the opportunity."

While this approach is clearly working for Amazon, with reports valuing the company upwards of $90 billion, it creates a conundrum for me. As a professional, as a parent and as a person, the struggle between growth and profit is a continual one. And it is one that I am always looking for new insights into.

In all aspects of my life, my success is directly measured in both growth and profit. In my sales driven professional world, the profit is actually the bottom line of my growth. However, I have grown to understand that my balance sheet shows a much more important accounting of life changing commitment and excellence through:

• Reading - I allow myself to read one fun non-fiction book (often a trashy sci-fi romance romp) in exchange for feeding my mind one positive, life-affirming, person-improving, career building non-fiction title each month. I know that reading makes me smarter and the smarter I read, the stronger I become.

• Networking - The more people I meet, the more perspectives I collect. It's easy to get along with people who see the world like me. Early on in my career and life, I surrounded myself with these affirming voices. However, now I enjoy meeting people way outside of my comfort zone even more, for they are the ones that most often challenge me to see the world in a different way. Because I focus on pouring back into my relationships at least as much as I get out of them, what began as professional networking to sell more, has grown into a diverse and exciting collection of dear friends I truly value.

• Empowering - My second calling, when I finally put down the sales professional baton, is teaching. I look forward to the day when I can give back to the next generation as much as my great teachers gave to me. In the meantime, I am cutting my teaching teeth on helping my clients, friends and colleagues better understand marketing, advertising, public relations and sales. By focusing on empowering those around me to make better decisions for their companies and organizations, I am growing my ability to teach.

By committing to these disciplines, I have been blessed to do good work. My commitment to growing myself has created profit for my company and my family.

Profit is important. I have to deliver value to my company. All of the personal growth in the world won't justify not hitting my goals or producing results for my team. I am responsible for the bottom line, as are we all in one way or another.

The reason that report cards, monthly goals and deadlines exist is so that we can account for our efforts. But they also give us the opportunity to mark our growth, or not, learn and move forward. They allow up to punctuate our lives with important markers that let us move forward to our next level of success.

My focus will always be on my growth, but I will always equally be responsible for the profit that my growth should produce. Unfortunately, my accounting isn't cushioned by a billion dollar cloud like Amazon. However, I argue that here on the ground, on the front line of sales and life, the stakes are even higher. My professional and personal legacy are at stake.

Gifting

It's Christmastime. The concept of gifting seems pretty clear and simple.

1. Ask/Listen for what loved ones want.
2. Go buy what loved ones want.
3. Wrap what loved ones want in pretty paper that matches your Christmas tree.
4. Gloat over the joy of opening Just What They Wanted on Christmas morning.

Only, it turns out the real gifting, true generosity, isn't really clear nor simple, nor about following the above formula. The true meaning of a real and significant gift, at Christmas or any other time, is as deep and involved as anything else we do for each other as humans.

Do you remember, really remember, the joy of finding something you didn't dare ask your parents for under your tree on Christmas morning from Santa? Because I am essentially a 10-year-old girl in a thirty-something year old body, I do. I remember the inability to squelch my high pitched scream when I first laid eyes on that Barbie Dream House.

When I was a child we were poor. We were blessed to never go without food or clothing or the basic creature comforts. But things like Barbie Dream Houses were way out of my league. Rich little girls in big brick houses got those types of gifts. And knowing that money was tight in our house, I would never have burdened my parents with my heart's desire.

But somehow, whether he and Jesus share secrets or he perfected spy cams long before the CIA, Santa knew. He knew that no matter how impractical, no matter how quickly I'd outgrow it, at that moment in my life, I needed a Barbie Dream House to feel special, important and loved.

Before and since that Christmas morning, I have always been a stickler for gifting. No cheating. You have to do the work and get the right gift. The perfect gift. And no guys, that doesn't necessarily mean the most expensive gift.

Here's what the Howard family will be focused on during this Christmas gifting season.

• Loving, and giving a gift to someone, is hard work.

You can't get gifting right if you're not examining your heart and theirs. Do you really know what your spouse is thinking about as you go into the holiday season? What is your mom most concerned about? What new hobby has your brother pawning his vintage Playboys to get money to fund? You don't have to be a mind reader. You just have to spend some time talking to your loved ones. And no, that can not be done via text or Facebook. Get close and get personal - you're likely to get a greater gift from this exercise than you end up giving.

• Great gifts don't necessarily cost more.

Yes, I am a woman and I don't think that all that glitters is gift worthy. I will always treasure the bracelet my son made me in my favorite color to go with my new favorite sweater more than the diamond bracelet my husband gave me. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for both. But my son's gift was about he and I's relationship, him knowing my favorites. My husband's was about his responsibility to give a winning hubby gift.

• Just because they want something doesn't mean it's a great gift item.

On Christmas eve a couple of years ago, my husband was visibly upset. He was so proud of the gift he had ordered for me, only to have it not arrive in time for Christmas. The shipping company had messed up the order and it would be late. So imagine my excitement three days later when a big box arrived from FedEx with his name on it. I excitedly called him at work and asked if I could open it. He asked to stay on the line so he could here my reaction..."Um, honey, what is it?" - the first sign that your gift might not be a hit. It was the muffler for my four wheeler that I'd offhandedly mentioned months before that I wanted. I choked back my disappointment and thanked him. He knew he'd struck out. In his defense, he gets points for at least listening. Unfortunately, he wasn't listening with his heart or he wouldn't have given me a muffler as a gift. Men, vacuum cleaners, except for Roomba's because they're wicked awesome, dish washers and flannel robes all fall into this DON'T GIVE category of gifts.

• Joy is the point.

That's the only part of this that's simple. Your gift should elicit the Barbie Dream House kind of joy. The "OH! I would have never bought myself that in a thousand years" kind of joy. It is not the "Oh, I really needed one these" kind of joy. Because he really needs help this year, my stepson will get what he needs. But because I know their hearts so well and love them so much, all of my boys will get gifts given out of real love to elicit pure joy.

My mother-in-law got tickets to see an Elvis tribute show with her son and grandsons. She couldn't have gotten a better gift. Others in our family will get handmade or personalized gifts made and given with love. And some of us will even get an expensive item or two. Regardless of the price tag, we will be gifting with our hearts and investing in each other so deeply to make this our best Christmas ever.

After all, God didn't ask us for a list before sending his son. And while the price of his gift was the ultimate sacrifice, it was for the joy of our hearts that he gave it and wrapped it in a manger.