Pay It Forward

Have you seen the movie Pay It Forward? If you haven’t, check it out.

In a nutshell, Trevor McKinney - a twelve year old boy from Las Vegas - is given a school assignment to come up with an idea that will change the world for the better. Being a very special kid, Trevor took the assignment to heart and came up with the idea of “paying it forward”.

Here’s how it works: if someone does you a good deed, instead of paying them back directly, you pay them back indirectly by doing a good deed to three other people. In the movie, the idea goes viral and Trevor sparks a massive goodwill movement.

I love this idea and I think it can be applied in business, too. In principle, it is similar to the “cycle of business”, which goes like this:

If you look after your people...
your people will look after you customers...
your customers will look after your business...
your business will look after you.

It all begins with your people. If you pay it forward to your people, your payback can be multiplied. Conversely, if you don’t pay it forward, you could lose good people and lose good customers.

I reckon paying it forward to your people can be boiled down to three things:

A positive environment
Give people a positive space to work with the right tools to do their job.
Regular coaching
Give people the time, attention and guidance that they need to grow.
Ongoing training
Invest in the training and development of each person - every year.

I’m interested in your thoughts. How can you pay it forward in your business?

Mark Windust is an influential Thought Leader in the areas of Sales Strategy, Sales Leadership and Sales Performance. Since launching his consulting practice in 2007, Mark has worked with 1000's of business leaders, salespeople and entrepreneurs’ to help them transform their sales results.