We’ve all encountered businesses or people who just don’t care. Complete and absolute apathy for the situation and the people they work with everyday. Take this crazy story of United Airlines apparently losing a 10 year old and not caring. Unbelievable. Maybe you’ve experienced it in a restaurant, a grocery store or at the mall. It’s usually the places where employees are treated like garbage and they simply pass on the belief that people aren’t important. Inevitably taught to believe that they shouldn’t give a shit. It’s companies that think about hiring warm bodies to man posts as opposed to hiring people to take care of people.

On the flipside, I’m sure you’ve encountered that incredible special experience where the person who is helping you actually seems like they give a crap whether you get what you need. Whether you’re happy. They care about you! Maybe they actually stopped to listen to you. Maybe they gave you the benefit of the doubt when you said the jeans were torn or they ordered their salad with the dressing on the side? Knowing and getting that feeling that someone or some organization cares about you can come in so many different ways.  For an extreme example of a company caring about someone, read about Peter Shankman’s favorite Morton’s Steakhouse story.

I’m not sure that Morton’s would deliver a steak to the airport for just anyone.  I get it. The point is that someone was listening.  Someone thought that it was important to know their customers and someone thought that they should be listening to their customers, even outside of the restaurants.  Here’s some insight, company’s don’t care about people.  People care about people.  Your boss may not tell you and sometimes they may not be thinking about it, but you should anyways. You need to give a damn about the people & customers around you.  Serving them, talking to them, listening to them or even just trying to watch one of them. Solving their problems, making things incredibly simple or even getting out of their way. Giving a damn means you understand but more importantly you deeply empathize with the most important success factors in your business, people.

Some of you may not interact with customers everyday. Don’t hide behind your spreadsheets and presentations. Care about every one of your organizations customers.It’s contagious and when you give a damn it gives you absolute clarity. You become opinionated. Driven and focused. You care.

Culture Moral: Give a damn. People will notice.

(Picture from: http://lolzombie.com/2705/give-a-damn/)