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Customers, Colleagues or Shareholders?

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Many thought leaders say: It’s all about the customer, because they pay the bills. Investment gurus will posit that without shareholders, we don’t have investment and guidance.

Books are endless from those who say colleagues deliver it all.

How are we to decide where to focus our energies, our resources, or our priorities?

In short, we need all three.

We need to identify, listen to and serve our customers. Without customers, we have no business.

Do your research. Change with the changing customer feedback. Be aware of what makes your customer come to you, and stay with you. You cannot innovate without understanding why you are making the changes you are. Your customers are your guides.

Shareholders need to be rewarded. They take the risk. They often are your leaders. And they certainly reflect perceived, if not actual, value of your organizational efforts. They can put their money and leadership anywhere they want. You need to keep them—and keep them happy. Ask. Listen. Engage.

Many would argue that colleagues are at the bottom of this list. They don’t pay the bills or make the profit. They are not the source of the essential investment capital or wise advice from experience. Indeed, colleagues are a cost center, not a profit center.

But I suggest it’s your people, teams, leaders and colleagues who hold the keys to your success. It is your team that listens to your clients. It is your people who do the design and delivery of your services and products. It’s your staff who listen to and solve the problems your customers have. It is your leaders who work with your shareholders. And all the great ideas, customer feedback, shareholder input cannot be acted upon without your colleagues.

Famed motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said words to the effect of: “Show me how your colleagues are being treated; and I will show you how your customers are being treated. Show me how your customers are being treated, and I’ll show you how your colleagues are being treated.”

A great organization sees customers, stakeholders and colleagues as the essential constituents to great success. Indeed, they are all people. Treat all of them with the kind of leadership and respect and care you would treat any of them. Without them, there is no business, at all. ♦

Stephen Garber is director of Third Level Ltd. Contact him at 561.752.5505 or sgarber@thirdlevel.com.

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Drew Limsky

Drew Limsky

Editor-in-Chief

BIOGRAPHY

Drew Limsky joined Lifestyle Media Group in August 2020 as Editor-in-Chief of South Florida Business & Wealth. His first issue of SFBW, October 2020, heralded a reimagined structure, with new content categories and a slew of fresh visual themes. “As sort of a cross between Forbes and Robb Report, with a dash of GQ and Vogue,” Limsky says, “SFBW reflects South Florida’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic business and cultural landscape.”

Limsky, an avid traveler, swimmer and film buff who holds a law degree and Ph.D. from New York University, likes to say, “I’m a doctor, but I can’t operate—except on your brand.” He wrote his dissertation on the nonfiction work of Joan Didion. Prior to that, Limsky received his B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Emory University and earned his M.A. in literature at American University in connection with a Masters Scholar Award fellowship.

Limsky came to SFBW at the apex of a storied career in journalism and publishing that includes six previous lead editorial roles, including for some of the world’s best-known brands. He served as global editor-in-chief of Lexus magazine, founding editor-in-chief of custom lifestyle magazines for Cadillac and Holland America Line, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors South Florida. He also was the executive editor for B2B magazines for Acura and Honda Financial Services, and he served as travel editor for Conde Nast. Magazines under Limsky’s editorship have garnered more than 75 industry awards.

He has also written for many of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, USA Today, Worth, Robb Report, Afar, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Ritz-Carlton, Elite Traveler, Florida Design, Metropolis and Architectural Digest Mexico. His other clients have included Four Seasons, Acqualina Resort & Residences, Yahoo!, American Airlines, Wynn, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran. As an adjunct assistant professor, Limsky has taught journalism, film and creative writing at the City University of New York, Pace University, American University and other colleges.