George Washington and Your Company’s Value

A primary goal of every business owner should be to maximize the value of their company.  There are several key characteristics that companies of high and increasing value exhibit; however, it begins with excellent management and a skilled team.  How do you know if a company has excellent management and a skilled team?   There is virtually no dependence on the owner.  As a company owner, one of the most valuable uses of your time is not only getting the right people on your team, but keeping them.

There is a lesson, from the life of George Washington, that every business owner can implement that will help them secure and keep a loyal force growing your company in the direction you want it to go.  When Washington was a young general he secured a small group of key people that he called his military family.  They were extremely loyal, understood what he wanted and carried out his intentions.  How did he gain their loyalty?  “He treated them with love and tenderness, and they worshipped him and (with one or two exceptions) served him with fanatical loyalty.  Thus Washington, entirely as a result of his personal qualities-not too much to say his charisma-possessed, for the first time in history, a first-class general staff, who understood his mind and methods and could carry out his intentions religiously (Johnson, p. 62).”

In effect, what we are talking about is treating people the way you want to be treated.  It is the Golden Rule in action, a principle that is as effective as the day it was first spoken from the original source.

If you treat people like Washington did, you will attract, build, and keep loyal a great team and enhance your company’s value.

*Johnson, Paul (2005), George Washington The Founding Father