“Rules and laws depend on truth and trust.”

Without truth and trust, rules are just a way of thinking and trying to make others do what you want them to do. For a rule or a law to work, we have to trust the people that make them and trust that they’re for our own good. If we can’t trust the rule makers, we can’t trust the rules.

What about in business? Who are the rule makers? The owners, of course.

The real justification for business, according to Charles Hardy in “What’s a Business For?” is the “something more or better” that the business can do with its profits. Businesses don’t, or rather shouldn’t, exist merely to make a profit. They should exist to do something with that profit that makes the world a better place.

I worked at Kinko’s many years ago. During those pre-FedEx days, we were given a profit share check every month. Some months were great (October and November when people are getting their Christmas cards made) and other months weren’t so good (nobody needs copies in July – school is out). Every year I was there, that check paid for my Christmas presents for my family.

It didn’t force us to work harder, but it was certainly some incentive. Paying dividends, in essence, to the employees, not just the shareholders, made a huge difference in a lot of lives.

Now, I’m blessed enough to work for a boss that values the job done more than the hours my rear is in my chair. I’ve been given the tools to work remotely, and as long as I keep it clean and professional, I’m allowed to use those materials for personal use as well. They pay for my phone and I answer it. I answer it whether it’s my boss or my grandmother. They pay for my laptop and when I have to go to a funeral in another state, I take it with me and work on the plane. They send flowers to the funeral and support the time I need to grieve. Because I give them my best, they take care of me. Although you could state it the other way around too and it would be equally true. Because they take care of me, I give them my best.