To those who stand outside
Or young ones still aspiring
The mysteries of business
Are tangled myths conspiring
But for those who enter in
The veil is quickly rent
For the secrets of success
Are simply common sense:
Make a lot of friends
And always keep in touch
Try to help with problems
But never pry too much
Get to know the rules
And always show respect
Play hard but even-handed
Give as you hope to get
Set a lot of meetings
And always be on time
Talk less and listen more
But don’t become a mime
Make a lot of money
And always watch your spend
But do not get confused
Between the means and end
Get to know your talent
And always have some fun
Throw in a little passion
And get the good job done
These are the simple truths
And answers many seek
To the enigma that is business
Behind the veiled mystique
So step inside the circle
And very soon you’ll find
The common sense of commerce
Is serving humankind
Wayne Visser © 2003
Book
The Poetry of Business: A CEO’s Quest for Meaning
It was time to leave. A bitter-sweet time. The CEO felt sadness, but also contentment. The business he had conceived and birthed and nurtured was mature enough to stand on its own feet now; to live out its own life. Ironically, the way he saw it, the company was not the legacy he was leaving at all. The real value was in the way in which the business lived and breathed and kept its people engaged and passionate. That was the real gift he had given them. And that was why he was leaving behind his scruffy notebooks in the boardroom cabinet – those dog-eared, tea-stained pages on which, over the years, he had jotted down his ideas. Scrawled untidily were the lessons he had learned along the way: about how to make a business ‘fit for human beings’; about how to survive in commerce and still sleep soundly at night; about how to create a company that served society, instead of the other way around. So many thoughts … Buy the paper book.
