The financial crises that many of the world’s economies have experienced in recent years have been largely fuelled by a culture of greed and selfish behaviour. In fact, there can be no better example of the pitfalls of basing success on such unreliable foundations. They have dealt a massive blow to nations and communities across the globe, as well as ruining the lives of many in the process.
Personal philosophies, missions and strategies based on a “win at all costs” mentality have a tendency to deliver outcomes that lead to misery and suffering – and not just for the perpetrators, as the global recession has shown. Defenceless and trusting people lost everything, and through no fault of their own have had to rebuild their lives from scratch. People motivated to acquire and possess more than they need or deserve are the root cause of this saddening state of events.
Such a self-centred approach may deliver riches, but often the people who achieve success in this way will have alienated themselves in the process, making their victories rather hollow and lonely. The lack of respect that such an approach results in also makes it more difficult to recover from any setbacks along the way, as people are likely to desert you once the going gets tough. This is because they don’t trust you and are not prepared to show you any loyalty.
Display greed and immediately others become wary of you and your approach to life. They become suspicious about your motives and will question your integrity. Building relationships with individuals motivated by greed can be challenging, as self-interest governs their work ethic. The true route to success and satisfaction is to create a mindset and culture that encourages a positive outcome for all and mutual support along the way.
Greed is not good.
Blog written by Winning Pitch, who are a lead delivery partner for the Excelerator Consortium that manages the Business Wales Accelerated Growth Programme.
Details of the Programme can be found on the Accelerated Growth Programme website.