I have been fortunate to serve as an elected official. Functioning on a local government board is probably the best way to understand the structure and budget required for government to run efficiently.

Serving on the Silverthorne Planning Commission and Town Council taught me more about teamwork and communication than any job I’ve held. It’s why I see no value in “politicking” within a business environment. Getting politics out of business may be the most important fix we need.

If you’re familiar with Ayn Rand’s writing, you understand her use of the term “moochers” — those who take earnings from the talented. In today’s business, we have way too many moochers at the top. They typically gain their positions through politics rather than through hard work. What’s worse, they fail to produce anything of value.

The public is tired of reading stories about Bernie Madoffs, AIG bonuses and no-bid government contracts. We need to clean the muck out of businesses and train a new generation of ethical business practioners, who are valued and promoted based on the quality of their work, not the schemes they hatch.

Politics in government is a good thing, as it helps achieve goals that benefit the majority. In government, politics brings together representatives who think alike, as well as those with strongly held, differing views. Politics in business undermines the very A business, by its very nature, should already have a stated goal that everyone employed is working in unison and very hard to attain. Is it really any more complicated than that?

If we can commit to removing politicians and moochers from business, we may find that our recovery rewards us with companies that are healthier in more ways than just financial.

Posted in Marketing Mentor |

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Trackback from your own site.