I have neighbors who lost their male Boxer a couple of years ago. They missed him so much they decided to search for another.
They found one puppy in the paper, but the seller backed out when someone made a better monetary offer.
A couple of weeks later Bobby saw another ad for Boxer puppies in the paper. Barbara, his wife, was staying with his daughter for the week, but he didn’t want to miss the opportunity. He quickly called the number listed, and they stated they had one male left in the litter but a woman had already called to claim him, although she couldn’t pick him until the next day.
“How much was her offer?” Bobby asked. They told him she had offered $350.00.
“I’ll give you $400.00 if you’ll hold the puppy for me,” he said, determined. They told him to wait until they called the woman to inform her.
He gave them his cell number and jumped in the car. Within a few minutes, his phone rang.
“She’s offering $450.00,” they said.
“I’ll give you $500.00 and I’m on the way,” Bobby replied. He simply could not face another heartbreak.
This went on until the offer was $600.00 and both buyers were on the way.
He pulled into the driveway ready to battle until he walked away with the puppy. That’s when he saw the other bidder, his nemesis, pull up in the driveway. Oddly, the car looked exactly like his wife’s red Jeep.
Then he saw Barbara’s face, and both of their mouths dropped open. Our neighbors had been bidding against each other for the same puppy. They had driven the prices from $300.0 to $600.00.
Moral: If you’re fighting to reach the same goals– don’t work against each other.
I watch leaders do this in business every day. Even though they’re working for the same profitability goal, they fight each other. They try to build up their empire at the expense of another area. They take a direction that is wrong for the company to show power over another leader.
If leaders would join forces and always make decisions based upon what will move the company forward fastest, a lot of time and money would be saved.