March 20

2 comments

Better to be Pruned Than Removed…

By Michael Q. Pink

March 20, 2009


“Every branch in me that bears not fruit he takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” (John 15:2)

Pruning grapes

In my last blog, I wrote about the Kapok Strategy which is the wise use and deployment of human resources within a company which sometimes calls for release or redeployment in another role of members of the team. It may seem harsh, but it is much worse when the company goes under for good and all jobs are permanently lost.

Consider what Jesus taught about the vine: If a branch is not fruitful, He takes it away. Who are you to be nicer than Jesus? Your goal as an employee or a business owner is to be fruitful. As an employee in a down economy, you better be looking for ways to increase your value and add profit to the company or you may find yourself among the branches taken away.

It’s going to take some creativity, some initiative, some courage, but if you don’t take appropriate measures to make yourself too costly to lose, you may end up being too costly to keep. The thing is that all your inefficiencies for the last few years have gone largely unnoticed because there was cash in the kitty. Now the water level is low and every inefficiency or bad business practice sticks out like old roof tops in an artificial lake when the water is really low.

If you don’t adjust, you will be adjusted. It’s that simple. Having said that, laying employees off is not the first line of defense against declining profits in a contracting economy. Join me next week as I share some creative strategies for increasing your profitability and sustainability in hard economic times. Until then, be fruitful.

Michael Q. Pink

About the author

Michael is America's leading authority on applying Biblical Wisdom and Natural Law to sales and business and has authored 19 books including The Bible Incorporated, Selling Among Wolves and God's Best Kept Secrets. Using that knowledge, he has helped thousands of professionals and entrepreneurs experience radical transformation in their lives and careers, including helping a start-up with 3 struggling sales reps turn the corner and become the 16th fastest growing company on the INC 500 list. 

  • Hey Michael,

    Pruning?

    Your insights brought to mind a construct I learned from one of my marketing mentors; Jay Abraham.

    The driving principle? Search out proactively, hidden and underdeployed assets and then redeploy, activate and/or repurpose them, including yourself!

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