Company person

Company person - person reflecting content on a white board

Perhaps it’s not the most correct phrase to use these days, but I believe most people know what’s meant when I say  “company man”. This term infers that someone is committed to the organization and has the company’s best interests in mind.

This is, of course, what any employer desires from their employees. There is a hidden or unspoken challenge with this however. There is something beyond being a company person and that’s just being a good person in business, someone who is reliable.

There are two dangers we must monitor as we lead teams and organizations or work within them; being myopic and being selfish. When we’re myopic, we are seeing things only through our own filter and that can be risky as it can alter the truth of a situation, which might be what we want, but ultimately isn’t what’s best for everyone.

When we’re selfish, we stop celebrating the good news of the company and of others because we’re not getting the credit, notoriety, or attention we think we deserve. Certainly there are cases when these emotions might make sense, but here we’re discussing the bigger picture of how we behave generally.

Consider

Let’s not confuse being a solid business person with just being committed to the company. The first one drives the right behavior.