We are made to grasp after our best life. It is what we want for our kids, our parents, our siblings, our staff and clients. You started your business to create those possibilities. That is why you are still in business.

If not, move on.

It is always the building and the hero’s journey of their business that the truly successful recount and cherish.

Do with, not for.

Any family-owned or local business lives this.

And, ideally, the getting-there never stops.

Al Anderson had a sister. He loved sports, even though he never played pro and he loved his sister, disability and all. I did just check to make sure I was right about the “no pro sports” and found his obituary from a couple of days ago. I didn’t know. Without Al, without his sister, there would be no Elmwood. My brother worked in his Saskatoon Sports Store for years. He mopped. He smiled. He greeted people and loved it.

My special needs brother Kevin lives his best life ever in one of Elmwood’s care homes.

That painting encapsulates what Best Business Owner’s do. Or try to do.

The first time I was in that foyer was about 15 years ago. Lunch was a happy sunny picnic with my three Beautiful Bumphrey Boys at the school. I was headed back to the office and anxiety was in my passenger seat, so heavy the airbag showed “On”. On impulse (I now believe my Guardian Angel’s whisper), I made a U-turn and parked in front of Elmwood. Scared to go in. Like a rookie salesperson on her first cold call.

Kevin had just missed a bed in a perfect private care home a few blocks from our house. When my husband texted “fiat voluntas tua” after the news, it was hard to be gracious in my reply. Kevin needed somewhere to live. His overworked social worker mentioned Elmwood as an option while also telling me I would hate it.

Turns out, I loved it. I loved the lady who took me for an immediate tour. I loved seeing staff smiling and laughing with residents, some in wheelchairs, some painting, others dancing and singing.

Do with, not for.

Immediately, I sent a gushing email to Kevin’s team, cc’d Elmwood and my sister who shares Kevin’s team jersey with me. He was on their waiting list.

I felt hopeful. Kevin – and I- needed someone to help us build a better life for him.

Fast forward, again in that foyer, waiting for a radio station promotion team and a favorite local business. About 100 residents – including Kevin – plus Elmwood staff waited with me. It was winter. Beyond the North Pole cold outside, but warm inside. What do you do with a packed room (think not warm, but hot) full of disabled people and staff eagerly, impatiently waiting for their Christmas Wishes to arrive? Precision Autobody was giving a vehicle, stuffed full of treats and toys, with Santa Claus driving – and they were late.

There was snow, ice, wind, and total crazy on the rutted streets and the key people bringing Santa kept telling us they were coming, but not yet…

I did what my mom would’ve done. I started singing loudly and with a smile (Leah does not have talent) and soon everyone was singing.

It wasn’t me singing for them. It was all of us, with us.

Do with, not for.

With, not for. Okay – so special needs people need encouragement, a helping hand, not an impatient and simpler just-do-what-needs-to-be-done reaction.

But what about your business?

Do you still strategize, create, plan, and daydream about what is possible? Are you training your staff to be your business, to exemplify your culture so that you don’t simply own a job? Working on your business, not just in your business, requires the ability to critique, offer, and wait for the opportunity to make a difference.

That is what your customers are looking for. That is what will keep them coming back.

Your business may be the passion of your heart, the joy of your retired parent’s life, and now your second-generation anchor or a franchise waiting for your special mark. Maybe you’re a salesperson operating a business of your own within another person’s business.

You know your industry.
But who do you trust to help you get to the next level?
To do it with you, not for you.

Your advertising, creative production, overall media buy, marketing strategy, and culture can be stronger and more fun with a team working with you that is not inside the bottle of your industry. You are there, which means it is tough to read the label on the bottle. If you want to stay there, you might want to leave the keys on the desk. Except, full disclosure, I don’t want them.

Do with, not for.

Every Wizard Partner wants that for their clients – to work with, and help build beyond the quiet vision every business owner should be nurturing, but doesn’t have the time to work on.

Roy H Williams, I have on good authority, doesn’t take a bet he knows he can’t win. That is exactly how he recruits his Wizard Partners. Doing with not for is what he expects of us. A very awesome responsibility.

No one can do it for you.

But if you want someone to do it with you, there is a Wizard waiting. Probably more than one.

Oh, and yes, Elmwood does take tax-deductible donations.

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