The Incredible Power of Two Little Words: Sometimes Listening & Telling Someone "I'm Sorry" is the Best Thing You Can Do!

"Silence is the true friend that never betrays" - Confucius

Sometimes just having someone listen and say, "I'm sorry!" is worth so much to our lives.... How powerful two little words can be is simply amazing.


A dear friend of mine asked me about a past experience in the music business in Japan that happened to me long ago. I can't really explain in much detail what happened because if I do, it will hurt too many people today.

What happened made me very angry and still does, or did, to this very day. The actions of one person damaged the love and the art of artists and the families and children of those artists and so many people associated. It made me so very angry at the time that I saw red. I still do if I dwell upon it.


When my friend asked about it, I did something that I had never done before, I told someone outside my family what had happened. I became furious again as I was explaining what had happened...


My friend read my comments and answered;

"Sometimes it's hard not to fight back but still best to hold your tongue. I made a few enemies in the movie business and the less I said the better but sometimes I'd get sarcastic…. I'm sorry that it hurt you with others. "

It was nice that my friend could relate... But then, at the end of what my friend wrote, "I'm sorry that it hurt you with others." That was like a window opening in a dark room and letting the sun shine and fresh air in. It was the first time that anyone has ever said, "I'm sorry" to me for that incident. Something that happened nearly 20 years ago.


"I'm sorry..." Wow! Thank you. It means so much to me. It makes me want to cry, actually.


Amazingly, that was so soothing and mollifying to me... Suddenly I don't feel mad anymore.... And all because a friend of mine said, "I'm sorry" to me... A friend who had nothing to do with the incident sincerely said "I'm sorry." 


It matters to me that this friend told me that because I know that this friend can relate to the same type of problem...


What a wonderful day!


I don't really have any snappy or funny comments for the end of this post except I think this teaches me a good lesson. First, that everyone needs someone to talk to who will listen to them. People have two ears and one mouth but they seem to want to use their mouths twice as much as their ears. And two, having and showing sincere empathy for people is priceless. It amazes me that after all these years, two little words can make the anger go away so easily.


I'm going to work on being a better listener and saying "I'm sorry" more. I hope you do too!


And to help you work on your listening skills, here's delightful video that I have found from an artist named the Frankfurt Schoolgirls. The song is entitled, "Song Without Love" and I think it is fab. Japan's most famous and top Deejay/VJ George Williams says this is the "...Best love song I've heard in ten years... Better than anything the Bangles ever did." 


I think so too...


THIS IS A FANTASTIC SONG! Enjoy!


Frankfurt Schoolgirls - Song Without Love 2011

Expanding Your Business? Too Many Fail Because They Don't Get the Right Partner!

So many people have a great idea or they run a successful small business that it seems a no-brainer that they should expand and make more money with their service or product.

But when they do expand, they find that it kills their business. Of course there are a myriad of reasons why expansion of business can kill off a good idea or a great business, but I think one of the most common and avoidable errors is that these people who decide to expand choose the wrong partners.


Specifically, they choose someone they like or can get along with over the right person for the job.

Let me give you a good example. I have a friend in Hollywood who is a music producer and he does great work. He tells me that he is always looking to expand and grow his business, but when he does, he fails. He is an artist and has a reputation for being a genius creative mind. He is frustrated at not being able to expand and make more money. He wrote to me for advice and wants to know how he can take what he does and make more money with it. 


Here is how I explained this to him:


You are an artist. You shouldn't be expected to do the business part of this stuff. You need a partner.

The problem? Say a guy runs a family Italian restaurant. He thinks about making it a chain. Who does he hire? A friend who is interested in Italian food.

Bad choice.

He should hire someone who doesn't give a hoot about Italian food, but only cares about running restaurants at a profit. This person doesn't (and shouldn't care) about what kind of food it is. That is the concern of the first partner.

The first partner, the artist or craftsman here, is concerned with taste, aroma and authenticity. Most probably he is a cook.

The cook needs at least a business man to handle the books and figure out ways to take the cash intake and turn it into profits. 

The mistake that almost all people make when they expand their business (and fail) is that they hire their friends or people of a like mindset. For example, the Italian food chef will hire another guy who loves to cook Italian food (you know what they say about too many cooks in the kitchen?)

The first partner hires their friends (who are artists or craftsmen like themselves) who are great for cooking food, but terrible for handling books and financing. And that's where they set themselves up for failure.

When people want to expand and succeed in their business, they need to hire people with a different skill set than themselves; not always "pals" or "yes men" or people of like minds.

Get it?

You need to find that sort of person.

So, in summation, if you are an artist, craftsman, cook, designer, musician, producer or creator, when you want to expand your business, hire a businessman who has a coldly objective view of your work. If you want to take that mom & pop hamburger stand you have and turn it into a chain restaurant, do not hire a craftsman, hire a businessman who knows how to run a restaurant.

There have been very few people in history who could do both the creative side of business and the "business side" of business... Off the top of my head, I can think of Michael Jackson, David Bowie, Steve Jobs...

You need a good partner. Find one. 

Frankfurt Schoolgirls - Celebrity Twist