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Leave the Earth Better than You Found It

When you hear the old boy scout saying, “Leave the earth better than you found it,” it’s easy to think of mountain lakes with garbage that needs to be picked up, or oil spills that threaten coastal ecosystems, or factories that are polluting the skies and the waters, and that somehow need to be stopped. We as a race have made great strides over the past few decades in awareness of the ecosystem we inhabit. Still, with all the effort placed on helping the earth we live in, we’re still deeply lacking in awareness of the people who live here with us–the neighbors, friends, relatives, and co-workers we see every day. As a marketing agency in Orange County, we see countless businesses come through our doors, and one aspect of successful businesses that all share, is that a successful company makes the lives of its customers and employees better in some way.

In your life, nothing is as valuable as your neighbor, because nothing will promote harmony as quickly as doing something to help the person next to you. This is true for your business, which, for most business owners, is the largest catalyst for good they can offer. You don’t have to run a non-profit to change lives. A lifetime of running a business that treats its customers and employees with dignity is more than a lifetime of good brought into the world.

The power of the quote “Leave the earth better than you found it” lies in how simple and universal it is. It can be profound, humbling, and a little scary to think about your life and your business’s impact on the world. But it can be just as profound to zoom in, and ask, did I leave the world better than I found it—today?

Some define their business’s success only by how much larger they’ve grown their bank account, which is certainly one measure of success. But there is more to it than that. It’s a balancing act to keep a company successful. While running out of money is one way a company fails, companies set themselves up to fail when its leaders stop making their customers’ and employees’ lives better.

Promoting dignity and respect in your workplace can be one of the profoundest things you’ll ever undertake to do, because it has such a deep and radiating impact. Once you undertake to spread decency throughout your organization, you find that, regardless of the business outcomes, you feel successful. Even more, because decency carries with it so many benefits, like improved relationships and better communication and cooperation, you’ll likely find that greater efficiency and productivity aren’t far behind.

Let’s leave the earth—and earth’s people—better than they were before. If we were able to save the planet, once and for all, from environmental disaster, but we still treated each other like filth, the planet would still be ruined. And likewise, having compassion and awareness for our fellow humans may be the only way to save ourselves from failure, and even destruction. Yes, we’re a marketing company in Orange County, but we care deeply about the world, and the clients we help. If you think there’s something we can help you with, reach out to us and let us know what’s on your mind.

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