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A few words on caring, and the real bottom line

Michael Greene -- Furniture Today, December 22, 2002

This past month I was invited to meet with students of three teeny schools to discuss with them the Old Testament word "tzedakah," which also is the title of my latest book and music CD.

As usual, I was shaking in my boots every time I thought about the tight schedule. However, the doing is easier than the thinking, if you've done your homework. You know what I mean if you've ever planned a big store event and suddenly it's tomorrow. Wow-e-e!

Tzedakah is personal giving. It's one of the major tenets of all major religions. And for me, the most interesting thing was discovering the twists and turns of tzedakah as I met more and more Americans of other faiths in the course of my book travels.

When I spoke to my muslim friend in Houston and started to spell the word for him, he stopped me and said, "Michael! That's not necessary because in Arabic the word sounds the same. It's sadaqa."

I was delighted and told the story to the school children.

I also told them the saving of coins in a collection box to give to the needy also is universal. Again, only the name tags are different. My mom had one, a tin blue box called a pushke. Friends tell me their churches call them alms and mitre boxes. All come in a myriad of shapes and a multitude of colors. I recently was invited to inspect a world competition in the design of pushkes by children, and the entries were a delight to behold!

So why am I yakking about tzedakah? And what has it all to do with our game? A lot, because the giving of coins is only the beginning of the spirit of giving. True giving, or tzedakah, is the giving of one's self. It's not just sharing but, more important, it's caring, caring about another soul you never saw and, perhaps, never will.

"Michael!" you exclaim. "Come on, what's caring got to do with our bottom line?" Again, a lot. It's the real thrust of our lives as entrepreneurs and managers. It's the real bottom line.

One of my very close friends, a retailer, once was invited to an elegant, catered affair. He was flabbergasted when the maitre d', the orchestra leader and the lead singer, all from different families, turned out to be his customers! Wow-e-e! He had sold them all. Did he enjoy the evening? Yep! Because they all stopped him on the dance floor with warm hellos.

Why? Because he had given of himself. Not just a right price but all the right, caring services too. In fact, he told me, the lead singer had chosen a boo-boo sofa cover and he had it changed when she moaned, sadly, on delivery.

That is true tzedakah and sadaqa and caring. It's the giving of one's self to help make our world go round.

I told that to the children too.

Thanks, again, for listening.

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