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Feel Good, Do Well, While Doing Good
- 1. S Feel Good, DoWell, Doing Good Peter Milewski
- 2. What Makes us FeelGood? neurotransmitters and endorphins that our body creates naturally, such as serotonin, norepinephrine, oxytocin, dopamine, and even adrenalin.
- 3. When do wefeel Good? S Studies have shown that the largest increases in the neurochemicals of happiness occur following a spontaneous commission of an act of kindness or generosity. S When we are kind or generous S When someone is kind or generous to us S When we witness someone being king and generous The Christmas Spirit Phenomenon
- 4. Karma “Do not overlooktiny good actions, thinking they are of no benefit; even tiny drops of water in the end will fill a large vessel. Do not overlook negative actions merely because they are small; however small a spark might be, it can burn down a haystack as big as a mountain.” ~ Buddha
- 5. Creating Karma “Someday, andthat day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter's wedding day.” ~ Done Corleone, The Godfather
- 6. The Secret by RhondaByrnes “The Law of Attraction – Thoughts are magnetic. They have a frequency. As you send those thoughts out into the universe, they attract all like things that are on the same frequency.” “You are the one who calls the Law of Attraction into action, and you do it through your thoughts.” “If you are feeling good it is because you are thinking good thoughts.” “The rule of reciprocity… “as ye sow, so also shall ye reap.”
- 7. The Secret, ThePower, and The Magic Generosity Gratitude Love
- 8. Generosity “For it isin giving that we receive.” ~ Francis of Assisi
- 9. Gratitude “Appreciation is awonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” ~ Voltaire
- 10. Love Love and kindnessare never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. ~ Kahil Gibran
- 11. Steve Jobs Stanford University CommencementAddress Steve Jobs, defined success in the following way… “Do what you love.. Do what you do to the best of your ability… Make a difference.”
- 12. Doing Well DoingGood Mortgage lenders are stewards of a public trust, facilitating homeownership through home financing. What you do makes a difference in the life of each homebuyer and borrower you serve.
- 13. Social Entrepreneurship Socially entrepreneurialbusinesses are defined as businesses that provide a public benefit or social value.
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- 15. Why Social Entrepreneurship? YoungProfessionals Today are Different! S Integrity, Honesty S Collaborative, Work with People S Accountable S Socially Responsible S Respect, Care for People S Excellence, High Business Standards S Service to Others
- 16. The Quality Premium SConsumers will pay a premium to do business with companies they feel are…. Honest Fair Socially Responsible Customer Sensitive Community Focused Provide Quality Service Walk the Walk Care About Their Customers
- 17. The Quality Premium SEmployees will work harder for and accept lower compensation from companies they feel are…. Honest Fair Socially Responsible Customer Sensitive Community Focused Have High Standards For Management Walk the Walk Care About Their Employees
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- 20. The MassHousing Story Unparalleled Record of Profitability Constant Business Volume and Market Share Growth over Past Decade Consistent Increase in the Number of Lender Partners Delinquencies and Foreclosures ½ Rate of State and Peer Group Exceptionally High Levels of Borrower and Lender Satisfaction Excellent Reputation with GSEs, Regulators, Rating Agencies Very Low Employee Turnover
- 21. MassHousing Focus QualityLoan Products 30 Year Fixed Rate Owner Occupied, Primary Residences Fully Documented Loans Responsible Underwriting Standards Serving the Market Low and Moderate Income Borrowers (up to 135% of AMI) Minority Borrowers, Veterans, Teachers, Nurses, First Responders, Public Transportation Focused Loans, Loans in Urban Centers Low Income Census Tracts Purchase, Refinance, Rehab Provide Supportive Products and Services
- 22. MassHousing’s Goal S Servethe Underserved! Low Income Families Minority/Immigrant Populations Millennials First-Time Homebuyers Veterans Socially Responsible Refinancing
- 23. Doing Good isGood Business “Experience has shown that our best customers are those who have the same amount of respect for us as we have for them.” ~ Alex King “Life is a reciprocal exchange. In order to progress forward we must be willing to give back” ~ Oprah Winfrey “You will get everything in life you want, as long as you help enough people get what they want.” ~ Zig Ziglar Never worry about the numbers. Begin with helping one person at a time, and begin with the person nearest you.” ~ Mother Theresa
- 24. How can weall do it? Be a trustworthy advisor Understand the customer’s wants, needs and expectations Care about your customer Do what is genuinely best for the customer Add value to your product and service Build long term relationships
- 25. “The only thingyou can do with your life is give it away. You’ll always find yourself feeling purposeful if you can find a way to always be in the service of others.” “Whatever you do, aspire to make a difference, because the more you give the more you receive.” ~ Wayne W. Dyer You Succeed by Making a Difference
Editor's Notes
- #2 Business goes through philosophical cycles. Each cycle is dominated by a business model that is successful and becomes a trend only to have it’s shelf life expire. The dot-com model. The Countrywide Mortgage model The Lehman Brothers model The Enron model The Jack Welch/GE model The Wells Fargo model The demise of these models is always clearly evident. If all we see are profits and personal wealth we are diluting ourselves. The financial success realized by many of the professionals at the top of these companies was also accompanied by estranged families, divorce, alcoholism, depression, and in some instances prison and suicide.
- #3 Money can’t guarantee us happiness. Then how do we measure success? What makes us feel good, professionally, personally? In our mind, and in our hearts? I think we can all agree that stress isn’t healthy, mentally or physically. It releases chemicals into the human body, that cause, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, ulcers, and a myriad of other physical conditions and health problems. These physiological conditions can also bring on emotional and mental disorders. The body also produces chemicals that make us feel good and prevent and some instances cure health problems and disease. These neurotransmitters and endorphins include seratonin, norepinephine, oxytocin, dopamine and andrenalin. These are all naturally created in by the body, and are proven to enhance physical and mental health. With them you can live a longer and happier life. I think we all know anecdotal stories of people who are as poor as church mice, but are among the most content and happy people.
- #4 What triggers these positive physical reactions? What is it that makes us feel good? Here is even a more provocative question! Can the things that naturally make humans feel good and healthy, actually be a basis for a successful business model?
- #5 Big companies lose their Karma. The larger a company the more their mission and goals shift. They become focused on… Financial Success Income and Expenses Profits Sales, Market Share, Executive Compensation They lose sight of the fact that business needs good Karma. To succeed everyone needs to create value for someone else. To have good Karma you cannot have a winner and a loser. You cannot do bad things and expect good results.
- #6 You create Karma or in business a Success Foundation by creating value. You give first. What you receive in return is the result of creating your own Karma. In business negotiation it is a lot easier to ask for something when you have already created value in the heart and mind of your partner or customer. It is the concept of paying it forward.
- #7 Originally published in 2006, Rhonda Byrne’s self help manifesto “The Secret” has been published in 50 languages and has sold over 20 million copies. The themes in this books resonated with readers. It was a book based on the thoughts and ideas of such authors as Norman Vincent Peale. Byrne’s theme was simple “The Law of Attraction – Thoughts are magnetic. They have a frequency. As you send those thoughts out into the universe, they attract all like things that are on the same frequency.” “You are the one who calls the Law of Attraction into action, and you do it through your thoughts.” “If you are feeling good it is because you are thinking good thoughts.” “The rule of reciprocity… “as ye sow, so also shall ye reap.”
- #8 Her original book was so popular she wrote sequels; The Power, and The Magic. Their themes expanded on the esoteric theme of The Secret, even further. I would suggest that these tenets are the basis for a successful business model that has and will stand the test of time. The pillars of this model are Generosity Gratitude and Love
- #9 I think we can all grasp the concept of generosity. In the world there are givers and takers. The people we are naturally attracted or drawn to are givers. People we are likely to distrust or feel uncomfortable around are the takers. In business when you find that someone gives you more than you expected, the extra they give you creates added value. That added value creates trust, loyalty, and referrals. If you find someone is a shrewd or hard nosed negotiator, and is unlikely to give you anything more than what you paid for, it doesn’t engender a good feeling. The sense you have that someone is self interested, selfish and uncaring, will likely prevent you from doing business with this person again. “It’s nothing personal. It’s only business.” In the world where your good or bad work is instantly shared through social media, generosity is no longer an altruistic value, it becomes a business necessity. Positive perceptions are formed based on an opinion of whether you are a kind, honest and trustworthy person. Generosity is the paint that creates your picture. There is a perpetual cycle created by generosity where you give, receive, give and receive again.
- #10 Gratitude is a very simple concept to understand. When someone is genuinely thankful and goes out of their way to express their gratitude in an unordinary way, the giver will feel appreciated and be willing to give more or give again. The lack of gratitude is usually responded to in the opposite way. When you do something for someone and they fail to acknowledge your work, effort, or service, it is unlikely that you will extend yourself to that person in the same way again. Gratitude is not just a good rule of business. It is a reality of human nature. Mastering the concept of genuine gratitude and thankfulness is not easy. It requires an unselfish attitude. But it will assure your continued success. Gratitude is simply a binding behavior that brings people together and keeps them together.
- #11 Don’t confuse Love with romantic love or lust. Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Al Franken, and Roy Moore can tell you that doesn’t work. Love in this sense is recognition of the humanity in each and every person you meet. It comes with the understanding that if you make someone else’s life better, you make the world better. You make a difference. Loving unconditionally was exemplified by my father who loved the Red Sox. He was born in 1917 and died in 2005 and had the rare opportunity to see the Red Sox win two world series 86 years apart. He said it didn’t matter whether they won or lost. If they lost it was okay because he loved his Red Sox. When they won the joy was incredible. Because he loved his Red Sox. Saint Paul said it best in his first letter to the Corinthians when he said… “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” If you conduct your business with love I guarantee that you will succeed.
- #12 Sometimes it takes a lifetime to understand this concept. Steve Jobs, early in his career was widely regarded as a driven, self-centered, narcissistic genius. Ill tempered, selfish, and cutthroat. As he aged his personality became tempered. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 and his vision of himself and his legacy changed. In what has become a frequently posted speech at the commencement of Stanford University in 2005 we saw a combination of the old and new Steve Jobs. His words are quite relevant in today’s discussion. His words of advice to that year’s graduating class of Stanford boiled down to these three things. Do what you love. Do whatever you do to the best of your ability Make a Difference!
- #13 Why is this important to you? No one has a greater opportunity to make a positive difference in people’s lives than those of us who help people buy a home. It is often referred to as the American Dream. It is the aspiration of almost every immigrant to own a home for their family to live in. Recent history tells us that there have been as many, if not more takers in our business than there have been givers. How else do you explain the mortgage crisis of the past decade. In the movie the Big Short, Steve Carrell’s character Mark Baum lamented… “We live in an era of fraud in America. Not just in banking, but in government, education, religion, food, even baseball... What bothers me isn't that fraud is not nice. Or that fraud is mean. For fifteen thousand years, fraud and short sighted thinking have never, ever worked. Not once. Eventually you get caught, things go south. When the hell did we forget all that? I thought we were better than this, I really did.”
- #14 Whether we see it or not. Whether we agree with it or not. Society is changing the way business will be done in America. The painful lessons learned during the economic collapse of the decade between 2005 and 2015 have spawned a whole new business philosophy known as social entrepreneurship. Google it. In less than half a second you get 7.5 million hits. A socially entrepreneurial business is simply defined as a business that provides a public or social value.
- #15 Some of the finest colleges and universities in America offer, undergraduate majors and Masters Degrees in Social Entrepreneurship. Their belief is that every company not only can but should incorporate social values within their mission, business goals, and objectives. While built on the foundation of Generosity, Gratitude, and Love, social entrepreneurship takes it up a level. It says we have a responsibility to act in a socially responsible way in conducting business. The lessons taught include Business Ethics Socially Responsible Investing Environmentally Safe Business Practices Sustainable Development, Business Philanthropy, and Cause Marketing Just to name a few
- #16 How many of you grew up in the sixties? Tie-dyed shirts, mini-skirts, bell bottom pants, long hair, folk music, Woodstock, ant-war protests, ban the bomb and burn the bra, The Grateful Dead, and marijuana. The world has come full cycle. And as Carol Bayer Sager sang in 1974 “Everything Old is New Again.” Or as Yogi Berra said “It’s Deja Vue all over again” The generation between 21 and 35 is larger today than at anytime in our history, and that includes my “Baby Boomer Generation” That generation thinks differently. And maybe not too differently from my generation in the 1960’s.
- #17 While we have long heard the argument that we live in a commodity driven society, where with the click of a mouse you can guarantee that you are buying what you are buying at the lowest possible price, actual consumer behavior bends that idea. Price is no longer the #1 reason people buy on Amazon. Amazon’s success is soaring because they are “Trustworthy”. They are convenient, reliable, consistent, fair, honest, and socially responsible. They are what the next generation of our society want in their businesses. It may be what we always wanted. People will now pay a “quality premium” if the product or service they are buying is associated with a company who is… Honest Fair Socially Responsible Customer Sensitive Community Focused Provide Quality Service Walk the Walk Care About Their Customers
- #18 These same qualities in an employer will generate a positive responses from their employees. Companies that consistently demonstrate these traits will experience. Increased job satisfaction at all staffing levels Greater levels of cooperation, support, and teamwork. Employees who weigh the work environment against compensation and benefits Increased employee productivity Increased employee loyalty
- #19 What do people mean when they say a company cares? Good companies understand that the public identifies with and relates to companies they feel extend their corporate mission beyond maximizing the bottom line. This has given rise to the concept of “Cause Marketing” where a company will adopt a pet charity and partner with them to make a difference. Fr. Thomas McGrath, professor of psychology at Fairfield University, called it “Finding Your Corporate Soul.” It gives everyone in the company a feel good purpose in their work. It generates goodwill with the public and enhances the company’s corporate image. This is a universal tenet among good businesses. The examples on this slide are only ten examples among hundreds of thousands of philanthropic corporate giving programs across America.
- #20 When people were asked what corporate social responsibility means to them this word cluster diagram was the result. Most frequent words were Society Quality of Life Commitment Business Giving Back Contribute Voluntary Activities Community It should come as no surprise that all other things being equal, people will prefer to do business with companies that are socially responsible.
- #21 I had the privilege of working for the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency for 18 years. It was the most satisfying and fulfilling experience in my professional career. During my time at MassHousing. By traditional business measures MassHousing was one of the most financially successful business enterprises in the financial services sector between 2005 and 2017. Unparalleled Record of Profitability Constant Business Volume and Market Share Growth over Past Decade Consistent Increase in the Number of Lender Partners Delinquencies and Foreclosures ½ Rate of State and Peer Group Exceptionally High Levels of Borrower and Lender Satisfaction Excellent Reputation with GSEs, Regulators, Rating Agencies Very Low Employee Turnover
- #22 MassHousing as a quasi public agency was a public mission driven financial services enterprise. The business focus was creating an opportunity for underserved individuals to enjoy safe, affordable, and financially sustainable homeownership. Homeownership failure was not an actuarial acceptable variable in a risk based pricing model. We priced our insurance and loans with an objective of providing the most affordable terms possible based with a highest success rate possible for our targeted borrowers. MassHousing’s model resulted in the invention of a unique mortgage insurance product that provided unemployment benefit protection for the borrower at no additional cost. The benefits were paid for by the foreclosure prevention and loss mitigation the benefits created. Everything we did was to advance successful homeownership for low and moderate income borrowers, and communities traditionally underserved by the private market. MassHousing did very well doing a lot of good.
- #23 Socially responsible marketing. Sponsoring credit and homebuyer counseling agencies. Providing free online homebuyer counseling to counseling agencies Sponsoring homebuyer fairs Attending community cultural events Sponsoring Credit for Life across the state Sponsoring little league teams and leagues in the 26 Gateway Cities Community outreach through local veteran’s agents, VFW and American Legion Conducting homebuyer seminars for teachers, firefighters and police Holding homebuyer workshops with churches and faith based organizations in urban neighborhoods Working with local organizations such as the NAACP, Urban League, Black Ministerial Alliance, Puerto Rican Cultural Centers to hold homebuyer fairs
- #24 The following quotes are from recognized thought leaders who understand the social and business values of Generosity, Gratitude and Love. Again it is important to understand this is not Socialism, or even Progressive Liberal political ideology. It is not religious or spiritual. It is based on core human values, and actions that move people to act in kind when they experience business products and services that are delivered with the purest of intentions.
- #25 I know. The question that I always get at this point is “What does this mean to me?” The answer is simple. Be a trustworthy advisor. Know your business inside out. Be an expert. Offer honest advice. When you don’t know the answer don’t bullshit! Under-promise and over-deliver. Take time to genuinely listen to the borrower. In addition to the traditional wants, needs and expectations, find out what their fears, concerns, and potential problems are. Care about your customer. Fill their needs to the best of your ability. Work hard to solve their problems. Don’t focus on the sale. Do what is best for the borrowers. Add value by being more than a salesperson or customer service person. Anticipate and be proactive. Prevent problems, and eliminate issues as soon as possible. Make sure the borrowers know that you are with them throughout the process and will be with them long after the loan has closed.
- #26 If there are a few simple lessons to learn from this presentation today they should be. “Everyone feels better when good people do business with good people.” “Being a good person is a proven model for individual and business success.” “Good people think first about others and not themselves.” “Good people are unselfish givers.” “When you give, you receive. The more you give the more you receive.” “And when you do you make a difference.” It is that simple. And it doesn’t get any better than that!