VIR-II-0048
“Money got tight and I paid the people who worked for me first.”
Cash was short and you could have stretched their pay to ease your own squeeze. You paid them on time anyway, taking the strain yourself because you'd given your word. People remember who paid them when it was hard. You kept faith with the ones who depend on you, and that loyalty runs both ways.
Your Practice
- Notice you protected the ones with the least cushion. That's leadership.
- Tell them nothing dramatic — just keep the rhythm so they never have to wonder.
- Plan the cash so your word to your people never depends on a good month.
- Bank the loyalty. People who get paid on time in hard months don't leave.
The Architects
“He that is known to pay punctually and exactly to the time he promises, may at any time, and on any occasion, raise all the money his friends can spare.”
— Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748)