Handshake

Part of the “How to be THE business founder” series

Ever see those guys that just stand up, give you a half-smile, keep their arms next to them as if they are glued to their bodies, and then sit back as if you had disturbed their Zen moment?

As an investor myself, I had seen far too many such incidents, and their founders will just brush it off as if this all okay. It is not.

It looks really bad to the founder that even the simplest courtesy is not offered to anyone that visits your office. You didn't educate your people enough to be polite, to make them feel welcome.

I am here to see how you run the business, who are the people that be in the ship as you ride along those waves. The least any founders should do is to prepare everyone in the office that someone that comes along with your supervisors should be treated with respect.

And this is how you do it by starting it yourself as the leader of the company, you do and others will follow:

• Stand up
• Greet with a smile
• Extend your arm out
• Shake hands
• Do a short intro of what you do in the company

Enforce this whenever a visitor comes to your office. Get them to be comfortable and understand the rationale behind this. Move as a team, have the same common understanding, and just respect each other, all the time.