She stands outside of the store with a cooler full of warm tamales. The handwritten, cardboard sign lists the three or four types she has available for sale. And just in case you don’t see her, she politely says “tamales” to passersby. Her tamales are fantastic—and her customers rave about them! It had been a while since I saw her, but there she was last week. Her price had increased since the last time I saw her. As I paid her, she handed me a business card along with the package of tamales. She now provides tamales for parties.

What a smart lady! The store sells tamales for more and they don’t taste as good as hers. She realized she could increase her pricing without impacting her sales. And she is expanding into large orders based on requests from customers. Understanding the market and customer interests is at the core of any business. How well do you understand yours?

My dog’s favorite toys are her blankets. She has a pile of them she drags through the house, creating new piles for playing and sleeping. The flattened piles don’t look like the best bed, so when I was at Costco, I got her a fluffy new bed. It looks great and should be way better than the pile of blankets. Apparently she doesn’t think so. She sleeps on the pile of blankets next to her brand new bed. I think the new bed is better, but clearly she doesn’t.

This is a classic lesson in business. As a leader, it doesn’t matter if you think it is better. Your people, your customers, your investors and the community must think it is better too. You may need to demonstrate why it is better if it isn’t readily apparent. People will change their behaviors when they are better off. So, if you want people to do something different, understand what they believe is better. What is stopping you from getting started?

Check out my new book, Leading the High-Performing Company. You’ll find more ideas about how to lead your business to new heights.

Last week, I was speaking with a local contractor. His day had been upended by one of his people injuring himself. The individual will be fine, but getting there required spending the day in the hospital. The conversation ended with “accidents happen.”

I was horrified. He told me through his language that he doesn’t have a safety program. People will continue to be hurt because they don’t focus on how to prevent accidents from happening.

People say a lot through the words and phrases they use. You’ll find a lot about why your business is operating the way it is. Are you listening?

Last week, I was driving home at 7:30 pm when a rock hit my windshield, leaving a chip. By morning, it had feathered leaving a crack about 3 inches long. That happened before and was able to be fixed. So, I went to the place that fixed it before and was told I needed to replace the windshield. Another business was able to get me in right away and fix the crack and chip in 15 minutes. The woman at the front desk was fantastic. Upbeat, polite and helpful. They were honest and had integrity dealing with me. The experience was great and I’ll definitely go back. Which business would you patronize? Do you run your business the same way?