Being serious about PPS is much more than just accepting responsibility, though. It also means that you take the heat when that is what you have to do.

For example, do you sometimes have to step up and make decisions without the clear authority to make them, knowing people will not like it? Do you sometimes have to do something that is going to get people upset? Well, you have to do what you have to do. The dilemma is knowing how to deal with it when you are asked, “Just who do you think you are? Who put you in charge?”

You can say, “I, me, a committee of one. It is a collaborative thing.” Give Red Skelton credit for the I, me, committee of one, since he said it first, but then do not hesitate. Sometimes you have no choice but to take a deep breath, plunge in, and do what has to be done.

Taking care of business is definitely everyone’s business, and you have to hold up your end of the deal. At the same time, though, everyone was not created equally. Even if they were, they certainly do not act like it. Some are a pleasure while others…well, there is no need to go into that. You only need to see how the exceptional few do it.

They exemplify appropriate demeanor and behavior, high personal standards and ethics, professional development and quality performance. What you additionally need to know is that their real secret is that they ask people to help solve their problems instead of trying to get them to accept their solutions. You need to be a master at getting others to help you, if you are to be a model for others to follow.

Even as you get better and better at getting others to help, there are other areas of taking care of business that are themselves a tricky business. For example:

• “Can I do that?”—I will check with the boss. • “I thought you were the boss.”—I can’t make this decision. • “What can you decide?”—I decide whether you are doing your work or not. • “I see. The time clock tells on me if I do not show up, and you rat on me if I screw up.”—You’ve got it, so get back to work. If you get fed up with this circular approach to getting the job done, and you likely will, be sure your new boss can independently make the decisions you need to do your job. If you are the boss, well, you know what you need to do. Trusting people enough to let them make the decisions they need to do their jobs is called business-as-usual in the world of PPS.

Business as usual in the world of PPS does not end with believing that people are basically trustworthy, though. By now, it probably comes as no surprise that merely trusting others is not the end of it. The question is not just, “Who do you trust?” It isn’t, “Who trusts you?” either, since even world-class scoundrels likely are trusted sometimes by someone. The question is, “Is there any good reason why anyone should trust you?”

Now that gives it a whole new perspective. You say, “You can trust me. You have my word on it.” Well, okay, but so what? Seeing is believing, show me, talk is cheap, time will tell, and all that. Your being trustworthy is not one of those things you can just proclaim and think that is the end of it. It is not something you tell people about you. It is a judgment other people make about you. That is why you need to conscientiously work at being sure that you truly are trustworthy, every time, with everyone.