What if we saw everyone (everyone!) as equal?  What if there were no longer two groups categorized as those that are in need and those that are able to fill the need?  Instead, there would be just one single group:  those that are in need.  

As visionaries we see ourselves as those who can create in order to fulfill a specific need.  We can quickly pick out those that are in desperate need of something that we can offer or build.   We are quick to visualize what it is that certain niches need right now, and what it is that they will need in the future.  There is great opportunity for the man or woman or group or company that can think in this manner and act accordingly.  But, let us never forget that in all truthfulness we are all in need.  There is not a single person alive who is not in need of something or someone.  That is why being a visionary is so important and so practical.  You can meet the needs of any number and type of people.  No group is secluded.  Everyone has needs.  Everyone including you.  So many times we approach a person who is obviously in need as just that, a needy person.  Don’t do it.  Remember, you have needs to.  They may not be as obvious to others, but you have them, and deep down you are well aware of them.  Approach people with authenticity, openness and a willingness to share your needs with others as you likewise take on theirs.  This will build a foundation of trust and communication that will serve you, your company, your marriage and friendships quite well for the rest of your life.

•  We all have needs.  Don’t approach someone or some group because you only see them as needy.  Approach them because you want to share in their needs and because you recognize needs in your own life.
• Be willing to openly share your needs.  If people know that you are in it together, trust and communication can form.  You want to sell?  First, you must sell who you are, authentically.
•  Remember (remember Parke!), see everyone as equal.  No man or woman is better than the next.  Show appreciation for every client no matter what their position.  If you approach everyone equally, willingly sharing your needs, they may in all actuality be able to help you meet your needs at the same time you are helping them meet theirs.  
• There is opportunity everywhere.

•  In business for 25 years
• Pays workers an average of $17 an hour
• Covers 90% of insurance costs for full-time and part-time employees
• Stock has doubled
• Revenues have grown by 70% over the past 5 years
• “You have to recognize — and I don’t mean this in an acrimonious sense — that the people in that business are trying to make money between now and next Thursday. We’re trying to build a company that’s going to be here 50 and 60 years from now. We owe that to the communities where we do business. We owe that to our employees, that they can count on us for security. We have 140,000 employees and their families; that’s a significant number of people who count on us. We owe it to our suppliers. Think about the people who produce products for us — you could probably multiply our family of employees by three or four times. And we owe it to our customers to continue to offer good prices. Our presence in a community makes pricing better throughout that community because when you have a tough competitor in the marketplace, prices come down.”  CEO, Jim Senegal
• They recycle 100% of the boxes that goods are shipped to their stores in
• Changed the shape of their cashew boxes in order to improve packaging thus saving the company 560 truckloads a year for shipping that single product (cashews).