Freedom’s Twin Value
Jeffrey Czajka • July 1, 2025
During the first part of July, our country has a heighten focus on freedom. Everyone gets excited for barbeques, parades, fireworks, and all the celebrations that go along with the founding of this great country. We celebrate the freedom to choose, to be, and to have the beliefs, values, and opinions that each of us hold so dear. We LOVE our freedom.
As a society we apply this freedom to pursue any profession or career we desire. It is in fact, our “unalienable right” to pursue happiness. Free from any Governmental interference or control that tells us what to do or how to do it. We aspire to have great things earned from the rewards of our efforts. It is this aspiration that drives our efforts to iterate, expand, and create. As employees and business owners our efforts combine to make the macro economy grow.
While the value of freedom that we all cherish and celebrate on the 4th of July is alive and well at the beginning of the month, it quickly fades. Not because we don’t want it any more, it has become unimportant, or something has taken it’s place. That passion diminishes significantly by the end of the month because we get confronted by it’s twin value that is so toilsome.
What many do not know, or at least do not realize, is that the twin value of freedom is discipline. You cannot have true freedom without discipline. Do you want to get in shape? You need to have discipline to workout and eat right. Do you want to grow your sales? You need to have the discipline to do prospecting and sales. Do you want your business to grow? You need to have the discipline to manage all the departments; not just your favorite one.
In our professional lives (and maybe our personal lives too), we often say we have the freedom to choose what to do. We believe our freedom allows us to delegate or leverage a tool or out source a function. This can result in cultivating an intitled mentality. We gave “them” a responsibility and we are then entitled to the result we expect.
While we are free to choose, that choice also entails an outcome. Telling your sales team their quote does not alone ensure their success. Did you have the discipline to research their skills to see if they were even capable? Did you have the discipline to provide them the resources and tools to enable their success? Did you have the discipline to check in with them on a regular basis to track progress?
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On the radio this morning, the daily call-in question was “would you rather have a raise or more feedback from you boss?”. They said their online poll had something like 65% of respondents say “feedback”, but a higher percentage of those calling in said “more pay”. Interesting… While this question may spark good interaction with the radio show audience, it oversimplifies a very complex topic for all parties involved. There is base pay, variable compensation, bonuses, benefits, time flexibility, time off, and so many other things to consider when designing (or accepting) a compensation package which makes looking at the two radio options very situational. Personally, I’ve always found this topic very interesting and revealing when talking with owners/managers. Compensation policies explain a lot about employee retention, productivity, and customer service levels. It also requires the right person to be the in the right job. In the end, there are a ton of creative and impactful ways to attract, retain, and reward employees to achieve growth for everyone. As the radio poll suggest, it is not all about the money, but the money is important.