# Fighting For Your Rights?

Source: https://dairycoach.com/fighting-for-your-rights/
Published: 2011-02-22
Author: Tom Wall

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Recently, we’ve heard a lot about ‘rights’ here in the state of Wisconsin.  But what we haven’t heard much about are the ‘duties’ that come with them.  And although it’s been quite a while since studying logic and philosophy in college, I still remember the basic relationship between a right and its corresponding duty.  Essentially, the idea is that if I have a right, then someone has a duty to provide me with that right.  It’s sort of like gifts at Christmas time… I can’t receive a gift if no one gives me a gift.  That’s a pretty basic concept, wouldn’t you agree?

So when it comes to your position in the marketplace, what are your rights?  Like all of my customers, I too am a small business owner.  I’d like to think that as an owner of a business, it’s my ‘right’ to have a lot of customers and be profitable every year.  Of course, that would mean somebody has a duty to make sure that happens.  Sadly, it turns out that over the past ten years; no one has stepped up and offered this sort of guaranteed success.  Instead, I’ve had to rely on my abilities and make the most of the opportunities that have come my way.  It turns out, the harder and smarter I work, the better I do and closer I get to reaching my goals.  And yet unfortunately, sometimes that’s not always the case.

It seems that a lot of us, from adolescence on, tend to confuse our ‘rights’ with ‘wants’ and ‘privileges’.   Don’t get me wrong, it’s easy to do… especially in a country whose government recognizes and provides its people with so many rights.  Nonetheless, we throw around the word ‘rights’ so easily, that we often lose sight of how precious and valuable our actual rights truly are.  And on top of that, while many people are focused on demanding their rights, they overlook the other side of the equation.  Sure, it’s easy for us to declare what our rights are, but we often don’t think about these rights in relation to the person or group that has a duty to provide them.

And although we’ve all heard of people standing up to protect and demand their rights, when was the last time you heard about people fighting for their duties?  No, you don’t hear about people demanding that they fulfill their own responsibilities and duties very often.  Even the phrase itself, “Stand up and fight for your obligations and responsibilities” almost sounds odd and out of place, doesn’t it?

So how does all of this apply to your dairy?  Ask yourself what your team needs to focus on to make your company more successful… your rights or your responsibilities?

Hopefully, you’ll be stronger and more sustainable in the long-run.