It’s been a long time since I worked for my uncle, but he taught me some things about business I hope I never forget. Here are four.

1. Meetings without a point. He brought departments together just so people could ask questions, ramble, and blow off steam. At the time, I often thought, what a waste of time. Why have a meeting if you don’t have a goal or an agenda? But employees need to feel involved. They need to be heard. They need to be connected. Otherwise, they will neither care what the goal is, nor work very hard to accomplish it. He understood this long before it became conventional wisdom.

2. Listen. Speaking of listening, I never saw anyone speak less and listen more on a sales call. He gave the prospect a catalog or brochure, and said nothing–for several minutes if necessary. To me, the silence was unbearable. Sure enough, the prospect, more than likely uncomfortable as well, started to talk. And he keep talking–those first few minutes of a sales call set a healthy tone–we’re here to listen and learn, not to lay a fancy sales pitch on you. Again, this ran against conventional wisdom, predating blogs and conversational marketing by a couple decades.

3. Follow-up. To say my uncle has a passion for details is like saying Steve Jobs has a head for marketing. When he asked me to do something, he’d ask me if I had done it ten minutes later. When he gave me nine things to do, he would expect nine things to get done. Sloppy follow-up is the Achilles heel for lots of salespeople, but people he trained never suffered from it.

4. Humor. He was a master at using a well-aimed joke to disarm customers, perk up staffers, or relieve tension in a meeting. He would often brag to people that he got two orders today–get out and stay out. Rather than to spread cynicism or tear people down, he used humor to buoy spirits and build relationships. That is as it should be.

Thank you, Bob. Happy Birthday!