After 12 years of a Republican majority, the American Congress will switch to the Democrats, the opposition party of George W. Bush. Since the writing of the original US Constitution, the Congress has been empowered to monitor the President via a series of checks and balances. We can now expect to see a lot more discussion between Capitol Hill and the White House, which I believe is healthy.

The President and his Republican party suffered a stunning loss of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The voters spoke loud and clear that they were dissatisfied with the direction of the country in virtually every category, proving that the people are indeed the bosses.

Ironically, soon after the election, I saw the movie The Queen, which details the week following Princess Diana’s tragic death in 1997. It is told from the perspective of newly elected Prime Minister Tony Blair, Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the royal family.

As the movie suggested, Blair enjoyed wild popularity at that time. Queen Elizabeth, marvelously played by Helen Mirren, struggled with what she considered to be her public and private obligations to her son’s ex-wife and her grandsons’ mother. At first, she referred to Diana’s funeral as a private matter.

However, as the week progressed, she became painfully aware that Diana enjoyed legendary stature in England and the world. Her subjects adored the “people’s princess”, and bitterly objected to the perceived initial snub by the House of Windsor. With some prodding from Blair, the Royal Family returned to London. Queen Elizabeth agreed to conduct the funeral as a state event, which restored her royal ranking among the people.

Two months after the funeral, the final scene depicted a meeting between the Queen and Blair. Always polite yet uncomfortable at their meetings, she issued a wise and ironic warning. She urged him to enjoy his current popularity because he would certainly do something in the future, even for honorable reasons, which will surely drop his ratings in the polls.

Her words rang true as the world has witnessed Blair’s political decline. Barely retaining his job, his legacy in the UK will suffer due to the unpopularity of his Iraq position. Like those defeated American politicians, Blair has learned that the people are the ultimate bosses who can make or break the deal.

The same holds true in the business world. Most viewed the recent G2E convention in Las Vegas as a smashing success. The registration again increased, topping out this year at approximately 28,000. There were 780 companies -130 of them international - displaying their wares and services to customers in 322,000ft2 of exhibit space.

A sales vice president from one company, a good friend from our coin-op days, claimed the show exceeded “his wildest expectations”. His staff was busy every hour the trade floor was open. He anticipates huge sales from his new products.

Multiply his experience hundreds of times over those three exhibit days. Thousands of visitors evaluated thousands of products and services. It is fair to assume that highly successful companies in their fields are fighting to stay on top, while smaller companies are fighting to rise to the top.

In the end, it is the people, whether they are voters or customers, who determine the winners and the losers. It is the consumers, whether they will be voting or buying, who drive the direction of a country, the actions of a monarch or the sales and marketing strategy of a company.

Right alongside that position are the workers who make it happen. While the executives are often compensated with bonuses and kudos for leading a company to profitability, it is actually the efforts of the employees that grease the wheel.

I once dated a guy whose family had a nice regional business. He and his brother went on to make it a wildly successful international company worth hundreds of millions. He wrote a book, stating his unusual philosophy that the customers actually come second to happy employees. Without a contented staff, nothing gets done and customers do not receive good service.

Head honchos, whether they are at the top of their companies or their governments should remember that it is the “little people” who make the world go round. Princess Diana knew that, which is why the world loved her so much.

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