January 2008
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Have you ever met a fairly smart person and then watch their activities in business and just wanted to puke? It certainly gives entrepreneurship a bad name. Indeed, it makes me sick to my stomach. Why do they stoop so low? Well it appears that they do it because it works and that there is a sucker born every minute and rather than having a little integrity and ethics they simply get down to the lowest common denominator and take peoples money.
But why do they do it; that is to say; Why Do Intelligent Internet Entrepreneurs Get Involved in Such Sleazy Stuff? I know for a fact that they do not have too, they are smart enough to figure out a better way and yet will not? It is such a shame to see bright people do this and it makes all business people look bad. It puts a tarnished image on the business community and makes an already skeptical public even more weary. And some of the hype marketing out there is utterly ridiculous.
My theory is that folks are just lazy, both rich and poor, smart or foolish; humans are just trying to get by with minimal effort. It is amazing anyone would want to have a human as an associate or friend. I certainly hope this article is of interest and that is has propelled thought. The goal is simple; to help you in your quest to be the best in 2007. I thank you for reading my many articles on diverse subjects, which interest you.
“Lance Winslow” - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 30th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Each of us is ultimately responsible for our own actions. Although in todays business world, I imagine many skeptics would take exception to that statement because there is evidence that people are not held accountable for their actions, even when they are unethical. And even more disturbing, some are even rewarded for unethical actions. Each of us makes a choice to act ethically or to act unethically.
It is essential that we know what is ethical and what is unethical. But, more challenging and difficult than knowing what is ethical, is knowing what is right and then doing what is right. Always doing the right thing is required for long-term success in your business and personal lives. So what advice and guidance are available to check if the action is right before implementing a decision to act? Well, your strategic thinking business coach has a set of questions to provide guidance to you for ethical decisions and actions.
My advice as a strategic thinking business coach is to ask the following ten (10) questions about any action and idea you are contemplating. And if you cannot answer yes to any of these questions, then you must develop an alternate strategy or seek advice and counsel from others.
+ Is the idea or action congruent with your core values and guiding principles of your business life and personal life?
+ Is the idea or action legal?
+ Will the idea or action be fair to all concerned?
+ Will the idea or action pass the Golden Rule test (Do Unto Others Test)?
+ Would the idea or action stand up to a critical public review if brought out into the open?
+ Will the benefits of the idea or action exceed the costs?
+ Does the idea or action comply with your company or organizations rules and regulations?
+ Will you feel comfortable and without any feelings of guilt if you follow through on the idea or action?
+ Does the idea or action meet stated goals and objectives?
+ Would the most ethical person I know follow through on the idea or action?
These are very practical and useful questions to test your ideas and actions. You may develop other questions and add them to the list. If you use these questions to test your ideas and actions and remember that acting ethically is a requirement in everything you do, you will greatly increase your potential to be very ethical and successful.
If you would like to learn more about the importance of business ethics in your business and how to foster an environment of ethical behavior, please contact Glenn Ebersole today through his website at www.businesscoach4u.com or by email at jgecoach@aol.com
Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, Glenns Guiding Lines Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach and has published more than 250 articles on business.
To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or jgecoach@aol.com
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 29th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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In our society we have a real problem with honesty amongst people. So many people will lie to save a dollar or two. They will steal from you without even thinking twice at all about it? Even friends who tell you that you can trust them turn out to be thieves or pathological liars. This fact causes issues in the business world and it is most prevalent in Corporate Marketing Departments as they like to sling a little bull and misdirection. But we should not be surprised, as this happens throughout society.
We have clergy molesting children and folks telling us you can trust me because, well because; I am a Christian! Ouch, run when you hear that one, if someone has to tell you that you can trust them, then you know there is a problem indeed. Why are people so dishonest? Our own government is often dishonest and not just those purported stories about the leadership, that is politics, I mean everything else.
We have government workers using government credit cards to take their personal cars to the car wash and folks going to the local Tavern and writing it off as a Strategy Session and then they laugh and brag about it. That is not funny, I want my taxes reduced, drink on your own dime and get your car washed without committing a crime.
The lack of honesty amongst humans is so great it is as if you cannot believe a word you hear. You cannot believe a thing you read and what about TV we all know that is a mass media hysteria farce? Well is all this bombardment of BS, training humans to exhibit this lack of honesty?
Since corporations draw from our own populations to their various departments, including marketing it should be no surprise that often we see a little misrepresentation in Corporate Marketing Departments. But if you work hard you can curb these issues. Are you an honest person? Show me, dont expect me to believe you next time. Consider this in 2006.
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; www.WorldThinkTank.net/
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 28th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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I well remember as a young bank clerk many years ago, sitting at my desk one morning. Around me were the sounds of hustle and bustle of a busy office people were sipping their coffee (in those days it was instant!) opening the mail (ah, for the days before email!) and telling of the events of last evening or their trip to work that morning. As a morning person, it was my best time of the day when I was at my most positive, creative and effective best, so I had my head down and bum up. Time later for relaxing. Suddenly, the air was split with an earth shattering yell. My usually very quiet, reserved manager, had come out of his office, red in the face and yelling “Who did this?” Everyone stopped dead. When he recovered enough to tell us what the “this” was, I discovered to my horror that it was obviously something that I had done that had upset him. Apparently, I had made a blunder that would impact one of our best customers most unfavourably. I very tentatively, put my hand up “Mm, mm, mm, me, Sir”, I managed to stammer. “Into my office, now!” he replied.
By the time we had both sat down in his office, he had recovered his composure somewhat. To my great surprise, he started the conversation with “Bob, I really appreciate your honesty in admitting to this mistake. I am very disappointed that it has happened, but with some luck, we can probably correct it. Thank you for owning up to your mistake so readily”.
That experience for me was bitter sweet and obviously long lasting. It certainly had a major impact on my later mode of operating when I became a manager. On the one hand, I was mortified to have made such a stupid mistake yet on the other hand, I had really felt good and upbeat about the way it had been handled. I thought of that experience as I read an article in the Herald Tribune this week (Jan 3, 2007) titled “2 of 5 bosses don’t keep their word”. The article reported on a soon to be released study in The Leadership Quarterly that found that by and large, many bosses today are dishonest with and about their workers. The study specifically pointed out some damming evidence reported by workers about the honesty of their bosses:
39% said their supervisors had failed to keep promises.
37% said their supervisors had failed to give credit when due.
31% said their supervisors had given them the “silent treatment” in the past year.
27% said their supervisors had made negative comments about them to other employees or managers.
24% said their supervisors had invaded their privacy.
23% said their supervisors had blamed others to cover up mistakes or to minimise embarrassment.
Florida State University, the authors of the report, suggest that such dishonesty creates problems for companies such as poor morale, lower production and higher turnover. These results confirm my own research in interviews and focus groups with managers and their employees over the last twenty years. I too found that the major reason why people leave an organisation is because of poor management and leadership. People don’t leave a company, they leave their boss!
What may surprise some readers is that the Florida State study also confirmed many earlier studies about the relationship between pay and turnover. It found that a good working environment is more important than pay and that “employees were more likely to leave if involved in an abusive relationship than if dissatisfied with pay.
My own research also throws up two other factors of note:
People join a company because of the excitement or enticement of an interesting job.
People stay in a company because of the values they share with their fellow workers (assuming of course, that they have good management).
So, where does that leave today’s managers? And, most importantly, what does it suggest for companies who want to boost morale, increase productivity and decrease staff turnover?
I suggest there are three answers to this question on which every employer should focus in the relationship with his or her workers, whether he or she be the CEO or a new supervisor.
1. Make sure pay and conditions are appropriate for the job and industry; and that they are fair and equitable. This removes one of the stumbling blocks to effective employee morale and satisfaction.
2. Ensure that the job provides the employee with the ability to gain:
a sense of real achievement for the work that they do
recognition for what they achieve - regular “thank you’s” and notes of appreciation go a long way
responsibility and even increased responsibility for what they do - make sure they are able to make decisions regarding their area of responsibility without having to “upwardly delegate”
from a job that has real interest and meaning for them
advancement and development, either by way of career progression, professional or personal development.
Remember, people join a company because of the excitement of the job. It is up us as managers to do whatever we can to keep that excitement level high.
3. Above all, be honest in what you say and do. A true manager’s mantra should be “Do as I do”, not “Do as I say”. People leave a company because of poor leadership and management. I have found that people will accept mistakes if we are open about them. They will not accept cover ups. The foundation for effective leadership and management is honesty. These are qualities that everyone values.
So, where have all the honest managers gone? I have no “amazing* research to provide the answers (although it would make an interesting study). However, I will suggest that:
Honesty, particularly in western society, is in decline generally due to the emphasis on individualism not community. We have become a “Me too” society, where material and personal gain are valued above the good of the community. Every day one reads in the press or hears on the TV some new “revelation” about a cover up, lack of integrity, or just plain dishonesty that has led to yet another major commercial or international disaster.
Organisations, particularly since the late 80’s, have spent an inordinate amount of time and resources on boosting the job “satisfiers” (as Frederick Herzberg called them) pay and conditions at the expense of the true “motivators” achievement, recognition, responsibility, meaningful and interesting work, and growth and advancement. The result? When material gain becomes the all consuming and overt goal pursued by organisations (such as maximum shareholder returns and exorbitant senior manager benefits) over intrinsic basic human motivators, managers will do almost anything to “cover their bums” so that their extrinsic rewards are maintained.
Am I being too harsh on today’s managers? I’d appreciate your thoughts, opinions, comments and stories. I wonder how many of today’s managers would take the same approach as my old manager when faced with a similar situation to that of “my mistake”?
Copyright (c) 2007 The National Learning Institute
Bob Selden is passionate about developing leadership and management within organisations. He also works with individual managers in their personal development as a part time faculty member on the leadership development programs at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne and the Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney. Hed like to hear your thoughts on leadership development via the National Learning Institute
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 28th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
The word integrity is passed around a lot. Many people use it without proper reflection upon what it encompasses. It is bantered about as a much more casual word might be. Why is that? Could it be that its far easier to use the word that it is to live by it? A life guided by integrity is certainly not a rare occurrence, but one that when observed, yields a sense of completeness, harmony and prosperity that transcends more than just the monetary.
Websters dictionary defines integrity as firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values and describes a person of integrity as incorruptible. I prefer a much more simplified and applicable definition that can touch each of us wherever we are: Integrity is what you do and how you behave when there is no one watching. Of course, I believe that there is always a righteous God watching. However, there are certainly those persons that are not as concerned about that fact as they might well be, but that is a topic for another day.
How does integrity relate to prosperity? After all, they are not mutually exclusive. Its really quite simple we reap what we sow. Man was given a conscience to act as a moral compass, a barometer, constantly receiving feedback from our thoughts and actions and then responding back to us with guidance. If we sow with integrity, we will also reap in abundance. Our reputation will grow and we will discover that we are the type of person that others will seek out to have business transactions with. This will grow exponentially and our prosperity is assured. The prosperity I speak of here is also one of peace, harmony, satisfaction, fulfillment as well as the monetary reward.
Some time ago, I came across a paper entitled Ten Affirmations of Integrity on which there was no mention of the author. These affirmations are simple, yet so very profound. Read them now and again each morning as you wake and again each evening as you prepare for sleep. Internalize them and you will certainly prosper.
1. When I make a promise, I will keep that promise.
How many times do people say something or make a promise that they have absolutely no intention of ever keeping? Do you ever catch yourself saying something to someone just to shut them up, simply telling them what they want to hear?
2. When I set a goal, I will work to achieve it.
Would you believe that most of us do not have any written goals? Most people have dreams or wants that they simply keep in their heads. These thought are fleeting and often tend to morph into new ideas or wants on a frequent basis like the winds. Learn to write down your goals and identify the steps necessary to achieve them. Review them daily and track your progress. It only takes a few minutes to do, but most of us will not bother.
3. I will treat others as I would treat myself.
The golden rulewhere have we heard that before! This one is a gold mine ready to be enjoyed. Simply treat others with dignity and respect. You will certainly stand out in the crowd.
4. I will conduct my life with excellence.
Commit to living your life as if you were always being scrutinized. The word shortcut is not even in your vocabulary. See things completely through by creating mental pictures of your goal. Do your very best always. Finish what you start. Never quit and never give up. Always look to uplift others with a kind word or action.
5. I will be personally accountable.
Realize that you are responsible for you. There is no blame or credit to be blanketed on others. Stand on your personal word. Mean what you say and do what you mean to. Take pride in doing the small things that make a big difference. Dont ever be afraid to admit you might be wrong. When wrong, make it right. Take a stand.
6. I will face my mistakes and grow from them.
Everyone makes mistakes. The key point is that we should always strive to eliminate the possibility of making the same mistake twice. We do that by examining our mistake, determining the reason for it and where we went off course. Gather as much insight as possible from the situation and make note of what you would do differently when the same opportunity comes your way again. Admit your mistakes. Learn from them.
7. I will relate to others with honesty.
Be honest with yourself and your dealings with others. Dont ever justify a lie by calling it a stretch of the truth or a white lie that wont hurt anyone. You will soon find yourself telling another lie to conceal the first one and so on. It is always best to tell the truth. Most people will respect you for it, even if you were wrong. Strength of character is forged from honesty and respect.
8. I will show respect for authority.
Everyone is subject to someone or something. We teach our children to respect their parents, grandparents, teachers, leaders, crossing guard and other adults in their lives. In the same way, we as adults need to respect the authority of others, especially while on their turf. Remember that the next time you are in the library or the movie theater when someone far younger than you asks you to please be quiet or turn off your cell phone.
9. I will honor my debts.
We live in a disposable culture. This has stretched well beyond mere things to include institutions such as marriage and family. How many commercials currently parade across our televisions promising debt relief or financial freedom? Shakespeare said neither a borrower nor a lender be and he was right. There is no running out on accumulated debt while maintaining honor. If necessary, sit down with a financial expert and design a plan to gradually work your way out of debt. A winner will always honor his debts, sleeping peacefully in the process.
10. I will love people and use things.
People are not pawns to be manipulated for personal gain, but that is exactly how some of us treat others if it will benefit us in some way. People of integrity will always seek to build up others, edifying them and encouraging them to victory. People lacking integrity selfishly seek their own agenda without concern for anyone else. This is not how we were designed by our Creator to interact with each other. We are interdependent beings, not isolated islands.
Integrity is a trait most admired by winners. It is such a quality in man that it is eagerly sought out by employers, diplomats, teachers, negotiators, pastors and many others. Given a choice of several similarly talented individuals from which there will be a single job awarded, the person of integrity will most likely stand out and be awarded that employment. In a leadership arena, such as an emergency situation, where someone must surely take charge, the person of integrity will rise to the occasion and will quickly garner the respect of those around her, allowing for her leadership to take over. Her integrity will ensure her leadership because those around her will sense her discerning abilities.
Integrity, of course, will not absolutely guarantee prosperity, but I submit that people of integrity sleep better, work more efficiently and attract a more qualified and capable inner circle of friends and associates from whom they gather advice, recommendations and counsel. This cabinet of leaders and qualified experts will almost always ensure their success at most any endeavor they undertake. Integrity is a critical yardstick by which we will be judged by our peers, our critics and our God. It is an ideal where we cannot afford to fall short.
Daniel Sitter, author of both the popular e-book, Learning For Profit, and the highly anticipated book, Superior Selling Skills, has extensive experience in sales, training, marketing and personal development over a successful 25 year career. http://www.learningforprofit.com/.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 27th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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This morning, as I emerged blinking from Chancery Lane station on my way to work, I was confronted by a young lady sporting a nylon tunic emblazoned with the words Every Child and a fat clipboard full of Direct Debit forms. As I approached, she began to play out some ridiculous dumb show of desperation worthy of the sad clown in a cut-price circus and entreating myself and the guy walking immediately ahead of me to Pleeeeeease stop and talk to me! in pathetic, can-I-have-a-pony-Daddy? tones. In response to her transparent and two dimensional plea, I fixed on my best chugger-proof thousand yard stare (they cant catch your eye if you look through them!) and trundled blithely on. My fellow pedestrian, however, felt no such need for reserve in his response, calling out loudly theres a good reason why no-ones talking to you, love, its because youre a f***ing parasite!
A crass and imbalanced response to a kind-hearted soul trying to make a difference, you might say; a callous dismissal of the efforts of a good, honest individual to make a difference to the cruel world we live in? Not so, say I! Let us take a moment to examine the economics of this new, self-made industry sector and see if there might actually be some mileage in this young mans claim.
Some years ago, whilst I was still at university supplementing my student by loan working in a bar up to five nights a week and living in a shared house, one of my then housemates came home announcing that she had found an amazing job which allowed her to work just one day a week and bring home more money than my five bar shifts used to earn. Intrigued, I asked for more details of this wonder job and sat back as my housemate launched into a breathless account of how she and her fearless new colleagues were out to save the world. Firstly, she gasped, in a froth of self-congratulatory altruism, the best thing about the job is that its working for charity! So far, so good I thought; charity is good. Basically, you go out with a team of people and you talk to people in the street and you ask them to sign up to donate money for your charity. Which charity is this? I asked. Oh, it could be a different charity every week, we work through an agency she replied. At this point, alarm bells began to ring.
To cut a long story short, it transpired that my housemate was being paid around 9.50 per hour to stand in the street, harassing the general public into surrendering their direct debit details and donate to charity making, over a ten hour shift a daily total of 95, which was a pretty damn good take home for a days work for a 20 year old student. Add to that the fact that employment agencies of any sort levy a charge on top of this daily wage to the employer, in this case the charity, which can easily be equal to or even in excess of the actual wages paid to the employee. Lets be generous in this case and assume that the agency in question charges 30% on top of wage charges. That leaves a daily cost to the charity in question of 123.50. After a rushed mental calculation, I exclaimed to my housemate wow, you must have to work really hard to pay for yourself; how many are you expected to sign up in a day? One she replied, at least while were new to the job, later on youre expected to be better at it, the really good ones get four or five in a day!. Four and five in a day sounds like a pretty low rate considering the cost; how much are these four or five people donating?; about 3.50 a month on average.
I was gobsmacked! I couldnt help it, the calculator came out.
I hate to piss on your parade, I said, five minutes later but at one signee per day for 3.50 a month, youd need to work for 35 days straight, or seven full working weeks to bring in enough revenue from initial payments to pay your wages for a single day. To put it another way, the one person that you sign up today has to maintain this direct debit for just shy of three years before what you did today becomes profitable for the charity that hired you. I fail to see how this is a good thing you are doing.
Two days later, my housemate returns from a second shift chugging, we are raising awareness she says, increasing the public brand visibility of the charities we work for. Sure you are, youre raising my awareness of the fact that people in nylon tunics are to be avoided; youre raising my awareness of the depths to which unscrupulous agencies and cash strapped students will stoop; youre raising my awareness of exactly how much voluntarily donated cash intended for charity use gets siphoned off into the pockets of middlemen and smooth talkers. I fail to see how this is a good thing!
If you really want to donate to a charity, do it via their website.
Croydon J Hounslow works for an online dating agency
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 27th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
Have you ever heard this: “Money is the Root of All Evil”? Most of us have heard that the Bible tells us that money is the root of all evil. Why someone would want to misquote the Bible about money is beyond me but it is done and sometimes on a regular basis. Is it because someone is poor and they are trying to defend their poverty status by making you think the Bible is telling them to be poor? Make sense? NO!! Our world system is set up on the monetary system so to do anything in this life it does take money.
But let’s quote the Bible correctly: “The love of money is the root of all evil”. It comes from 1 Timothy 6:10 and in the amplified version is says exactly: “For the love of money is a root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have been led astray and have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves through with many acute [mental] pangs.” It is describing a craving; putting money above anything and anyone. We need to keep money in perspective and use it for good. Money in and of itself is not good or evil. Money is simply a form of exchange for services, goods and time. It is only when people become attached to their money and become greedy that difficulties arise. With money as a resource, great good can be done in the world. Hungry children can be fed, lands can be preserved for future generations and medical research can be conducted to cure diseases.
When I was reading the previously mentioned book about millionaire women, the common thread among them was that they know that money allows them to help others and help themselves. They received great joy in giving to charities. Think about what you can do with your riches? You may choose to do many wonderful things with money: you can assist others, pay for your children to go to college, donate to your favorite charities or treat yourself to a well deserved vacation, pay cash for a house or car instead of being in debt for it. The possibilities are endless. Money is not evil, it can do bad or good…the choice is yours. Allow yourself to dream about all of the wonderful things you will do with your money, and let these dreams drive your success!
Claudia Givens
http://www.7khomebusiness.net/4
I’m self employed and love the time freedom and choices it affords me. I am a mother of two children (so to speak), my daughter is 34 and my son just turned 18 and attends college (studying business for entrepreneurs). I love networking with other people to hear what others are doing with their lives. I love to travel and can’t wait to begin that part of my life again. My business is being an MMCII ProRep with Advantage Conferences, LLC-Home of the Millionaire Mindset Conferences.
I enjoy blogging as Millionaie Mentor at: http://www.christian-millionaire-mentoring.blogspot.com/
I’m also the founder/editor of the online magazine for women: Esther’s Legacy. I’m one of those people that believes life is getting better the older I get.
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 24th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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When asked to write a small piece pertaining to ethics and integrity in the business world, my first inclination was to draw on personal experience.
Everyone has bad experiences to relate. We deal with a business, determine that we were treated shabbily therefore that business has no integrity. Or perhaps we disagree on the implementation of a refund, hence the business or owner has no ethics.
Rather than using ethics or integrity to describe business practices, a better definition might be “character”.
My dusty old copy of Webster’s New World Dictionary provides the following definitions for use in this context:
-ethics…the study of standards of conduct and moral judgment; moral philosophy.
-integrity…the quality or state of being of sound moral principle; uprightness, honesty, and sincerity.
-character…an individual’s pattern of behavior or personality; moral constitution. moral strength; self-discipline, fortitude, etc. reputation.
If you will look at these definitions you can see that ethics relates to standards of conduct. Period. Ethics are…no good or bad comes into the mix. Integrity either is or isn’t. Sound moral principle is relative to the observer or end user.
It stands to reason, therefore, that the best measure of good or bad practice falls to basic “character”.
Okay, so what does all of this have to do with business. Well, I wish I had a nickel for every time someone has asked me the following questions:
“How do I tell if a business is good or bad?”
“How do I know where to shop?”
“Are they a good business?”
My response is always the same…check the fruit on the tree. What is the pattern of behavior? What is the company’s reactive personality? Is the moral constitution flexible rather than rigid? Check the reputation.
The offline world provides numerous resources to determine the patterns and trends of businesses. Trade associations, chambers of commerce, better business bureaus etc.
In the online world, however, we are still treading murky waters when it comes to measuring the “character” of a business. By far, the best route to take are testimonials.
Testimonials on your website are powerful. But, they must be honest and sincere. Don’t just make them up. Add a link back to the provider and it will increase your credibility TENFOLD!
Now I know what you’re thinking, “Who wants to be answering tons of email for ME?” Nobody. That’s why you use the technology available at your fingertips. With the permission of the author, use a line or two of their testimonial on your site with a link to an autoresponder for the full message.
Now, sit back and watch your credibility soar!
Patty Baldwin 2001
About The Author
Patty Baldwin is a former Better Business Bureau executive and the owner of several online businesses. A successful net marketer, she invites you to visit any one of her sites at:
http://www.allbizservices.com
http://www.4bstrading.com
http://www.allbizwealth.com
patty@allbizservices.com
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 24th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
Some of the most talented people in our society are in trouble with the law. Some are serving time in federal and state prisons. Some are waiting to be sentenced for crimes of which they have been convicted in courts of law.
From my experience, those who succeed temporally in life started from a spiritual base. They were raised in good homes and benefited from neighborhood, church, and school leaders. Many were Little Leaguers and good Boy Scouts. Now they are in trouble and their families are humiliated.
What went wrong?
Sarbanes-Oxley Act
I extracted and shortened the following from http://www.criminaldefenseassociates.com/crimes/whitecollar
In the wake of the Enron/Arthur Anderson scandal, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, mandated the separation of auditing and consulting businesses in an attempt to restore public confidence in the investment market.
The Act created a number of new Federal crimes (i.e., document destruction and tampering, securities fraud, certification of false financial statements, and attempt and conspiracy), many of which apply to both public and private companies, their directors, officers, and employees.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also significantly enhances penalties applicable to a host of existing white collar crimes.
A number of Federal agencies including the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the Secret Service, U.S. Customs, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, participate in the enforcement of Federal white collar crime legislation.
In addition, most states employ their own agencies to enforce white collar crime laws at the State level.
All Corporate Crimes are Not Prosecuted
At http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/deferredreport.htm is posted the report: Crime Without Conviction: The Rise of Deferred and Non Prosecution Agreements and I quote:
This report finds that prosecutors have entered into twice as many non-prosecution and deferred prosecution agreements with major American corporations in the last four years (23 agreements between 2002 to 2005) than they have in the previous ten years (11 agreements between 1992 to 2001)And it raises the question are these companies too big to indict, to big to convict?
See also http://www.commondreams.org/views03/0728-15.htm
Top Corporate Criminals
At http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/top100.html are listed the top 100 corporate criminals of the 1990s. I quote:
The 100 corporate criminals fell into 14 categories of crime: Environmental (38), antitrust (20), fraud (13), campaign finance (7), food and drug (6), financial crimes (4), false statements (3), illegal exports (3), illegal boycott (1), worker death (1), bribery (1), obstruction of justice (1) public corruption (1), and tax evasion (1).
Without going into details, the above report states that corporate crime damages far exceed that of street crimes both in cost to the public and in deaths.
The list comes in two versions. The Brief List simply states the corporation and the crime. The Annotated List gives more details. You will find some of our finest corporations on these lists.
Dumping: The Corporate Crime of the Century
We read this at http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/1979/11/dowie.html
News: It’s called dumping:
When the U.S. government forces a dangerous drug, pesticide or other product off the domestic market, the manufacturer then sells that same productfrequently with the direct support of the State Departmentthroughout the rest of the world.
In an associated article at http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/1979/11/where.html Where Are They Now? we read:
“News: What ever happened to those dumped productsand their dumpers? Eighteen years later, the MoJo Wire investigates.”
The bottom line is that the restrictions placed by our government to protect our people do not apply to other peoples of the world.
Its okay if a person dies from faulty drugs or medical machinery in Podunktoo.
Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness: Exodus 20:16
As Martha Steward will testify, bearing false witness to our government is a major crime. She spent five months in the slammer because of that law.
Bearing false witness to the public is a crime that our government is exempt from. That is a law we need to fix. Public officials should be held accountable for what they say.
I think that Martha should have been fined $1000.00 and required to spend two weeks in public service sweeping the streets of Manhattan and passing out cookies to vagrants in front of the New York Stock Exchange.
Her silly lies were just a miner crime in my opinion.
News Flash: Corporate Crimes are People Crimes
Corporate crimes are performed by people, the employees of the corporation. Often they are not intentional.
Joe Blow opens Valve Number 609 and closes Valve 906 instead of the opposite.
Ten zillion tons of gung then flows into Little Bear Creek killing the fish, the frogs, and twelve butterflies.
The Corporation is fined and the corporation must clean up the mess to boot.
Other crimes, especially those involving money, are intentional. Corporate Fat Cats full of greed want to pad their retirement funds.
These same Fat Cats were once good citizens who grew up in good homes, went to good Universities (where some say they learned how to cheat), and were Pillars of the Community. Now they are jailbirds or disgraced.
Help for Those Corporate Biggies Not Now in Trouble but May Soon Be
There is a rule once used by some in our country. It is Honesty is the Best Policy.
Have that framed and put on your wall.
Another one is Integrity is Doing the Right Thing when No One is Looking.
Frame that too.
For light reading go to http://www.scouting.org/factsheets/02-503a.html and read the Scout Oath and Law.
If you were not a Boy Scout, go there and read it anyway. It cant hurt.
copyrightJohn T. Jones, Ph.D.
John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com, a retired VP of R&D for Lenox China, is author of detective & western novels, nonfiction (business, scientific, engineering, humor), poetry, etc. Former editor of Ceramic Industry Magazine. He is Executive Representative of IWS sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He also sells TopFlight flagpoles. He calls himself “Taylor Jones, the hack writer.”
More info: http://www.tjbooks.com
Business web site: http://www.aaaflagpoles.com
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 23rd, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
Here’s a harsh dose of truth: Deception has reached epidemic proportions in our society.
Think I’m lying? Consider these grim statistics:
Psychologist Gerald Jellison’s research into mendacity leads him to conclude most people encounter 200 fibs and fabrications every single day. That’s a lie every eight minutes or so.
In a study using videotaped interactions among strangers, psychologist Robert Feldman discovered 60% of people lie an average of three times during ten minutes of conversation. That’s a whopper every three minutes and twenty seconds.
Clinical research isn’t the only evidence pointing to deception’s ever-deepening penetration of society. Tune into any newscast or open any newspaper and you’ll see “truthiness” at work. Accounting irregularities at major corporations, a million little fibs in James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces, and an endless series of political scandals have thrust dishonesty into the spotlight. Is there anything we can believe today?
Believe this: the workplace isn’t immune from the “truthiness” epidemic that’s sweeping the nation. In fact, the workplace is a Petri dish for growing a bumper crop of bald-faced lies because deception has become the performance-enhancing drug for any competitive environment. Let’s take a closer look at the general categories of lies we might encounter at the office, as well as their effect on individual performance and the performance of the business as a whole.
1. Lies to Avoid Hurting Others
More commonly referred to as “little white lies,” these fibs are among the most frequent we encounter at work and are also among the least destructive as far as productivity and morale are concerned. In fact, these lies are crucial for helping any workforce function smoothly. There are countless occasions where “the truth” simply isn’t appropriate.
Imagine, for example, an employee presents you with a draft budget for an upcoming project. Immediately, you notice many obvious expenses haven’t been considered. Rather than speak your mind (”Bob, this budget is out to lunch. Are you on the sauce again?”) you employ a more constructive approach. (”This is a good first cut, Bob, but some key expenses are missing. You’ll need to rework this.”)
Bob, in turn, accepts your constructive criticism graciously — maybe even thanks you — and keeps his true thoughts on being handed more work to himself (which aren’t nearly as gracious).
The result? A beneficial exchange of viewpoints rather than finger-pointing acrimony, brought to you by the power of positive prevarications.
2. Lies to Boost Appeal and Likeability
The majority of employees found in any workplace want to be liked. It’s only human, after all. Lies can do for our personality what joint compound and a can of paint can do for an old, boring wall: smooth over the defects and create a nice, glossy finish.
Like the fibs we tell to avoid hurting others in the workplace, this category of lies tends to be common and minimally destructive — unless taken to the extreme. We all embellish our exploits or mold our personality to better fit in with our peers. But inside every office there lurks one employee who takes it too far and suffers from a “credibility gap” as a result. This individual’s constant, over-the-top self-promotion colors every aspect of his being, making it tough to trust anything he says or does.
3. Lies to Avoid Negative Consequences
We learn as children that lies can get us out of trouble with our family and friends. And we never grow out of our desire to avoid trouble and the pain it can cause. Even as adults, our instinctive reaction to situations that carry the potential for negative consequences is to fib. Slept in and missed an important meeting? Blame the power outage that knocked your alarm clock out of commission (and mysteriously affected only your house).
A frequent part of the lying landscape at work, this category of lies can be incredibly disruptive and destructive. Employees may use them to cover up their shortcomings and mistakes. They may also attempt to shift blame to their fellow co-workers, igniting a firestorm of ill will in the workplace.
4. Lies to Gain an Advantage
A byproduct of the competitive workplace environment, lies for personal gain help us boost our standing among the rank and file. They are incredibly versatile and can be used to gain the right kind of attention for ourselves, draw the wrong kind of attention toward others, spread falsehoods that knock our co-workers down and lift us up as a result, and so on ad nauseam.
Left untreated, lies for personal gain can wreak havoc with a business’ mental health, poisoning the atmosphere of trust crucial for successful teamwork. And, equally alarming, these lies can make it impossible for management to accurately identify top performers and reward them equitably. The end result? Less than optimum performance by the business as a whole.
5. Lies to Cover Up Lies
One of the most frightening aspects of deception is the imperative it creates for more deception. Lies breed lies. In the workplace, this exponential growth can create an environment where everyone and everything is suspect. In such a dysfunctional setting, the pursuit of commerce and profits can be an impossible task.
While these common denominators help us to understand why we lie so easily and so often in the workplace, it’s important to note there are unique gender differences in how we fib. Men and women, in other words, lie differently. There are also clues businesses can use to avoid hiring a truth-challenged employee in the first place. These elements of the deception game in the workplace will be highlighted in the upcoming article, “Avoid Hiring a Bald-Faced Liar or How to Deflate a Padded Rsum.”
Conner O’Seanery is a self-admitted serial liar and an expert on detecting deception in any situation. Author of You Won’t Get Fooled at Work Again: 40 Timely Tips for Recognizing Deception in the Workplace and You Won’t Get Fooled Again: More Than 101 Brilliant Ways to Bust Any Bald-Faced Liar (Even If the Liar is Lying Beside You!), O’Seanery is a popular media guest whose insights have been featured on City TV’s Breakfast Television, Global Television’s NewsHour, CBC Radio, Westwood One Radio Network, USA Radio Network and hundreds of radio stations. His books have been featured in the New York Post, National Post, Seattle Times, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen and other newspapers. Conner is also a respected speaker who uses a blend of quick wit and well-earned wisdom to entertain as much as inform audiences. To download free excerpts from You Won’t Get Fooled at Work Again and You Won’t Get Fooled Again visit Conner’s website at
href="http://TheSerialLiar.com/">http://TheSerialLiar.com/
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on January 22nd, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.
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