Secrets of Networking, Part 3

The third point from a blog by Charlie Robertson from the book “Deserve What You Get” by Jay Levinson is:

3.  Ethics and Honesty – people feel if they can trust you, almost everything else fades in importance. Lack of integrity is simply trading promises you make to others in exchange for personal gain.

There is a huge difference between trust and character. It ultimately depends upon your belief system as to “what is ethical and what is honesty?”  This is part of my Jobpreneurshipä 201 curriculum. The concept of trust is so important that I wrote a book on it called Trusted Relationships – The Secret to Lasting Success. You can find this book in the website section of “Resources”.

What I want to suggest here is that, assuming both parties agree on definitions, then:

• Failing to match the values required for doing business will typically cause them to stop doing business with you
• Failing to match the values required for employees will typically cause employers to fire you
• Failing to match the values required by your spouse will typically cause your spouse to leave you
• Failing to match the values you communicated to your children will typically cause them to ignore you or imitate you when they grow up.

Do I need to say more?

You may get away with dishonesty, a lack of ethics, or being self-serving for a long time – if you are good at it. But eventually it will come back to haunt you. Fully recovering from lost trust never happens. At a minimum there will be scars and impacts on others that will not go away.

For most of us, we cannot afford to be associated with those of poor character. It ultimately impacts our brand and our relationships. It can also impact us personally. So, there is a simple remedy…goodbye.

Please take a look in the mirror. If this is an area that needs improving, your ultimate success will not come until you deal with what most of us describe as a character flaw.