Business schools teach a lot of things — managerial economics, accounting, marketing, and retailing, among others. Nowadays, they’re also trying to instill something they should have been teaching all along — plain old fashioned honesty.
They call it “ethics,” and a few of them call it “business ethics” (as if that was a something different than “regular” ethics), but they are all trying to counteract the loss of trust that has been formed by the massive business frauds of the last few years. Go see The Big Short.
Let me ask you a question — are you honest? Are you trustworthy? Do you tell the truth? Do you do what you say you’ll do? Are you someone people can count on — or someone they stay away from?
Trust is a big thing — and it’s big in business.
Can people trust you? Do you “stretch” the truth a little bit, to make your make your next deal come together? Do you tell people something that you really don’t believe?
Let’s get more personal here — would you prefer to marry someone you can trust, or someone who is not trustworthy? Would you prefer your spouse to tell you the truth, or to lie through his/her teeth? Would they prefer the same thing, you think?
Remember too that trust is something that can be lost easily. It’s something that takes a lot of time, effort, and energy to acquire — and yet it can vanish in a moment, never to be found again.
One “little lie” can destroy a marriage, a job, a career, even a life. Trust is such a fragile item — it doesn’t take much to damage it.
How then do we earn the trust of others? Simple — we do what we say we’ll do. We tell the truth, even when it’s difficult.
If we work for honest people, and are honest ourselves, in our business and personal lives, we will earn the trust of others.
Trust me!
Have a great weekend!
TERRY Talks 