INTEGRITY:
Would yours stand up to Scrutiny?
I’ve been reading in the paper recently lots and lots of stuff that makes me shake my head and wonder what the heck are people actually thinking of. And what I’m talking about here is the lack of integrity, leadership and business ownership.
I just want to outline a few things that I’m reading here that absolutely stagger me. This one is from James Coney and he talks about, ‘Time to break the Fund Managers Code of Silence.’
And he writes, & I’m quoting directly from him, “I hear from unhappy Hargreaves’ customers all the time. What rankles most, is that no one has taken the blame. A business where no one takes responsibility for such a devastating series of errors, clearly has weak leadership.”
And you know what? I have to go along with it. I absolutely agree with him that people are obfuscating. If they can get away from accepting their responsibilities and without taking ownership, then they will. Too many people are ready to assert their rights without first accepting the responsibilities that go with those rights. It actually goes against what integrity, beliefs and values stand for.
Now, for me for values are the rules that we live our lives by. And the value test that I put on values is this: If you apply this value and no one found out you broke it, or it costs you money or embarrassment, – would you still do it?
Now, very few people will put their hand up and lose money, or risk embarrassment. Because it’s all about saving face. And you’ve got to get away from that, because I’ve found often that when people don’t put their hand up, the lie, or whatever they’re trying to cover up or hide, just gets worse and worse. And it comes back to bite them big time.
If you admit your mistake, it is embarrassing. However that pretty much is the end of the issue, because people accept mistakes being made and accept when people admit to their mistakes.
Let me read you another article here. “One supplier.” It says here, “Issued a County Clerk Claim to recover £13,000 in debt.” And it goes on to say, “They (the client) give every excuse under the sun, not to pay you. They’ve sent cheques which have bounced. They’re elusive. They just hope you don’t have the appetite to pursue them. And then they just go and find some other mug to fall into the same trap.”
Karl Tandy, owner of KT Building, said he had received £7,000 of the £115,000 he is owed for work carried out on a Worthing store, ahead of its opening.
“I’ve been pulling my hair out,” he says over this. “They should have not ordered the work, if they couldn’t afford to pay for it.”
Now, you know, here’s a plea from a business owner and I’ll tell you what, my heart goes out to him because he has a family to feed. He has a business to run. He has overheads, and someone is pulling the chain over his eyes. And that really guts me.
You know, if you are that person, have the guts to go and have a courageous conversation and say, “I’m struggling at this stage. Can we work this out?”
‘By,’ as he said, ‘sending dud cheques, being elusive,’ does nothing for your integrity.
In fact, it is going to find you out, because karma says what goes around, comes around.
Here’s another one. Virgin Active. “They’re forcing landlords to write off, or defer rent arrears and take a haircut on future rents.” Now, get a load of this, “Virgin Active is using a controversial new tool that will allow it to push through a restructuring, even if it is opposed by property owners.”
It’s goes on to say, “About a fortnight ago, the gym chain, advised by the accountancy firm Deloitte, sent a letter to creditors outlining this plan.”
Now, I’m not for, or against business owners, or landlords, or renters, but what I’m saying to both parties is get around the table and talk. Outline what is actually going on, so that you can actually look at what needs to actually happen and have a courageous conversation together.
I think it’s just gutless when people will not actually talk, to try to resolve an issue. They hide behind legalese, or what their accountant or solicitor tells them.
Heaven forbid, – actually doing the right thing and keeping their integrity intact by talking to resolve the issue.
It goes against your integrity and it goes against your values, when you try and welch out of a deal.
Business owners, & leaders look at your integrity.
What do you value?
What are your beliefs?
How can you actually make this a happening thing, that if you’ve got a problem, talk with each other?
Landlords, if you’ve got a tenant who is struggling. Talk with them. See what you can do to keep them, – if they’ve been a good tenant.
Tenants, talk with your landlords. Let them know what’s going on.
Both parties stop hiding behind this legalese and this accountancy stuff. Get around the table and talk.
I know Deloitte is doing a job there, but I sometimes wonder what these accountants and solicitors are actually doing to help resolve a situation, and what actual advice they are allegedly giving their clients. I often believe they inflame a situation, that by trying to look after their client they make it worse by hiding behind legal letters. Why not actually front your client and say, “Hey, listen, you owe the money. Let’s have a chat with the other party to see what the solution is, and what solution we can come up with.”
That actually goes toward your integrity, and the other party, realising that you’re trying to make good out of a bad situation, may potentially come to the party too.
There are only very few people in the world that are absolute arses. Who actually won’t want to engage with you. Who are just going to try and drag you for every penny you’ve got.
Well, if you’ve got that type of person, there’s not too much you can do about it. But karma will come back and bite them in the backside. If you’ve done all you can to resolve the situation , and your integrity is still intact then rest easy.
INTEGRITY
If you are a business owner, do the right thing.
If you are an employee, do the right thing by your boss. Remember that your boss has got all these overheads that he or she is having to commit to. You can go home at five o’clock and all you have to worry about is the pay cheque coming in at the end of the month.
INTEGRITY is, if you have an issue, talk about it, see what the compromise is. If you owe money, put your hand up and say, “Yeah, I do owe this., “What can we do to resolve this? What can we do to resolve this so that both of us are happy.”
INTEGRITY and values is so, so important. And you let yourself down, if you don’t live by your values or you don’t live by your integrity.
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