Throughout my career I have encountered many people in the business world:\u00a0 Some are honest and good, and some are not.\u00a0 The most important thing to recognize is this \u2013 when someone shows you who they are through their actions and their behavior \u2013 BELIEVE THEM!\u00a0 If someone has shown a track record of honesty and integrity then you can trust them.\u00a0 If someone has shown a track record of cutting corners, telling untruths, treating others badly, finding ways to cheat or take advantage of others \u2013 RUN AWAY!!!\u00a0 As far and as fast as you possibly can.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why run away you ask? Because if you choose to spend a significant amount of your time around someone who lacks integrity you will ultimately find yourself heading down that very same path\u2026little by little\u2026until one day you will look in the mirror and find that you have become just like that person you are spending your time with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My father told us growing up that when you lie down with dogs you get fleas…there is no avoiding it….\u00a0 Those words really impacted me as we had a dog growing up and I remember a time when our dog had fleas and anyone who spent time near our dog would end up with flea bites all over their legs \u2013 just because they had been in the presence of our dog.\u00a0 These people had done nothing wrong, other than they made the choice to stand near the dog \u2013 but that is all it took \u2013 that choice.\u00a0 So having witnessed that, my father\u2019s words became extremely powerful imagery for me. Those words became the reason I won’t allow myself to spend my time being close to anyone who I can\u2019t respect and look up to, in either my personal life or my professional life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a time in my 20’s when I forgot my father\u2019s words and I allowed myself to do business with people who I saw lacking integrity toward others. I would justify it to myself saying \u201cEven though I have seen them be dishonest with others, surely they would never do that to me.\u201d\u00a0 That was a slippery slope and sure enough those same people took advantage of me just the way I had seen them do the same to so many other people before me.\u00a0 It was a painful reminded of my father\u2019s words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From that point forward I made the commitment to only get close to people who had proven by their behavior and their actions that they were people of integrity.\u00a0 I surrounded myself with honest employees, honest investors, honest clients, honest partners, honest friends, and the results were nothing short of spectacular.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life is too short to justify working closely with someone who lacks integrity.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get caught in that trap of justifying their bad behavior by telling yourself \u201csurely they would never do that to me\u201d because I can promise you the day will come when that is exactly what they will do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember, if you get close to the dog you’re going to get fleas….it’s that simple. So choose your friends and your business associates wisely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n