Archive for the 'Trust' Category

Observing the Small Business Code of Ethics

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on October 1, 2012
in Entrepreneurship and Trust
. 0 Comments

Since humans are capable of abstract thought and sophisticated language, our behavior often blurs the lines between black and white into what is known as “the gray area.”

Consequently, the desire for order motivated the establishment of ethical standards to encourage acceptable personal behavior, contracts to encourage legal behavior, and courts to sort things out when a final authority is required.

When it comes to ethical behavior, professionals have lots of help. Attorneys, CPAs, doctors, architects, investment professionals, etc., have established and published very specific ethical and professional standards, plus monitoring organizations complete with sanctioning authority. Indeed, part of their education and certification requires knowledge of that profession’s ethical standards and practices.

But when small business owners find themselves in the gray area with a customer or other business relationship, there is no sanctioning entity we can call on for guidance. We’re on our own; because The Universal Code of Small Business Professional Conduct and Ethics doesn’t exist.

Having now been in the marketplace in six different decades, I’m pleased to report that the moral compass, sense of fair play, and inclination to deal in good faith on Main Street is exemplary. Small business owners consistently demonstrate that life is much simpler – and more rewarding – when they just do the right thing. No doubt they regularly turn to ancient codes for behavioral guidance, including the Golden Rule and the 8th and 9th Commandments.

In addition to these, allow me to recommend three other principles which come in handy when you find yourself in the gray area, perched on the horns of an ethical dilemma. One is from an ancient philosopher, one from a 20th century Nobel Laureate, and one from a 21st century ethics thought leader.

On Transparency: “The way to live with honor is to be in reality what you appear to be.” Socrates, 5th century B.C.

On Integrity: “Integrity has no need of rules,” Albert Camus, from “The Myth of Sisyphus” (1942).

On Ethics: “Ethics is devotion to the unenforceable,” Len Marrella, author of In Search of Ethics (2005).

Here are all three delivered in one sentence: “John, I noticed one of the terms you wanted was left out when we signed the final contract. Even though the contract is in force, I did agree to that point. So let’s put it back in and resign the contract.”

Devotion to the unenforceable, thy name is small business.

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On my radio program, The Small Business Advocate Show, I’ve had many conversations with Len Marrella, founder and president of the Center for Leadership and Ethics and author of In Search of Ethics – Conversations with Men and Women of Character. Click here to see them all and download or listen.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Watch Jim’s videos HERE!

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A Small Business Minute: Build your small business on trust

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on March 1, 2012
in Management Fundamentals and Trust
. 4 Comments

Trust in a small business is not a means to an end, it must be an organizational way of life. Watch this one minute video on how to build trust in your organization.

Watch more of Jim’s videos HERE!

Take this week’s poll HERE!

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

Integrity has no need of rules

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 10, 2012
in Entrepreneurship and Trust
. 0 Comments

While talking with an attorney friend of mine, our topic of discussion was about professional behavior in the marketplace. She reminded me that attorneys have very specific ethical and professional standards that are published, plus a well-developed monitoring organization, complete with sanctioning authority.

The story is quite similar for CPAs, architects, medical doctors, or any securities representative such as stock brokers, financial planners, etc. Much of the behavioral track these professionals run on is pretty well spelled out for them. Not that the members of these groups need to be led or coerced into good professional behavior. It’s just that, when in doubt, they have published guidelines with which to refer.

Small business owners operate in the same marketplace as the so-called professionals. Indeed, they are often our clients and customers. We serve the same businesses and consumers as other professionals, plus we enter into similar relationships, contracts and agreements. And we often find ourselves perched precariously on the same horns-of-a-dilemma as other prefessionals, But here’s the difference: The Universal Small Business Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics doesn’t exist.

Small business owners, like all humans, ultimately behave according to their own moral compass, sense of fair play and inclination to deal in good faith. When we find ourselves in a quandary over how to respond to a difficult situation that is in the gray area of a contract, we’re on our own. When we are faced with an ethical issue that would challenge King Solomon, there is no sanctioning body or support group to dial up, to to whom we can email a “scenario.”

There are many ancient codes small business owners can turn to for behavioral guidance in the marketplace, such as the last three of the Ten Commandments. But in terms of a handy guide, I think philosopher and 1957 Nobel Prize winner for literature, Albert Camus, may have given us the best ethical vector when he wrote, “Integrity has no need of rules.”

Wise small business owners know that life is much simpler, and exceedingly more rewarding, when we just do the right thing.

I’ve talked quite a bit about ethics with Len Marrella, founder and president of the Center for Leadership and Ethics and author of In Search of Ethics – Conversations with Men and Women of Character.

To see all of our conversations and either listen or download, click here.

Check out more great SBA content HERE!

You aren’t invited to GM’s IPO party

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on November 13, 2010
in Politics and Trust
. 1 Comment

Okay, let’s review a few events before I tell you about something that will make you want to take a hostage.

A. The federal government (read: politicians) pledged $700 BILLION of taxpayer money (read: yours and mine) to bail out Wall Street in 2008. According to many experts, this had to happen because Wall Street had so abused the securitization marketplace that we were teetering on the precipice of a full-blown economic depression.

Here’s how Wall Street fared after the bail-out: The bonus pool for Wall Street was $100 BILLION in 2007, the year before the bail-out. One year after, in 2009, the Wall Street bonus pool returned to $100 BILLION.

If you’re scoring at home, that’s Wall Street: HUNDREDS-of-BILLIONS / Taxpayers and small business: The Bill.

B. After decades of reckless contract concessions to unions and incredibly stupid management practices, General Motors goes hat-in-hand to the federal government for a bail-out in 2008. Those same politicians mentioned above committed approximately $50 BILLION to bail out GM and UAW.

Part of the rationale was to save “hundreds of thousands of jobs (read: union jobs). Meanwhile, small businesses across America had to lay off millions of their employees just to keep the doors open.

Scoring again: GM and unions: TENS-of-BILLIONS / Taxpayers and small business: Zilch.

So, here we are almost two years hence and GM has emerged from bankruptcy with the help of our tax dollars. In fact, GM is doing so well now, that they are making a profit and, full disclosure, have begun repayment on the bail-out.

GM is also about to go public with an initial public offering in the next few days. Because it has now become a more efficient and financially stable operation – thanks to you and me – the stock is expected to very quickly increase in value from the initial offering price. This means anyone who purchases the stock at the IPO price stands to make a tidy profit very quickly.

Now for the part that will make you want to take a hostage: You and I – regular retail investors who bailed out Wall Street and GM – aren’t invited to this party. As it stands at this writing, only wealthy investors and investment firms (read: Wall Street) will have access to IPO shares. Regular folks won’t be able to purchase the new GM shares through their accounts with Fidelity, E-Trade and the like.

Final score: Wall Street & GM: Bailed out and richer / Regular folks: The back-of-the-hand.

Here’s my proposal: The first day of the GM IPO, no institutions or highly-connected, rich investors can buy GM shares; only regular “retail” investors can buy GM shares. We would have all of the first day to buy as much as we want. The second day is open to everyone.

The U.S. Treasury Department could fix this if they wanted to - but if the average taxpayer is foreclosed from purchasing GM stock on the first day at the IPO price, we will witness another blatant example of collusion between Wall Street and Washington at the expense of regular folks on Main Street.

Recently on The Small Business Advocate Show, I talked about the GM IPO issue as well as the bail out of GM with two of my favorite financial Brain Trust members: Gary Moore, founder of The Financial Seminary, a non-profit ministry, to build bridges between the financial and moral communities; and Bill Dunkelberg, Chief Economist for the National Federation of Independent Business. Please take a few minutes to click on one of the links below and listen … as always, leave your comments.

Why aren’t you and I invited to the GM IPO party? with Jim Blasingame

America’s ability to work out of an economic downturn with Gary Moore

Two experts debate the government bailout of GM with Gary Moore and Bill Dunkelberg

Economic recovery job one: Rebuild trust

Published
by
Jim Blasingame
on February 10, 2010
in Communication, Customer Care, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Trust
. 2 Comments

In life and in the marketplace, nothing works without trust. I believe that so much that for the entire time I’ve been talking with small business owners on my radio program, we’ve included the wisdom and counsel of experts on trust as regular programming. Here is an important thought on trust from one of our experts, whose name and book I’ll identify below:

“Trust impacts us 24/7, 365 days a year. It undergirds and affects the quality of every relationship, every communication, every work project, every business venture, every effort in which we are engaged. It changes the quality and outcome of every future moment of our lives, both personally and professionally.”

The Great Recession we’re experiencing has produced a kind of double jeopardy: the classic negative elements of any economic downturn, plus what we now know caused the recession, a collapse of trust. Consequently, true economic recovery can’t happen, regardless of government efforts, until we regain trust. Not only do we have to rebuild our economy, we have an extra, and even more important assignment to fulfill: each of us has to demand trust and demonstrate trustworthiness across all sectors of society and the marketplace.

Recently on my program, The Small Business Advocate Show, the author of the quote above, Stephen M.R. Covey joined me again to discuss why operating with trust and fostering its growth will be more critical to success in the future than ever before. Stephen is a member of my Brain Trust, co-founder and CEO of CoveyLink Worldwide, a keynote speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, and author of The SPEED of Trust.  The quote is on pages 1and 2.  And yes, he is one of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen R. Covey’s four sons.

Take a few minutes to listen my visit with Stephen and leave your thoughts on rebuilding trust. Listen Live! Download, Too!