Tag Archives: Integrity

Social Media for Business – Why I am embarrassed for 99.9% of you…

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My kids get it. They don’t think about it; they don’t hire gurus to guide them through it; they don’t contrive anything about it; and… they can sniff out anything contrived in an instant.

It’s social media, and it’s not mystical or complicated; and it especially doesn’t require any real expertise.

Of course, if social media is so easy, why do nearly all small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) really suck at Facebook and Twitter? Three reasons: they overthink it; they hire gurus to guide them through it; and what they post is often so contrived I want to laugh and cry at the same time.

It’s time to stop the madness. It’s time to either crap or get off the pot with your lame social media attempts. If you’re ready, I have only two quick tests for the content you should post to your social media accounts:

Test 1: Will it inform or entertain?

In other words, will it be interesting to anyone? More importantly, will it be interesting to your customers and prospective customers?

If what you’re about to post neither informs me nor entertains me, then don’t post it. Here are a couple of quick examples of posts that would pass Test 1:

  • A young couple posts a picture of their new baby to Facebook while Tweeting “It’s a Boy!!!” (This passes the test because it’s information that their followers and friends likely want to know.)
  • A teenager posts a Vine (6-second video) to Twitter showing his friend eating a jalapeño pepper and then gagging. (This passes the test because it’s likely entertaining to his friends… not to mention entertaining to me.)

Here are two actual SMB social media posts from this morning that do not pass Test 1:

  • Happy Friday!
  • Come in to Sport Honda today for a test drive.

These two posts are just downright embarrassing. They are pitiful. It hurt me to even type those asinine posts, because they are so uninformative and utterly unentertaining.

But what about Google?

(Quick aside for all the SEO “experts” reading this article)

I’m not naïve. I understand search engines look for “social clues” as a small part of the algorithm they use when deciding how to rank your website on relevant searches. But you’re naïve if you think the gaming, cheating, conniving scheme your social media guru is executing on your behalf has any long-term SEO value. It doesn’t. Google did not become Google by allowing any con jobs to go on for very long.

(Plus, without getting too technical, the social clues Google looks for include interactions with your social media content. No one is interacting with your “Happy Friday!” or “Come in for a test drive” spam.)

Let’s agree to just stop it. You look silly doing it and you’re alienating the few true fans you have.

Test 2: Is this me?

Some people find news stories about Bangladesh to be informative. Some people find pictures of cats to be entertaining. Does this mean your SMB should post a story about a pet store in Narayanganj complete with lots of pictures of playful kitties?

Probably not. That is, unless, you happen to own a pet store.

For the second test, you need to look at your entertaining and/or informative post and ask “Is this me?” Does this content represent who we are and (more importantly) what our customers want from us? If the answer is no, then don’t post it – the content failed Test 2.

That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. (Sorry, I know you wish it was more complicated – and I certainly know the social media “experts” will disagree with me – but there’s really no magic or mystery here.)

So what do we post?

If after Test 1 and Test 2 you are left with nothing to post, then I suggest you shut down your social media accounts. Your business has nothing to offer the social media world. Stick to fixing air conditioners or whatever it is you do. Just make sure you do those things right, and that you always treat your customers like the valued human beings they are. If you do this, perhaps they will post nice (and interesting) things about you.

As I wrote two years ago, Facebook is a waste of time for 99.9% of businesses… and it still is; you just don’t want to believe it. If you’re adamant about staying in the social world and creating genuine interactions with your customers, then at least apply my two tests to your content and save the rest of us from the constant stream of ridiculous spam spewing from the average SMB account today.

 

Dear Occupy Wall Street Protesters: When Did I Become the Bad Guy?

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It seems that as a pro-capitalism, successful business leader that I am somehow partially to blame for what ails the protesters who’ve joined the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement. I am the enemy. I am the bad guy.

While I’ve tried desperately to comprehend both their demands and their end game, I have to admit that I am at a loss. One day someone who seems to be an OWS muckety muck (they don’t have any true leaders as of this writing) is claiming that all of capitalism must go; though the next day the protesters are joined by union leaders (whose members are employed by companies that benefit from capitalism) and the message is that corporate greed must go. (Is there anything more amorphous than “corporate greed?”)

It would be nice, actually, if they only had these two viewpoints; but the truth is that for every smelly twenty-something you see holding a sign (or an iPhone), there is a different take on what it is they are trying to “solve” with these protests.

I put the word solve in quotes because I’m not sure they want to solve anything. They really just seem mad that they don’t have all the same luxuries as the successful people in our society (the bad guys). Most of them just seem to want those of us who’ve worked for what we have to give it all back to “society” so that we can all be equally miserable doing without.

When Did I Become the Bad Guy?

By most protesters’ definition, I am a bad guy. I have my own business and I make a good living. My children have cool gadgets and we live in a nice house; in a nice neighborhood. I am really very satisfied with my life. A life, I might add, that did not happen by accident. So I need to know: When did I become the bad guy?

As an eight-year-old in 1971, I began selling candy door-to-door in Glendale, Arizona. I’m not sure how much I made, but it was probably somewhere around $10 per week. (We were poor when I was growing up, so if I wanted to buy anything, I had to earn the money to buy it.)

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From around 1973 through 1977, I ran paper routes (sometimes one route in the morning and one in the afternoon) and sold magazines, newspaper subscriptions and seeds door-to-door. I used my money to buy sports cards, comic books, bicycle parts and candy.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

Throughout my high school years (77-81), I worked at fast food joints, a minor league ballpark and an amusement park. (I doubt there was ever 20 consecutive days that I was out of a job.) I used the money I earned in high school to buy a motorcycle, then a car, fill those with gas, buy beer (yes, illegally) and eat at Jack-in-the-Box or McDonald’s on occasion.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From 1981 until 1985, I served in the US Marine Corps; mostly on the island of Guam. I was a Russian Linguist in the Corps and I worked what some civilians would think was not only a weird schedule, but probably inhumane. It was called a “2-2-2 and 80.” With this schedule, you worked two day shifts (8AM-4PM); two mid shifts (12AM-8AM); and two eve shifts (4PM-12AM); then you had 80 consecutive hours off. You only had eight hours between your second day shift and your first mid shift; likewise after your second mid shift. I used the money the Marines paid me to buy beer, a computer, stereo equipment, a car and some pretty cool Christmas presents for my family every year.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

After the Marine Corps, I enrolled at Arizona State University where I took a full class load while I worked fulltime to pay my bills. (During my time at ASU – among other equally glamorous jobs – I drove a taxi, worked as a security guard and even sold manure.) As my money got tighter, I took fewer classes and worked more jobs. I studied business, though because I eventually ran out of room on my credit cards, I left ASU deeply in debt and a few credits short of a bachelor’s degree. Ready to just join the workforce and not worry about college, I accepted a job as the manager of an aircraft parts warehouse and worked very hard to do my part to help this Mom & Pop operation become successful.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

A couple of years later, in 1991, my soon-to-be wife and I moved to Chicago so that I could begin work for a beer distributorship as a salesman. Once I arrived, I made sure that I always worked harder and smarter than any of my coworkers. As a result, I was promoted to a territory sales manager position and given a nice raise.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

After I got married in 1993, I decided to go back to school and finish my degree at Governor’s State University. I endeavored to finish my education by working during the day and going to school at night (and on some Saturdays). About a month before my first son was born in July 1994, I finally earned my bachelor’s degree.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

By the time I left this beer distributorship in mid-1997, I had worked my way up to Vice President of Sales earning $73,103 in 1996 (when you included all my bonuses). Even though I now had two sons at home, I was working more than sixty hours each week to better myself.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From mid-97 until mid-2001, I owned a tiny minority stake in an equally tiny beer distributorship in Missouri. As the managing partner of this wholesale operation, I often arrived at work before 5 AM to load the beer trucks. Once I finished my morning paperwork, I would go out into the field to meet with retailers and convince them to carry my product (which was not easy since the previous distributor had gone bankrupt and left the market without my brands for more than eight months). I was a business owner in name only (because the banks really owned the business) and some nights I worked past midnight. Over the four years that I ran the operation, we were able to dramatically grow our sales (easy to do when you start at the bottom) because of hard work and a lot of perspiration. We sold the brands we distributed in May 2001 to a couple of competing wholesalers, and I reentered the corporate world.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

From 2001 through 2009 I moved my way up through various companies by always outworking my counterparts. I not only worked harder, but I also studied (as I had been doing since 1991) all the industry information and business success literature I could get my hands on. I was a voracious reader of the likes of Tom Peters and Stephen Covey. I am convinced that my success over that period was due to the hours I dedicated towards working hard and studying equally hard. In 2009 I reported to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

Is this when I became the bad guy?

In 2009 – during the worst recession of my lifetime – I left the safety of the corporate world and started my own business: part consulting and part developing products to make others more successful. Over the last two years I’ve routinely worked more than twelve hours a day, including most weekends; and my travel schedule, while not as grueling today as it was in 2009, still earns me 1st Class upgrades on nearly every flight. I feel like I’m finally bringing in enough money to help my sons (I have three of them now) get a better head start than I got; to help them to not run out of money while going to college; and to help them choose a career that’s fun for them, rather than taking the route I took and always having to work to pay the bills. My business is doing so well that I expect to start hiring fulltime workers in 2012 (provided the economic and tax situations make that a feasible decision). I have no debt (other than a house I’ve been trying to sell in Atlanta) and we’re putting away a good amount for our retirement.

If I hadn’t become the bad guy before now, then clearly it was my decision to chase the American Dream (and my ability to catch it) that made me the bad guy to the Wall Street protesters. Just so I can get this straight: It’s okay to chase the American Dream, but if you happen to catch it, be prepared to be asked to give it all back to those who weren’t willing to sacrifice as much as you were…

…

I wish I had some great wisdom to bestow on those protesters who think I’m the bad guy. I wish there were words to ease the minds of those who are (in effect) protesting the fact that my “greed” will someday create jobs for them – jobs that will allow them to chase the American Dream if they so desire.

Unfortunately for the protestors, the words they need to hear will not ease their minds. They should have heard these words years ago from parents who should have taught them about hard work and dedication to a job well done.

The words I have for the Occupy Wall Street crowd is simply this: Stop bellyaching; retract your outstretched paw looking for a handout; go home and shower; and (as I did my entire life) seek out any job you can get. Once you’re in that job, work harder and smarter than everyone else and good things should happen for you.

And if they don’t, then you start over.

Gallup Poll: Business Executives Lack Honesty and Integrity

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“Business Executives” Rank Low in Annual Honesty and Ethics Poll

While nurses topped the list for the seventh consecutive year, business executives earned relatively poor grades in the latest installment of the annual integrity poll from Gallup.

The poll, which surveyed just over 1,000 US adults earlier this month, asked respondents how they would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in one of twenty-one different professions. Lobbyists were dead last for the second consecutive year, followed closely by telemarketers and car salesmen. To see the entire list, follow this link.

The list of professions included in the Gallup poll reads somewhat like the results one might expect to see when a classroom of first graders are asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Adding princess, fireman, and army soldier would probably round out the possibilities for any group of six-year olds.

Funny thing about Gallup’s choice of professions; some, like “high school teachers,” are quite specific; while others, like “business executives,” are incredibly vague.

While none of the AskTheManager.com editors would argue against the need for more honesty and higher ethics in business, we are a little confused by Gallup’s use of the seemingly all-inclusive term “business executives.”

Liars, Damn Liars, and Pollsters

Just who are these “business executives” anyway? Are they Dick Fuld and the late Kenneth Lay? Are they P. Diddy and Donald Trump? Are they the millions of business owners, CEOs, COOs, presidents, vice presidents and other executives whose jobs are so different from one another that they hardly can be classified in fifty categories, let alone a single one?

We suspect that most of the 1,010 US adults who lack caller ID (otherwise, why would they answer a call from a pollster?) pictured some sinister, overweight, overpaid, cigar-chomping CEO of a bankrupt company when they were asked their opinion of business executives. Of course business executives ranked low.

While one can easily group extremely similar positions together to identify such professions as nurses, car salesmen, policemen, funeral directors, pharmacists, telemarketers, and real estate agents; we find ourselves struggling to identify what Gallup means by the nebulous group “business executives.”

It’s all in the Headlines




In 2001 (and only in 2001) this particular Gallup poll included the category “firefighters.” Not surprisingly, firefighters overwhelmingly topped all other professions that year (the poll was taken about two months after 9/11). This begs the question: Did the Gallup organization exploit the tragedy of 9/11 and the sudden popularity of firefighters for the sake of a more compelling headline?

Only Gallup knows for sure. Overall, we think this is a quaint little poll of very little value. Many of the twenty-one professions appear to be included merely to provide fodder for talk radio hosts and bloggers. Why else would Gallup include funeral directors and not coroners; lawyers and not judges; telemarketers and not convenience store clerks; or bankers and not bakers? Why only twenty-one professions?

Perhaps if Gallup were interested in delivering public opinions worthy of action, they might change their annual integrity poll to include hundreds of professions instead of just twenty-one. This should add a level of validity the current poll does not enjoy.

May we also suggest Gallup find suitable replacements for the ill-defined “business executives?” Perhaps the categories “Fortune 500 CEOs,” “small business owners,” “cartoon villains,” “mid-level managers,” “board members,” “white-collar criminals,” and “junior executives” would cover all possibilities.

Oh Yeah, Let’s Add One More Profession…

Lest we forget, we think it might be appropriate for Gallup to add one more profession to next year’s annual integrity poll: pollsters. Of course, we suspect they wouldn’t be happy with the results.

 

Bloomberg The Emperor Always Gets His Way

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Bloomberg The Emperor

We wrote a few weeks ago about the seemingly unbelievable possibility that New York Mayor Michael “Nero” Bloomberg would seek to have the City Council overturn New York’s term limits law – opening the door for Bloomberg The Emperor to serve a third term. (To read that post, follow this link.)

As crazy as it sounded then, it seems even crazier now that Bloomberg has convinced the City Council to unilaterally overturn what the voters put in place. Bloomberg, it seems, feels he is the only person capable of lifting the World from the current economic crisis.

The unabashed gall and narcissistic, ego maniacal attitude that even puts this kind of thought in someone’s head astounds us. The fact that the City Council was allowed to make this decision (because it also benefits them) seems criminal.

The vote was 29 in favor and 22 against. We think it’s time for New Yorkers to start using their heads at the polls. Clearly, they should vote out the Bloomberg 29 and, of course, The Emperor himself.




The Definition of Insanity

The funniest thing about this mess (if any of it can be considered funny) is that the Bloomberg 29 and The Emperor truly believe that New Yorkers need “consistent leadership” during these tough economic times.

Hah! While we doubt the Mayor of New York and his Council could have more than a miniscule effect on the economy, it’s hilarious to us that they believe they can. This begs the question: If the Mayor and City Council can positively impact the economy, then why did they let us get into this situation in the first place?

The last thing America needs right now is “consistent leadership.” Bloomberg’s been in office for over 6 years, the average tenure in the US House of Representatives is over 9 years and the average US Senator has served more than 11 years.

Sounds to us like “consistent leadership” is what got us into this mess.

The voters spoke years ago when they created the term limit law, and Emperor Bloomberg just turned his thumb down.

89% of New Yorkers polled this month said that if the Mayor wanted to extend the term limits, he should take the issue to the polls and let the voters decide again. The Mayor, it seems, doesn’t think the voters know what’s good for them. We’re just hopeful they wake up and throw the bums out.

Damn the Voters, Bloomberg Believes He is NYC’s Only Choice

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Leadership Lessons from Mayor Bloomberg (and Other Emperors)

We’ve often written in this Leadership Development blog about the important traits for good leaders. From intelligence to character, we’ve worked hard to identify those qualities that can help young managers become leaders and older leaders regain their edge. Over the course of these posts, we’ve singled out integrity as a key leadership trait.

While the editors of AskTheManager all agree that integrity is critical, a few months ago we identified service as the most important trait for a manager or leader (to read our comments on service, follow this link). In that post, we wrote about the importance of service to one’s company, one’s customers and, especially, one’s subordinates.

We think New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have taken us too literally.

It seems The Honorable Mayor Bloomberg feels like the citizens of Metropolis need more Bloomberg – they not only want more of his service, they need more of his service. They need more of his service so bad, in fact, that Bloomberg plans to seek a reversal of the very law he so vehemently supported when Rudolph Giuliani was Mayor of New York.

Bloomberg feels he is the only person capable of leading New York City through the current economic crisis.

Integrity Rears its Ugly Head

While intelligence and many other leadership traits can be judged with a sliding scale, integrity is either yes or no; black or white – there is no middle ground for integrity. You either have it or you don’t.

The drive to remove term limits in New York City was shot down by voters in the 1990s. And even though the citizens spoke loudly (twice), Bloomberg plans to do an end-around on his beloved constituents and press for City Council legislation to overturn what voters have twice said they wish to keep. (It cannot go unwritten that these same City Council members would also benefit by lifting the term limits. How do you think they’ll vote?)




Is this New York City or Panama City? Are we talking about Manhattan or Moscow? All dictators can justify their suspension of Democracy and their rise to power by some political or economic “need” that they themselves identified.

Think we’re taking this too far? If Bloomberg can leverage this City Council to overturn what the voters mandated with this crisis, what’s to stop the next Mayor from circumventing democracy vis-à-vis the next City Council?

Where is your integrity Mayor Bloomberg? Do you lack the basic understanding of how and why our nation was founded? George Washington, the greatest Presidential Leader of all time, knew enough about the tyranny of kings to know he should stop at 8 years. Why is it you think you’re above the will of the electorate (and the law)?

This Mayor Has No Clothes

Would some brave sole please tell Mayor Bloomberg he’s naked?

There is a rare self-importance about Bloomberg that’s always made us uneasy to have him in the Executive Branch. Of course, it’s probably his unhealthy dose of narcissism that’s made him the successful businessman he is today. What’s most interesting is Bloomberg must truly believe that with all the financial minds in New York City, he is the only person qualified enough to help the five boroughs through this financial mess. A tad arrogant and certainly much confused.

This begs the question: if Bloomberg is the only person capable of leading New York City through this financial crisis, how did he allow it to happen in the first place? Remember, Michael Bloomberg was the Mayor of New York throughout all of this. (Hint: it’s not really a problem caused or solvable by the Mayor of a city.)

Lest we get all starry-eyed about Mayor Bloomberg’s ability to take decisive action to help us through this crisis, let’s remember that he’s not even all that decisive about what he believes. Bloomberg was a lifelong Democrat, but he switched parties and was elected as a Republican in 2001. Although he was reelected as a Republican in 2005, he became a political independent in 2007 (reportedly in a quest to run for President).

We’re confused. Is he an Independent, a Republican or a Democrat? Which Michael Bloomberg is best suited to lead the poor folks of NYC through this mess?

One party switch we can understand, two and you’re just not very self actualized.

This is not just a New York Problem

Mayor Bloomberg, this is not just a New York City crisis; this is not solely an American crisis. What we face today is a global economic crisis. And our apologies to New Yorkers, but it’s not always about you. There are more than 295 million people in America and over 6.8 billion globally not living in New York City. Given this, Mayor Bloomberg believes he should compel fifty-one members of the City Council to select one man to save the world.

While we are adamantly opposed to term limits, we are more opposed to circumventing the will of the voters for political gain, and the disingenuous leaders who employ situational integrity to satisfy their own egos. Situational integrity is like situational pregnancy – it’s oxymoronic. Mayor Bloomberg, you cannot be a little bit pregnant.

If Michael Bloomberg really wants to help, he should offer his unique brand of assistance to the next Mayor of New York. (God knows there must be no other financial brains in left in the city.)

 

So You’re the New Sales Manager – How Are You Going To Set The Right Expectations?

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Taking Over an Existing Team – Part 2 of 3

 

This is the second of three posts detailing a few quick tips I used when I was hired to take over a sales team that was ranked last in their region. In six short months, this team became the number one sales team in volume and volume growth, and they held that position for the next fifty consecutive months…

 

To read the first post in this series, follow this link.

 

The First Sales Meeting

 

Like most sales teams, this group held long rah-rah sessions every Monday morning to “fire up the troops.” From what the GM told me, these were often very inspirational, though they never seemed to translate into solid results. Everyone would leave the meeting with great enthusiasm only to come back to the office on Friday reporting sub par sales.

 

This told me the team lacked an understanding of their goals, clear direction and the support necessary to execute. I decided that my first meeting must not be about motivation, but expectations – both my expectations of them and, more importantly, what they could expect from me. Here is a synopsis of what I showed and told them when I stood in front of them for the first time:

 

  • What you can expect from me…
    • I will always be fair, open and honest
    • I will check my ego at the door
    • I will always respect you by being on time to our appointments and meetings
    • I will keep my meetings short and informative
    • I believe that those closest to the customers should make the decisions – you are closest to the customer
    • I will never shoot you for making a bad decision provided you made it with the best intentions
    • I believe that “the way we always did it” is not working and we need to find a new way to do things
    • My primary goal is to help you make this company number one in the country – we are currently last in our region
    • You are the only ones who can guarantee we are successful in that goal
    • This will never be about me, it will always be about you – you are the only people in this company who create revenue.
    • If you are not in sales, then you are in support – I am in support and my only job is to make you the hero
    • I will always keep my word and I will always honor your commitments to the customers, even when it costs the company money

 

  • What I expect from you…
    • I expect you to always be fair, open and honest
    • I expect you to have a healthy ego
    • I expect you to be on time to meetings – if you’re late for our sales meetings, how can I believe you’ll be on time for customer appointments?
    • I expect you to contribute to meetings by having a success story to share each week
    • I expect you to make decisions for yourself
    • I expect you to fail tremendously. This will ensure that you have tremendous successes. Besides, if you’re not failing, then I know you’re not trying
    • I expect you to learn from your failures
    • I never want to hear why we can’t do something, I only want to hear ways we can – In other words, stop putting roadblocks up in front of yourself
    • I expect you to be the number one salesperson in the company – yes, I expect each and every one of you to be number one
    • I expect you to be the hero and to never let anyone in this company, especially me, cut your legs out from under you
    • I expect you to always keep your word to your customers, even when it costs the company money
    • I expect you to stand on my desk and scream at me if I ever fail to live up to your expectations

 

Their Reaction

 

Prior to my arrival, this group was always told what to do and when to do it. The previous sales manager was the superstar and the salespeople were his roadies. It was always about him and never about them.

 

Given all this, you know they were putty in my hands after that speech. J




 

Of course, this presentation was just words unless I was prepared to live it, and “live it” I did. From cosmetic changes like removing the reserved parking sign for the sales manager to real changes like showing up unannounced to help a salesperson working on a Saturday, I lived the vision I described and the reps took notice. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Tomorrow’s post, part 3 of 3, will detail a questionnaire I provided to each salesperson at the end of that first meeting. A questionnaire that they were required to complete and return the next day for a scheduled one-on-one meeting with their new support person – me.

 

The New Manager Questionnaire

 

To read the salesman questionnaire and the results of these meetings, please follow this link.

 

 


Integrity

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A weird thing happened to a friend of mine recently (let’s call my friend Sue). Her company is one of the three largest customers of one of their providers. The provider, we’ll call them Widgets, Inc. had spent thousands of dollars entertaining Sue and some of her coworkers over the last couple of years. During this time, her company purchased a fair amount of their products.

 

Sue isn’t the decision maker, per se, though she can influence others to make favorable or unfavorable decisions about Widgets’ products and services. I’ve always known Sue to have very high integrity. In fact, I’ve never known Sue to be influenced by expensive dinners or sports tickets.

 

Over the last two years, Sue has been honest about Widgets’ products, which are pretty good. She’s recommended to her peers that they try some of Widgets’ offerings on more than one occasion. When Widgets dropped the ball, Sue didn’t cover it up. Rather, Sue called them out and demanded appropriate credits. In Sue’s mind, Widgets’ entertaining was their choice and created no contract between Sue and Widgets, Inc.

 

In planning a recent trip to Widgets’ headquarters, Sue was asked if she would join the Widgets team at their skybox for a Major League Baseball game during the trip. While she felt she would enjoy it, it was more important to Sue that her subordinates be given some of the spoils she had been receiving. When she mentioned this to the Widgets team, they said “the more the merrier” and agreed to invite five people from Sue’s team. This was six weeks before the event.

 

When Sue told her excited team the news, they each booked an extra night in Widgets’ hometown so that they would be able to attend the game.

 

Exactly two weeks before the event, the Widgets account manager emailed Sue to explain that there had been a “snafu” and that there would be no tickets for Sue’s teammates. Long story short, Widgets, Inc. overbooked their skybox and chose to jettison Sue’s subordinates in favor of their company’s executives.

 

Bad move. Had the Widgets account manger ever bothered to really get to know Sue (instead of trying to buy her loyalty with $100 steaks), he would have discovered that she valued integrity over entertainment.

 

When Sue explained to the account manager that this decision was unacceptable, and that this would hurt their business and personal relationship, the account manager barked, “what about all the dinners we bought you?”

 

Really bad move. I cannot print what Sue said, so I’ll just explain to the readers that keeping your word, especially when it costs you, is a sign of a true leader.

 

Needless to say, Sue no longer dines with Widgets, Inc. Her company, does however, still buy Widgets’ products. Sue’s strong belief in integrity won’t allow her to recommend against products that help her company, regardless of how poorly she’s been treated by the vendor.