Be Upstanding to be Outstanding

It would be reassuring if we could always assume every person we dealt with in business was an upstanding citizen who could be trusted to be open, fair and honest. How successful might we all become if we strived to be the best we could be in our own businesses and everyone else was striving likewise in their own endeavors. There would be no more scams, rip-offs, cheating or deceit.

You may have heard of the expression "be the change you want to see occur in the world". Yes, it can be a challenge in a world where a percentage of people do not understand the concepts of being considerate, honest or helpful, being in it only for themselves. One of the problems is that some people simply do not see themselves as others see them. They are not aware of their own shortcomings because in their minds, they don't have any shortcomings.

How do you know if you fall into this category? No offence, but none of us can progress if we are not aware of our shortcomings, because without this knowledge, there is nothing to work with. So let's quiz Joe Bloggs and if you find yourself identifying with the responses, you may have a little work to do on your self-development… :

1. Being judgmental. I’m always on the look-out for the bad in people so I don't get taken for a ride. You’ve got to know your enemy! And face it, the world is full of rotten people doing rotten things and I want to spot them before they spot me! You can’t trust anyone. I didn’t get to my position without being a good judge of character. I’m an authority on people. And I know when I’m right. If you don’t agree with me, that’s simply because you’re wrong!
2. Disrespectful. From where I stand, this is MY life and so, only MY rights count in MY life and people need to respect that and respect me. I don’t have to respect them, because they’re all rotten. They're either richer than me and think they're better than me and so many of those rich people are conniving ripoff artists, or they're poorer and they can't be trusted either because they're always trying to rip you off, too.
3. Not Being a Good Listener. Who’s not listening now? Didn’t I just say that I don’t have to listen to you? Who are you, anyway? Do you live in my street? I don’t care what unimportant, little thing you have to say. You’re not at my level so how can you have anything to say that’s worth listening to? Go away and stop bothering me!
4. Be interested – not interesting. Who said I’m not interested? I’m interested in the stockmarket, my new car, my next overseas holiday, and my kids' impressive achievements. Ha, you should hear what we did last holidays, and this suit I’m wearing cost me a fortune, and what about my facelift, now there’s something interesting, and let me tell you about the new contract I won all by myself… oh and did I tell you about little Jimmy getting on the swim team… let me tell you about me, me, me because I'm sure I'm much more interesting than you!
5. Respond from Your Heart. Listen, we didn’t get our trendy suits and our highrise offices by listening with our hearts! I respond with my head… if that makes me a cold unemotional fish, tough. I don't care what effect that has on you – you're not my problem. There’s no place in business for ‘hearts’. Home is where the heart is and should stay… did I tell you about my new holiday home, oh, and my new car… now that car has heart!
6. Be truthful. Are you for real? I’m sorry, there’s a time and a place for the truth and you won’t find a time or a place for it in the real world. You can’t go around telling the truth! Nobody tells the truth! Where do you live? Never-Never Land? You certainly don’t live in my street! You want the truth? You’re wasting my time with this drivel.
7. Be helpful. I am helpful. I paid for my secretary's plastic surgery – this is a win-win - now she looks ten years younger and I have someone to impress the clients with when we go out for dinner… of course, this leaves my wife with more time to spend at home with the kids, which is also important – see? I'm not only helpful, I'm considerate.
8. Maintain Your Integrity and Your Dignity. You won’t find a more dignified person than me. I’m rich. I’m successful. I have the proud bearing of a very dignified person and all that gossip about my bad temper and rudeness in board meetings is just jealous talk. And of course our staff can trust me… I didn't actually lie to those people who lost their jobs during the company merger… I just thought it better not to tell the whole story!
9. Go the Extra Mile. I jog every morning – we have big houses in our street, and I jog one extra house length each week... What? That's not what you meant? Well, the extra mile costs time and money… you want I should dip into my profits for someone I don't even know?
10. Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say. You better believe it! I mean it if I tell you I’m having you removed from the building and if you’re not gone within 60 seconds I’m calling security! And don’t run! It’s undignified! Even for you!