I think I finally figured out the secret to success. It came to me as an epiphany one night as I was driving home from work. Frankly, it was so simple and obvious, I can’t believe it took me years to figure it out. It came to me as I was thinking about some of the key people I’ve met over the years in the Information Technology field, and I found their attributes were essentially no different than other successful businessmen I’ve met. I guess we should begin by asking ourselves what we consider to be a “”success.”" To me, this is not just making a comfortable living. Instead, I’m talking about those people who dominate an industry or company, primarily through their personalities. I do not wish to portray this concept of success in a cynical light, but rather as a realistic perspective of the captains of industry.

In order to become a success in any industry or business, I have discovered it is not necessary to produce a good work product, nor do you have to be conscientious about your craft. No, it’s much simpler than that; you just have to be an ass****. And I say this with the utmost sincerity. All of the “”movers and shakers”" I have met over the years, particularly in the I.T. industry, fall into this category and you would be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn’t possess these simple attributes as described herein.

First, you have to find a cause for you to pitch. It really doesn’t matter what it is, just something you are comfortable with, and something that appeals to the masses, particularly if it relates to a human weakness such as greed, violence or sex. Or it might be that you have invented a new mousetrap. In this event, you need to portray it as “”state of the art.”" Either way, you want to go well beyond simply peddling your offering, you want it to dominate market share.

Next, you have to cultivate a certain physical image, something that distinguishes you, usually by not conforming to current standards. This could be something as simple as a new hair style, facial hair, clothes, hats, jewelry, etc. The more outlandish, the better as you will inevitably be falsely mistaken for a genius and it becomes your unique logo which people remember. For example, I remember one guy who loved to wear a cape. You may not remember exactly what he said, but you remembered him because of that stupid cape.

Next, you have to master the art of communications as well as miscommunications. Very important: you do not have to be right in your message, just entertaining. This means you can be loud, obnoxious, even insulting in order to get noticed. And the more verbose your vocabulary is, the better, as people will misunderstand what you say yet regard you as a genius. This means you always try to speak above your audience, and most definitely not at their level. By doing so, you are endeavoring to dominate your audience through intimidation. You must also be a master politician as you have to be acutely aware of the hot buttons needed to motivate or coerce people to do what you want them to do.

This fixation on physical image and communications obviously means you realize the importance of facade as opposed to substance. It also means you understand the need to keep moving along before somebody understands what you are truly about. This requires you to be able to move politically faster than your opponents and undermine them as required. I am reminded of one CEO in the I.T. field who during the work week would make the life of everybody in the office miserable, but always made it a point to attend his church each week to be absolved of any wrong doing.

All of this highlights two points: first, morality and ethics have nothing whatsoever to do with becoming a success, and second; you must be self-centered with a huge ego. You see workers more as servants as opposed to employees. It also means your word is not your bond. In fact, honesty and integrity have absolutely nothing do with becoming a success. To illustrate, I remember when Hitler wrote that preposterous Munich Agreement for Neville Chamberlain promising he would never invade the Sudetenland: what a classic!

To be a success your behavior is perhaps best characterized as “”pompous”" and you enjoy a highly visible profile. I am reminded of a customer of ours in the Midwest who was developing new information systems for the business. Whereas most of the project teams quietly went about their business and delivered quality systems on-time and within budget, there was one Project Manager who never delivered anything of substance on time or within budget. But because of the nature of the projects he was working on, whereby he was applauded for his skills for putting out fires, he enjoyed much higher visibility than everyone else and was promoted more rapidly than others. In other words, he capitalized on “”the squeaky wheel gets the oil”" phenomenon. As an aside, we advised our client that their chief firefighter was also their chief arsonist (which never quite set well with management or the subject in question).

Successful people are certainly not afraid of stepping on toes and making enemies as they already know how to combat them. Show me someone who is successful without making any enemies and I’ll show you a fraud. If they’re not pissing someone off, they’re not doing their job. In fact, they’ve discovered employees generally work better when they’re pissed off. This sense of ruthlessness may make his confidants squirm a bit, but not to the point of creating a mutiny.

To offset their unscrupulous tactics, successful people will support high profile causes, such as charity, which is designed more to improve the person’s image as opposed to helping a worthy cause (besides, it’s a handy tax write-off). Another earmark of the successful person is his/her infatuation with toys. They have to have the most expensive car, the largest boat, or their house has to be wired with the latest technological gizmos. All of this is aimed at projecting a certain “”winning”" image to impress others. It’s one thing not to be apologetic for your success, quite another to flaunt it like P.T. Barnum.

Now for the big question: Do you have the strength and temerety to be a success? Just remember, you have to look at yourself in the mirror every day. Frankly, most of us do not have the intestinal fortitude for it, and quite often our moral convictions prohibit us from acting accordingly.

Please understand, I do not present this thesis to be insulting, cynical or even humorous, but to consider the subject very objectively. We certainly do not like to believe these attributes for success are valid, but are they? The idea of someone working their way from the mailroom to the boardroom in this day and age is simply a ludicrous fantasy. It requires taking some rather unscrupulous tactics in order to succeed.

But interestingly, the masses are enamored with successful people, even in the face of some of their practices. For example, on one hand we are appalled by executives who are generously rewarded with hefty bonuses even if the company is floundering, but on the other hand we envy their success.

There is only one drawback to being a success, it is very lonely as you have no true friends to confide in. In fact, you are closer to your attorneys and accountants than you are to your friends and neighbors. Nonetheless, you trust nobody but yourself. But if you have supreme confidence in yourself this may be a small price to pay.

I guess the point of all of this is that there is nothing fair in business, a message I often convey to young people entering the work force. If you want something, you are going to have to earn it, which will inevitably require you to compromise your principles.

A lot of people confuse the quirky mannerisms described herein as “”entrepreneurial”" or mistake them as signs of brilliance. In reality, it is nothing more than a charade. To paraphrase an old expression, “”You don’t have to be a brain to be a success, just an ass****.”"

Tim Bryce is a writer and management consultant located in Palm Harbor, Florida. You can find his work on the Internet, click here

Copyright © 2007 Tim Bryce. All rights reserved.

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Tags: personal, ethics, code, professional, social

“The purpose of business is to generate maximum returns for its owners and shareholders. So therefore should the business pursue all activities that enhance profitability and increase the value of the business for the owners and / or shareholders?

I also believe that a business should behave ethically in achieving the above purpose. It is not right just to operate within the letter of the law. Businesses should also try and serve their local community and help its employees lead better lives. They should examine every decision they make based on profitability, long term business value and social responsibility.

By having real policies in place that take care of your employees and the local community it might be argued that long term this will enhance your business brand and over time lead to higher profitability.

By constantly training members of staff and wherever possible promoting from within the organisation will lead to employees that feel empowered to work harder and make better decisions. Having regards to the true well being of your employees will lead to a healthier and therefore happier workforce.

By reducing waste and promoting recycling at every opportunity, overheads will be reduced and in the longer term lead to better shareholder value. It is staggering how much resources including energy are wasted by larger companies. Having a regular energy audit and investing long term to reduce demand can only serve to make the business more efficient.

Many businesses try to serve their community by supporting local charities and sponsoring local people to better their lives. There are many ways to do this including education, sports and the environment. In the short term there will be very few perceivable benefits in terms of profitability but these actions will serve to enhance the business brand and increase profitability over the longer term.

Greed is no longer good and focusing purely on profits is unacceptable to your existing and potential customers. By embracing business ethics and social responsibility the business can benefit from increased goodwill.

Naz Daud is the founder of CityLocal. This Business Franchise Opportunity is for people who would like to work from home and be their own boss.

Business Franchises and UK Business Directory Business Franchise Opportunity

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Tags: business, ethics, articles, personal, professional

Corruption in big business is a matter we are hearing about in a seriously increasing manner. Why do so many people think they can get off with it and get away with it? They obviously do not know that Almighty God says, Behold your sins will find you out. It is not just just that your sins will be found out. It is much more serious than that. You will be found out!

Thieves can be forgiven – even those who have stolen from God. Aren’t you glad?

Some people may not be aware that they can rob God. How is that done? There were those who actually asked God, “”How do we rob You?”" – and back came the answer, “”In tithes and offerings”".

Because God’s people were not giving a tenth of their income, plus offering offerings they brought the whole nation under a curse.

Giving a tenth of your income was the law at that particular time.

We are no longer under the law. We are free from the law when it comes to being right in the eyes of God, but surely that freedom does not mean we give less. We are now free to give more.

When Zacchaeus met Jesus Christ he realised he was a rogue. As a customs officer he had lined his own pocket. He had been a totally corrupt character, robbing God and robbing God’s people.

The transformation in Zacchaeus’ life is astonishing. Knowing he had been a cheat and a swindler, he had to put things right and make restitution. He told Jesus that he was going to give back to the people from whom he had stolen, four times what he had sinfully taken.

God says stealing is wrong.

Funds are misappropriated in various commercial and business undertakings – the United Nations ‘Oil for Food’ programme in Iraq being presently under scrutiny. Even charities occasionally discover people with their fingers in the till, and overseas aid money is mysteriously siphoned off.

There is little ‘love your neighbour’ when man behaves in such an abominable manner.

Corruption occurs because man is corrupt, and Jesus Christ comes to correct that consequence of The Fall.

We witnessed hasty undignified mass burials being broadcast on our news bulletins following the tsunami. Why were they necessary? To prevent the spread of disease.

The spiritual parallel is equally essential. When a man comes to faith in Jesus Christ he is a new creation. The old man should be buried. It is inappropriate, even offensive, to leave an unburied body lying around.

God teaches us that when we are baptised in water the old man is buried and we are then able to rise to live a new life.

New Testament believers regarded baptism as important and urgent, submitting themselves to God at the hands of men, as soon as they came to believe. That prison officer, and those in his home, who came to believe, did not even wait for dawn to break.

All God asks for is obedience. The condition is obedience in small things and great things, for the small things are as great as the great things. God usually presents the small matters before those matters which we might regard as great.

The man who is faithful in small matters is more likely to be found faithful in great matters. Those who are not reliable in little things are likely to be unreliable in big issues.

The size of the work or project is irrelevant. What matters is obedience, and when you obey you no longer evaluate what is trivial or important.

We are not good judges of what is small or big.

Jesus was baptised by John to fulfil all righteousness and He says, “”Follow me”". It is unwise to overlook what Jesus says.

Don’t dismiss some decisions as being unimportant. These might be key moments in God’s plan for you.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children’s Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at this site entitled “”Word from Scotland”" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

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Tags: personal, ethics, code, professional, social

“I called a guy I’ve known for about three years.

Along with his wife, he’s been to multiple parties at my house, and we’ve been very genial.

He’s a professional actor, which for me was a road only partially traveled, so I take some delight in hearing about his career, how he addresses its challenges, such as rejection, and the inevitable ups and downs.

And I suppose I’ve always told myself, “I can do what he does, any time I want.”
And some day, I may do that.
In the meantime, there are very few nexuses between his field and mine, though I perform by giving speeches and seminars, and I do a considerable number of appearances on TV.

Finally, the day came when I needed some advice from him pertaining to where I might take my media career.
I phoned him and he didn’t seem particularly busy.
What surprised me was how easily he dismissed the subject of my inquiry, and turned the tables.
He said, without a trace of regret or reluctance, “I can’t help you, but if there’s anything you can do for me, don’t hesitate to call!”

I was a little put off by that, but I scratched it up to “show business.” He could be one of those people you meet that are superficially friendly, providing you can help him, but if you can’t, the conversation’s over.

Then I got a call from a long-lost business associate from the rural Midwest, a salt-of-the-earth type and someone I remember as a good guy. After catching-up, I mentioned that his seminar sponsorship might come in handy one of these days when I get back to his neck of the woods, but he just demurred.

In nearly the next sentence, he told me he has some great new financial products to offer and I should discuss them with him.
I got off the phone and simply shook my head.
Whatever happened to the idea of reciprocity? One hand washes the other, right?
I’ve always been of the mind to believe, “If you want to get value, give value, in return,” especially in business.

This is a proven idea in friendship, i.e. Want a friend? Be a friend.
But this ethic of reciprocity could be changing.
If so, it’s very disappointing, and I believe, foolish, because Win-Lose relationships don’t last very long, no matter where we’re located, or what business we’re in.

You don’t have to keep an official score of favors received and returned, but it seems a lot more sensible than acting as if professional advancement is a one-way street.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than a thousand articles. and several popular audio and video training programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of sales, management and consulting experience to the table, with some of the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. A Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms.

Visit his website, and he can be seen here.

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Tags: personal, professional, ethics, code, social

Along with his wife, he’s been to multiple parties at my house, and we’ve been very genial.

He’s a professional actor, which for me was a road only partially traveled, so I take some delight in hearing about his career, how he addresses its challenges, such as rejection, and the inevitable ups and downs.

And I suppose I’ve always told myself, “I can do what he does, any time I want.”
And some day, I may do that.
In the meantime, there are very few nexuses between his field and mine, though I perform by giving speeches and seminars, and I do a considerable number of appearances on TV.

Finally, the day came when I needed some advice from him pertaining to where I might take my media career.
I phoned him and he didn’t seem particularly busy.
What surprised me was how easily he dismissed the subject of my inquiry, and turned the tables.
He said, without a trace of regret or reluctance, “I can’t help you, but if there’s anything you can do for me, don’t hesitate to call!”

I was a little put off by that, but I scratched it up to “show business.” He could be one of those people you meet that are superficially friendly, providing you can help him, but if you can’t, the conversation’s over.

Then I got a call from a long-lost business associate from the rural Midwest, a salt-of-the-earth type and someone I remember as a good guy. After catching-up, I mentioned that his seminar sponsorship might come in handy one of these days when I get back to his neck of the woods, but he just demurred.

In nearly the next sentence, he told me he has some great new financial products to offer and I should discuss them with him.
I got off the phone and simply shook my head.
Whatever happened to the idea of reciprocity? One hand washes the other, right?
I’ve always been of the mind to believe, “If you want to get value, give value, in return,” especially in business.

This is a proven idea in friendship, i.e. Want a friend? Be a friend.
But this ethic of reciprocity could be changing.
If so, it’s very disappointing, and I believe, foolish, because Win-Lose relationships don’t last very long, no matter where we’re located, or what business we’re in.

You don’t have to keep an official score of favors received and returned, but it seems a lot more sensible than acting as if professional advancement is a one-way street.

Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top trainer, conference and convention speaker, and sales, service, and negotiation consultant. A frequent expert commentator on radio and TV, he is also the best-selling author of 12 books, more than a thousand articles. and several popular audio and video training programs. His seminars are sponsored internationally and he is a top-rated faculty member at more than 40 universities, including UC Berkeley and UCLA. Gary brings over two decades of sales, management and consulting experience to the table, with some of the best academic credentials in the speaking and training industry. A Ph.D. from the Annenberg School For Communication at USC, an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management, and a J.D. degree from Loyola Law School, his clients include several Fortune 1000 companies and successful family owned and operated firms.

Visit his website, and he can be seen here.

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Tags: personal, professional, ethics, code, social

“A good corporate citizen is a company that first views the importance of being a good citizen as an integral part of their core business. Helping to improve the quality of life for others makes a company socially responsible and connected to its community. Corporate citizenship is about the contribution a company makes to society through its core business activities, its social investment and philanthropy programs and its engagement in public policy.

The manner in which a company manages its economic, social and environmental relationships, and the way it engages its stakeholders (such as shareholders, employees, customers, business partners, governments and communities), has an impact on the company’s long-term success. For a business being profitable is the major goal. At the same time however, in order to succeed in a long-term plan, a business must have an active sense of social responsibility.

Fortunately, there are many companies who we can turn to as a case study on good corporate citizenry. I have chosen Green Mountain because the company has been recognized by many reporting agencies of being a “good corporate citizen (social responsibility magazine, greenbiz news, Forbes Magazine, etc.). Green Mountain Coffee (GMC), a public traded company, is a leader in the specialty coffee industry. The Company roasts high-quality arabica coffees and offers over 75 coffee selections including single-origins, estates, certified organics, Fair Trade, proprietary blends, and flavored coffees that it sells under the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters® brand (GMCR). The majority of Green Mountain Coffee’s revenue is derived from its wholesale operation that serves supermarkets, convenience stores, offices, and other locations.

The company has been socially and environmentally active. Green Mountain upped the ante in 1989 when it formed an environmental committee and created a rainforest nut coffee to support the Rainforest Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to protecting ecosystems. The company has grown increasingly active in the countries where coffee is grown and has been a pioneer in the fair trade movement, which pays coffee growers stable, fair prices. But the biggest change came in the early 1990s when the company began sending its employees on trips to see where the coffee is grown.
Green Mountain, with 600 employees, saw 2005 revenue of $161.5 million with net income of $9 million, a 15 percent increase over the year prior. Since 1988, it has donated more than $500,000 to Coffee Kids, an international nonprofit seeking to improve the quality of life for children and families in coffee-growing communities. Through the Coffee Kids program, the company supports a micro-lending facility in Huatusco, Mexico and a sustainable sanitation system in Cosaulan, Mexico. It also has provided financial support to the FomCafe cooperative’s quality control training program, which helps farmers earn higher profits for coffee.

In 2006, Green Mountain released its first corporate responsibility report. “”We are focusing on measurement so we can understand the economic and social impact of the company and create indices so we can better focus those efforts,”" stated Green Mountain CEO, Bob Stiller. “”Just the process of getting all that information in one place is valuable,”" notes Michael Dupee, vice president of corporate social responsibility. “”It makes you think about and gain insight into what’s working and what’s not, so even if you never published anything, it’s worthwhile” (www.greenmountain.com).
In 2004 the company expanded from one executive in social responsibility to three. Besides Dupee’s position, there is a director of sustainable coffee and a vice president of environmental affairs. Some 45 percent of Green Mountain’s coffee is purchased farmer-direct, which cuts out the share middle men take. And 20 percent of coffee sold is certified fair trade, which incorporates principles of environmental sustainability and respect for cultural identity, while guaranteeing growers minimums of $1.26 per pound when commodity prices might be far lower. Consumer interest in fair trade is growing, Stiller says, “”Because through their purchases they want to make a difference in the lives of growers.”"

As Porter and Kramer highlighted in their book, Strategy & society: The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility, “Corporations are not responsible for the entire world’s problem, nor do they have the resources to solve them all.” As businesses strive to build their brands and differentiate themselves from the competition, practicing good corporate citizenship is one healthy and wise strategy that businesses differentiate from the pack. As was highlighted in this paper, from a marketing and communication perspective, corporate citizenship is not just good but it is good for business.

Loyedi Waite is a marketing consultant with Waite Consulting Services (WSC) and an adjunct professor. At WSC, we strive to provide you with targeted, effective marketing efforts that are designed to build your brand and sell your products and services.

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Tags: ethics, personal, corporate, discussion, paradigm

“Having what is called a high work ethic is a good thing. Yet, sometimes, due to the workplace and life, these ethics and supporting personal core values face continued challenges. For example, have you had any of these thoughts:

1. Why should I work my buns off because John comes in late, leaves early?
2. Hey, it is 4:59pm, I need to get off the phone with this customer?
3. Did you hear about Mary’s encounter with HR?

Work ethics take a beating every day because not everyone has the same standards or personal core values. Yet, you are expected to deliver the same exceptional performance regardless of the environment.

To help you stay the course, consider these three capacities: Goals, Attitudes, and Self Leadership Skills.

Goals help to close the gap between where you are now and where you wish to go. When you utilize a proven goal setting process that includes having written goals, you truly do not care about John coming in late because John is not part of your goal.

Our work ethics are really attitudes toward performance. These habits of thoughts actually drive our behaviors. If you have a great attitude of always delivering outstanding customer service, you will stay on the phone even if it is 5:15 to help that customer.

Finally, strong interpersonal skills or what I call self leadership skills keep us focused. We make good decisions about whether we engage in gossiping about another employee’s behavior. Our communication skills are consistent with our work ethics and core personal values. Self leadership skills are truly about leading ourselves first before we can lead others.

Keeping strong work ethics is a challenge. By using goals, attitudes and self leadership skills should make that challenge just a little easier.

Simply speaking, leaders are readers. If you enjoyed this article, you may find this free online email course M.A.P. for Success of interest Source
Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith, The Business Coach Source to explore everything from how my solutions double results to articles and resources including the Simply Speaking series.

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Tags: work, workplace, policy, ethics, personal

Picture back to when you were in elementary school. It is a warm summer day, everyone is outside playing on the playground. Some children are playing on the swings, some on the monkey bars, while others decide they want to play kickball. After choosing captains, they start to pick who is going to be on their winning team. The captains quickly pick their friends, which goes by quick and then there are the few geeks or nerds left to pick from. Being not so popular growing up, I was one of the last few kids to be picked. It wasn’t that I didn’t know how to play kickball but I wasn’t an outgoing person in my childhood.

But how does personal, organizational, and cultural values come into play with my position as a manager and recruiter for a banking call center? How can past experiences help or hinder future events?

Personal Values

As the years went by I started to open up and began making friends in high school. I tried to be with the “”in crowd”" at the same time trying to be nice to the other not so popular students. Often times I felt a “”gut”" feeling about doing the right thing, other times I went with the popular decision; right or wrong. But as I was growing up, I started to realize that the right decision was always the best for me. It helped me become ethical not only in my personal life, but also in my professional life. It started to define my personal values and has guided me through tough decisions, popular or not, for which I haven’t regretted.

Personal values are something I believe is learned. It goes back to the continual debate over nature versus nurture. I believe my values came from both. I grew up in a two-parent home with an older sibling. Both of my parents worked for a living and I learned most of my values from them. They brought me up to be respectful, hard working, and honest and most of all treat everyone the way you want to be treated. I learned not to take money for granted because we didn’t have much. I wore hand-me-down clothing from friends and relatives. It taught me that money isn’t what makes you happy but you need to like yourself for who you are and not what you own.
Now as a hiring manager for Compass Bank, I look for similar values in the potential employees. I ask them questions about their childhood, past experiences that changed their values and what are they looking for in their career. I also like to share my values of who I am and how I advanced my career. Finally I ask them what are some of the values they are looking for in an organization?

Organizational Values

Every organization, big or small has a set of organizational values. Some of these values are in line with our own values and clearly defined, other are vague.

In the paper Finding Talent: A Study of Contacts and Careers (Hines, 2003) shows four different methods used on hiring employees from entry-level to executive positions. Each of the individuals interviewed stated they don’t follow their organizational values when interviewing and hiring employees. For entry-level positions, 80% use job postings in the newspaper or the Internet, career fairs and employee referrals. For middle to upper management, more then 50% say the hire based on word of mouth and not so much of past experience. And even others stated they try to hire previous employees they worked with before at other corporations. Are these personal values of these individuals? Does the organization stand behind these types of values? Or does cultural values come into play?

Cultural Values

Cultural values are a part of what makes up the world. The United States is called the “”melting pot”" since it became independent from the British in the 1700′s. Many individuals came to America looking for a new beginning at the same time they brought their cultures or traditions with them. As we become more of a multi-cultural society some of the traditions that were predominate during the early periods of American history are not so clear today. In early years, Italians only married other Italians, Germans only married other Germans, so on and so forth. Now, cultural or traditions are not a factor.

I view cultural values as a great way to understand someone’s values. It brings into light some of their personal values and the potential employees up bringing. I was raised in two different parts of the country. I was born in Western Pennsylvania and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. Both parts of the country have different cultural values. In Pennsylvania, cultural values were placed on tradition. My grandfather on my dad’s side of the family was a skilled craftsman. He was very handy in his trade for which he used to provide for his family. He built his own homes. He worked very hard everyday in manual labor. On the other hand, being raised in Florida, the cultural values were different in the respect of not keeping traditions. They wanted to be different and on the leading edge of new things. These were not the same values I was use to being exposed to in Pennsylvania.

As an adult, I enjoy learning about different cultures and the values they place on individuals. It gives me an insight to what type of person they were in the past and hopefully what type of employee they will be in the future. But is cultural values a good tool to use when hiring?
Based on reading of The Role of Literacy in Individuals and Nations (Berryman, 1994), some cultures view experience and education in different ways. Emphasis on continuing education or continual heritage depends on your cultural. It could also depend on whom you know in the company that could help you get hired or promoted. For example, in the former USSR, only gifted students were given the opportunity to continue their education passed the eighth grade. Those whom didn’t display exceptional intelligence either went into the military academy or continued a trade or skill needed in the economy. This is opposite of our own culture and the opportunities provided to everyone.

Ethical Dilemmas

As I stated in the beginning of the paper, I still have a difficult time trying to hire candidates for open positions at Compass Bank. We try to hold regular job fairs each month with the Maricopa Department of Economic Security. During these job fairs, I have the opportunity to speak to individuals from all walks of life. Most of them are middle to late age workers who lost their job because they couldn’t keep up with changing technology. I spend about fifteen minutes with these individuals to see if their personal values and past work experience will be a fit for our organization. It is a very difficult ethical dilemma trying to look past maybe the way they are dressed or how many jobs they had in the past. But my personal values help guide me in those decisions. I usually will get a gut feeling that someone isn’t telling me the truth or they won’t fit into our organizational culture. It is hard to see these individuals sitting in front of me knowing they need a job to support their families. It tugs on my emotions but knowing I had the opportunity to let them know not to give up and share the same experiences I had when I was out of work helps them to continue their pursuit to work.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our personal, organizational and cultural values play a big part in our everyday lives. By trying to align your personal values with your organization values and not so much the cultural values, it provides a road map to help guide you with ethical decisions. Until someone writes a book that is 100% accurate on hiring the right person for the job, we will have to depend on our values.

References

Sue E. Berryman The World Bank, Washington DC (1994, September) The Role of Literacy in the Wealth of Individuals and Nations. Retrieved February 13, 2006 from website

Hines, Michael J.W., (2003 May) Finding Talent: A Study of Contacts and Careers.

Retrieved February 13, 2006 from website

Steven Brown, MBA is a loving husband and father of two boys. He enjoys his time with his family by providing a strong family foundation of Christian Faith. After completing his Bachelors degree, Steven wanted to further his ability to teach and share to others his mindset that they can do anything if they would believe in themselves.

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Tags: personal, ethics, code, professional, social

Your home office can either give off positive energy to you or negative energy to you, yes this is true. How clean your home office is, how dirty it is, and how cluttered it is will effect the say you feel and how well you do in your home business.

So creating a successful home business starts with creating a comfortable home office, but not too comfortable that you could go to sleep. For example when I first moved to my new home I bought a new desk to work on. This desk was not really all the best for me, but I continued to use it until I had enough of the frustrated feelings I was getting and decided to take it back to the store and get a more comfortable desk. You see this can be as simple as starting with being comfortable at your desk.

This can also work in the opposite. If you have a chair maybe that is just way too comfortable you may become too lazy to work much. So your chair has to have enough comfort to make you feel good and also not make you want to be lazy and fall a sleep.

Other factors for creating your office for a successful home business are such as eliminating distractions or interruptions. You are going to want to make sure people realize that even though you work from you are still working. So you want to make sure that even family and friends know that during certain times you should not be interrupted unless it is absolute emergency. You may want to not answer you home phone and let calls go to voicemail for particular times you are working on income generating activities.

Dress for success. How many times have you heard about the stories of people who stay at home and work in their underway or pajamas? I just want to say here now, lets get serious. I mean if you want to be professional you are going to need to be professional. What I mean is I know I will feel like the person I am dressed as. If I am dressed all lazy and in my pajamas I could very well feel that way. If I dress in nice cloths and look very sharp, then I will feel sharp too. So how you dress will effect how you feel and how you feel will effect how well you do in your business. So just because you work from home and you have a home office does not mean you can be a slob. Dress for success and you will create a successful home business.

Colin Meunier is a Successful Home Business Coach and Mentor! To learn more on how to start or become more successful in your home business online Visit: WhoIsColinMeunier & colinmeunier.

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Tags: business, ethics, articles, personal, professional

Business ethics is an interesting branch of business theory, primarily because of the fact that they are inherently interesting in a market economy. People tend to be extremely distrustful of corporations in market economies and the bigger they are, the worse that problem of trust usually gets. Business ethics therefore are politically charged in many different circumstances and that in turn serves to make them interesting. Aside from this academic interest however, business ethics are also important for a company and its success. Here are some ways in which this is true.

Public Image

It is impossible to discuss business ethics as a branch of academia without taking a look at the relationship between business ethics and public image. Each corporation has a particular public image, which represents the way in which the public views the corporation. Wal-Mart, for example, has a terrible public image. Toyota, on the other hand, has a very positive one. These public images are the result of a number of different things, but they are primarily the result of the way in which a corporation acts with respect to the different things around it.

A corporation’s environmental policy, the way they treat their employees and the way they treat the communities they exist in are all part of their overall behavior and this in turn is the principle factor in determining their public image. As proof of this, you will notice that even though Wal-Mart makes products that have a decent quality and an extremely low price, they still have a negative public image.

Since public image is largely a result of company behavior, business ethics play a large role in determining public image since they determine behavior. And public image is important to success in most cases, which is one of the reasons as to why business ethics are important to a company’s overall success.

Investment

Another reason that business ethics are important is the relationship they have to investment. When a person or an entity is considering investment in a particular stock, there are a number of things they take into account. Aside from the quantitative factors surrounding a company’s profit margin a future prospects, consideration is also given to a particular company from the point of view of the qualitative aspects such as their public image and the products that they happen to sell. All of these things are taken into account before the final investment is made.

Therefore, a company that would like to encourage extra investment is a company that has a strong sense of business ethics. Part of business ethics is responsibility to the investor and for that reason companies with strong reputations in the field of ethical business behavior are also companies that tend to attract more investment from people that are new into the market. Investment is most definitely important to success.

Partnerships

In the business world, joint ventures happen all the time. They happen all the time because they are ultimately of great importance to the bottom lines of businesses. A business can be made or broken on just one joint venture and part of the reason that joint ventures are successful is that they combine the forces of two extremely powerful companies on occasion.

If you want your company to do well in joint ventures, then you need to have good partners. The only way to get good partners is to have a good reputation both in terms of a track record and in terms of your business overall. And of course, the best way to get a good reputation is to ensure that your company has a strong tradition of business ethics behavior.

Canada Financial news site offering information related to the Canadian Financial industry. Find advice on how to start a business in Canada.

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Tags: business, ethics, personal, article, theory

Although, from a consumer’s point of view, the internet marketplace is much like a super-mall – a place where you can get just about anything if you browse or search long enough – the businesses behind these store fronts have their own stories to tell. While they enjoy satisfying each customer’s needs and making sales, these businesses also share the usual customer issues and have a few challenges unique to online business.

One of the hallmarks of online marketing is the novelty that any customer anywhere can make a purchase at any time of day. But the average customer doesn’t always understand, and may not always be patient or understanding, regarding the safeguards and concessions businesses must make to balance quick-and-easy checkout with fraud-prevention. Some of these issues include: different billing and shipping addresses, wrongly entered data, security code errors, address verification mismatches – and biggest of all, remote card entry with no signature verification.

And, for real accountability, the merchant would ideally require the signature of the card holder upon receipt of merchandise, a difficult standard to achieve. Not only do UPS and FedEx charge extra now for a required signature, but there is also no guarantee that the specified recipient will be the actual signatory. And, in case you haven’t heard, claims made by businesses against some carriers, for damage, loss, or non-delivery, are more difficult than ever to get, not to mention time consuming. Unfortunately, many customers could care less about the logistics – “Where’s my damned order; are you guys a real business or what?!”

All About the Bottom Line

In the end, each business is constantly juggling and weighing all of the different facets of internet sales to strike a profitable balance. Profitable? Indeed, with costs of goods and transportation increasing dramatically, customers are likely to consider purchasing online even more favorably … yet they, too, will have to weigh the increasing prices that internet businesses will have to charge to stay in business as wholesale costs shift and adjust.

But what about this ‘bottom line’ mentality that seems to be the endless mantra of the wealthy and successful businessmen and women? Clearly, a business does have to be realistic about maintaining profitability; yet, the business dynamics behind that can be as different as night and day. To be profitable doesn’t mean that one has to run a business as if the CEO were Attila the Hun himself, though we do seem to have a few who might fit that category these days….

Other Ways

Naturally, there are probably as many opinions about this situation and its merits and de-merits as there are people who would write or talk about it. Nevertheless, one interesting word that sums up the true responsibility of every organizer in society – from businessmen and politicians to the ever-important workforce – and includes multiple factors at once, is sustainability.

Sustainable (business) practices involve a whole different set of logistics aimed at maintaining sustainability on every level of individual, social and ecological life, while yet running a profitable business. And, if you think it is a big challenge to become a multi-millionaire or billionaire CEO, or to carry some other prominent title, try running a truly sustainable operation. Of course, you aren’t likely to get the same 6 or 7-figure income or stock options, but are we humans still so shallow and naïve that we still think that as long as we have as much money as possible, the rest of the world can sink or swim as it will?

What pathetic and immature thinking that would be; yet, it would seem that some of these people would be just as happy to move to another continent if the US economy were to fail, as would a parasite whose host no longer satisfies its hunger. Indeed, people need to stop pretending to be the authoritative experts about money, business and everything else, and start thinking about the earth we live on, the ecosystem we live within, and the well-being of future generations of mankind and all life on the planet.

And the irony of the situation, which has also faced the greatest of past civilizations, is that all of this is based upon one essential thing: individual choice; what each individual, and particularly the most influential individuals, chooses for himself and others. Perhaps underrated here is the contribution of: family values, educational perspectives, social programming, religious training, personal experience, and ambition, upon a person’s vision of possibilities and means of realizing whatever goals he or she sets out to accomplish.

So, we can individually and collectively claim that the world is ‘going to hell in a hand basket’ and behave that way; or we can choose to open our mental horizons, suspend the intellect trained to doubt anything not ‘approved’ by our personal and social authorities, and instead work together to create a brighter and more hopeful and healthy future for mankind. And, since the future will be lived by our own descendants, indeed we should not be in a hurry to abdicate such critical choices and then whine about it all.

Brian Haring has been with Absolute Comfort on Sale for over five years, and has successfully brought natural and organic bedding products into the store to complement the extensive line of memory foam products which have been the company’s hallmark. Our store is here and a summary of green products is available at Absolute Comfort on Sale: Go Green. Our fabulous Organic Wool Topper is also available here Organic Wool Mattress Topper.

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Tags: ethics, individual, business, personal, internet

It may shock you to find out how many companies and even government agencies outsource their identification card needs. Is it only due to the price tag of the equipment and software needed to allow an organization to produce ID cards internally? ID cards are dictated by law in some cases and in others they bring an instant appearance of credibility to the carrier. In any case, many organizations are no longer purchasing expensive software and hardware to meet their requirements or wishes.

Personally, since I’ve been in the identification and tracking industry for over 10 years, I have worked with many different types of organizations in helping them develop solutions for their registration or simply photo identification needs. One thing that has become clear is the providers of these services have either chosen the high road or the low road. Many of these service providers have become self governing to ensure only individuals that should carry identification proving the person is really a police officer, EMT, or whatever the case may be. While others have chosen a more profitable route of selling ID cards to anyone who is willing to pay the price. You can search the internet for “Fake ID Cards” and you will find a plethora of companies that will provide you a card that will cost as much as $30. When searching for a legitimate solution the range is commonly in the $4 to $8 range. Because of the high level of profit, it’s easy to understand why some would choose that more lucrative path.

If you accuse the organizations that have chosen to sell fraudulent identification cards of breaking the law, you have to look at the fine print in their advertisements. Many offer “novelty” identification to anyone willing to pay the price. Or you will find that some may not be based in the same country that their goods are being sold. So deciding that the companies that have chosen to sell fake identification are engaged in illegal activity isn’t always the case simply because of the fine legal lines that are drawn.

So when you consider how easy it is to produce or purchase a fake id card, I have to ask myself if identification cards mean anything anymore. Well, just look around and you will find that they are simply required for even the simplest of services. Many banks require two forms of photo identification to start an account or cash a check. The airport requires a form of photo identification and just about any type of secure area requires some form of identification.

Recently there was even a law passed that allows retired police officers to carry a firearm anywhere in the country if that officer also carries an identification card stating the officers retired status. Even bounty hunters and private detectives are now required by many states to carry ID cards that indicate their status and organizational affiliations. And guess what; there is not a government agency to supply any of these required cards so these people have to seek out a provider.

Beyond being required by law, if I consider an emergency services person such as an emergency medical technician or fireman I even have to admin that seeing photo identification on them makes me much more comfortable. So I guess ID cards are needed even in the sectors of society that are not mandated to carry ID cards.

So, as long as our society doesn’t trust someone just upon their word, I’m sure we will be in a culture that requires some form of identification. Future technologies may change what is required for credentials, but in my observation, we will always need some type of photo ID card even if it’s just for the latest book of the month club we joined.

Founder of FullIdentity website and Virtual Tournament Director, Allen Richardson has created applications for registering and distributing identification cards for over seven years. Allen is also the author of Personal Discipline, and serves as a consultant to many organizations such as Southwest Airlines and BNSF Railway.

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The justification of the personal ethical philosophy must now be added to the statement. David Hume (1711-1776) takes the idea of hedonism and compares it to the basic needs of animals. Hume believes that pain as well as pleasure incites an animal into action either for self-preservation or the allure of pleasurable experiences. The experience alone of either sensation does not elicit a single reaction, but the combined sensations and the acts of seeking pleasure and avoiding pain creates circumstances in which the ‘human animal’ will react according to the severity of either pain or pleasure. Hume’s statement takes the humanity out of man and presents the human as an empty vessel which is only filled by the circumstances of the hedonistic lifestyle (Hume, 1888).

Hume’s ideas now solidify the secular aspect of the personal, educational ethics philosophy by creating a balance of both pain and pleasure. The educational leader can make educational decisions satisfying the needs of ethical pursuits that based on an omnipotent being and at the same time know that his or her philosophy depends on both sensations of pain and pleasure. This will incorporate an idea that though the pursuits to obtain knowledge and to gain happiness will have a moral end, the circumstances that arise from that pursuit will have negative connotations that are imperative in the decision made.

A new version of the personal education statement can now be written to include Hume’s ideas. The personal ethical philosophy may now look like this, ‘Education and knowledge brings more opportunities of happiness and well being. Thus the goal of the educational staff and students should be to pursue those educational opportunities to bring them into the state of happiness and well-being. As we advance toward knowledge and happiness, the natural course of outcomes will be morale because it is God’s design for us to be happy and to acquire happiness through knowledge. In the course of this pursuit pain and pleasure, happiness and sorrow, and success failure will arise and with each failure, the pursuit toward positive aspects of our educational decisions must be maintained.’

Epicurus, Hume, More, and Erasmus strived to keep the hedonistic, psychological state of awareness and being in scope by both stating the need for a human to follow pleasure and at the same time finding that pleasure and receiving morale justification at the end. Through the use of secular and religious reasoning, these philosophers have presented the case that man can indeed seek pleasure, avoid pain, and make morale decisions at the same time. To separate from the idea that pleasure is carnal sin; the ethical hedonist can envision pleasure as a sense of physical and mental well being. Material items for pleasure or excessive indulgences of the flesh should be recognized by the ethical hedonist as things that are not apart of his or her educational philosophy.

The educational leader now has a complete ethical philosophy in which to base his or her decisions. The leader has a goal, to obtain happiness, well being, and ethical pleasure, and a path dictated by both religious and secular beliefs. This new perspective will dictate educational decisions by the confidence the educational leader has about the end result of that decision. The leader will know that with the desire for knowledge and education, a better life will be obtained in the future that will have less pain and more pleasure through the natural course of education and the opportunities that it presents. The education leader will make decisions based on this idea and will know that even though there is pain, sorrow, and failure associated with the decision, they will be over shadowed by the result of more pleasure than pain. The leader will feel good about the decision because it will be based on the idea that the school as a collective spirit of both staff and students will move toward a higher state of being and standard of living by following the educational decisions that promote knowledge.

Don Rainwater has written many articles about ethics in both the business and educational realm. For more of his views, books, products, and websites, please visit this site

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Tags: ethical, ethics, business, philosophy, personal

Personal values may conflict with ethical decision making if those personal values are different than the organizational norms of the business or institution. These personal values could be rooted in religious beliefs or a family norm that shunned or promoted a certain concept. These could be insignificant to the organization but the nuance of that concept could start a domino effect that could cause distention among the corporate or institutional structure. Before a leader makes an ethical decision, they should make sure that the decision is based on the organizational norm rather than their own value system. A belief as simple as the idea that all negative behavior must be confronted could be against the corporate structure where some negative behavior is tolerated while others are discouraged.

A strategy of eliminating the chance for this conflict is simple communication. The leader should talk with their immediate subordinates or middle level managers and find out their opinions about the personal value and see if it is a conflict of interest. The middle managers should then ask their subordinates about the issue without disclosing the decision that should be made. The consensus of the ethical dilemma should provide enough information so that the leader can find out if the personal value is detrimental or not. With that information the leader can make their decision with a firm belief that it is ethical and their personal value is not reflected in it. If a person bases their life on personal values, then it is imperative that they uses a system of checks and balances to make sure those values do not conflict with the ethics of the company or organization.

Don Rainwater has written many articles on business and educational ethics. To view his books, products, and websites, please visit the website

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Tags: value, ethics, personal, religious, organization

Let’s be clear here, I’m not actually receiving a pile of cash from uncle sam. If I were you, I’d be happy to hear that, because hey, uncle sam is you, and you’re already funding several other bailouts. Even if you like my article, I bet you’re not willing to pay me a million bucks for it.

Do I actually need a bailout? Sure. Everyone needs a bailout. Everyone needs medicine, everyone needs therapy, everyone needs to be told what to do and how to do it and everyone needs a bailout. You can’t expect me to make all the right decisions all the time, can you? And if I happen to make a little mistake or ten that would put me in the hole, you don’t really expect me to bear the brunt of my own decisions… do you? Are you some kind of crazy Republican?

You feelin my drama here? I was a little heavy on the sarcasm, but the snarky tone behind it was pretty real to me. At least a few days ago. Yesterday, it changed.

Typically, I run with the elephants. Not always and not a party-line thing, but more often than not, at least in principle if not execution. My circle is mostly elephants. I get most of my news from my circle. Somehow the news finds them more often than it finds me (must be working more) and so my news comes pre-flavored. Like many, I run with like-minded beasts and typically the flavor suits me and I roll the same way. Once in a while though I find myself upside down-supporting a point I am not sufficiently educated on with someone from the other tribe who’s challenging my Republican-ness, or more likely not my actual Republican-ness but some point of view that’s associated with Elephant thinking, like a topical manifestation of my politics. I know that sounds like a rash.

That just happened yesterday, and in fact it did feel a bit like a rash. Something I’d considered part of me became uncomfortable when exposed to the light and I found myself compelled to be rid of it. My circle of friends and family had been bitching about the Detroit bailout, the UAW, and all things assocaited with the automaker bailout. People who are normally conservative, in the literal sense, were outspoken and in a bitter way. I was somewhat part of that and had voiced my displeasure at the thought of my taxes and future taxes being committed for me to bail out businesses that were, I thought, suffering the consequences of their own bad decisions. Detroit has a rap of being behind the curve in quality, safety, and economy. I used to be in the auto marketing business, and it was considered common knowledge that the Japanese started doing things really well in the 70s and, learning at every opportunity, really started eating our lunch and never stopped. This was largely the fuel of the argument.

Interestingly, the fuel of the argument was based on a trend. That trend, though unchecked for a long time, has more recently evaporated. The inertia it had built lives on with gusto and most people don’t know that the truth has changed. What! How can that be?

Yesterday I emailed a friend in Michigan and brought up the topic of the bailout. I mentioned that my elephants were seething about it. My friend responded quickly that Michigan was seething about the bank bailout and in a very circumspect manner pointed out the details of how Detroit automakers had, in fact, glosed the gaps. Quality? better than the Japanese in many examples, on par in many others. Safety? Same thing. Emissions? Doing just as well, thank you and in economy, doing BETTER than the Japanese for comparable vehicles. I’m a data junkie. When I say I was in the auto marketing business, I was in the auto quality measurement business for a well known market research firm. My friend had provided proper citations and I felt no compulsion to challenge them because I know my friend and I’d put my own money on him being right. It’s all out there. The part where I ate crow in regard to the Detroit Bailout Bill was in completely missing the inter-related nature of the banking and automaker bailouts.

Automakers all over, Domestic, Asian and European, are tanking in sales, which I attributed to the economy. I was aware that the Japanese builders, Toyota in particular, lost money for the first time since 1937, but I really didn’t connect the causality of the relationship (at least partial) between the banking issue (not the issues of the general economy, but the lasting tightening of the lending market) and the automaker’s financial issues. I knew people couldn’t get loans and weren’t buying cars, but I mistakenly thought it was a Domestic problem.

I also realized that the Detroit Bailout Bill inherited all the bad mojo from the banking bill. It seemed to come and go with less attention and iterations than the automaker bailout plan. The first one stirs things up and the second one gets double heat. The clencher for me personally was a personal discovery. After I realized that it’s not about quality, safety, emissions or economy of the vehicles from Detroit, and after I realized the very direct causal nature of the banking problem to auto sales and after I realized the one-two effect, the last ingredient that had stirred me to anger was national pride. This ties back to the misunderstanding about the vehicles themselves, but the pride component was what gave me my venom – I felt that I had been let down by American manufacturing and that we were all paying for it. Almost like being embattled in a war out of negligence – that was my emotion.

So here it is – I’m sorry. I think I probably made a mistake in my simplistic judgement. I’ll get my facts straight and think about it some more.

I have friends who have lost their homes, some who are getting really creative with trying to make a buck and some are just living scared. Some public services that rely on state or federal funding are lacking too, and some of these groups are getting creative also. I recently came across a group in Palm Springs that is raffling off a house to earn money to provide services to challenged citizens in the area. They provide job training and other self-sufficiency training and services, and raffle sales help pay for it. To me, that’s the epitome of the American way, getting creative and helping people out, good old-fashioned neighborly support and American resolve. And no, it’s not a house that someone foreclosed on, it’s a brand new house and the builder is part of the project.

So, how did I get a bailout? I got schooled a bit for making conclusions without all the details. My friend helped me get my focus back on my own work and on helping those around me. I think that’s better than a bailout.

DesertARC provides vocational training, job placement and employment, independent living support and more to citizens with challenges. Their Dream home raffle is a great way to support others… and win a $1.2M house along the way. Kind of a personal bailout. – Dan Patrick

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Tags: personal, ethics, code, professional, social

In home improvement, scams do happen. Homeowners may not want to believe it, but scams are not limited to Internet get rich quick schemes or pyramid schemes. They are a very real part of the home improvement and home contracting game.

A painting scam can cost a homeowner a great deal of money, time and headaches. Trying to avoid these untrustworthy contractors should be at the top of every homeowner’s list when they are looking to get professional work done. When painters flake out in the middle of a job, it will not only leave the homeowner frustrated, but will become a sore spot for the whole neighborhood. Having a house in the middle of the neighborhood that sits for days or weeks with a poor, unfinished paint job can aggravate even the neighbors. Some contractors may run their own painting scam by making a good first impression only to flake out the day after. After dazzling their potential clients with extreme promises, they may show up for work the next day promptly at 8am and work through until 4 or 5pm. The homeowner may come home from work to see a terrific job, although not finished, and may feel satisfied with their hire. Their lawn may be clean and not littered with burger wrappers and soda cans that is common with so many construction or job sites. However, the next day the contractors may not show up. The homeowner may leave for work thinking the crew is just running late, but upon coming home from work will discover that their trustworthy and friendly painting contractor has not shown up at all. The following day they may not show up again either.

This type of painting scam can be very frustrating. The homeowner does not know when to expect the contractor or what to expect if they ever come back. Most will eventually come back and finish the job, but it may take a week or possibly longer. Being left in limbo is never a pleasant experience. Not knowing what to expect can drive a homeowner crazy. So it is important to recognize certain clues when hiring a home painting contractor. A homeowner may avoid being victim of a painting scam by knowing just who they are hiring. Do some research on the company first. Most will have a website with testimonials from past clients, while others may be blasted on scam blogs. Neighbors and the Internet may be the best sources of information when it comes to getting the inside scoop on house painting contractors.

Look for contractors who are genuine when they speak to you. Some contractors may appear very friendly and may talk a big game, but these less genuine individuals are usually pretty easy to spot. Most contractors looking to scam their clients will throw all kinds of bells and whistles at their clients. They may have colorful brochures and presentation packets and may even go so far as to lie about their previous jobs to make themselves appear credible. Recognizing who is being genuine and who is not may be the best way to avoid being scammed by certain house painting contractors.

Justin recommends reading up on Painting Scams to avoid them altogether. And to look for professional and trained companies not associated with any kind of painting scam just hard working and respectful.

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Tags: ethical, research, personal, identity, company

Business coaching remains a rapidly growing profession and one of the impacts of this rapid growth is more scrutiny of the profession. There have been some predictions that business coaching and other forms of coaching will experience increased criticism. This criticism may come in many different forms and today’s professional business coach needs to be able to recognize the criticism and the opportunity or opportunities that result from that criticism. One of the areas of criticism revolves around ethics and personal conduct and it is essential that these two items receive the highest priority in the business coach’s practice.

I believe there is an opportunity that exists right now to turn criticism of business coaching into compliments for business coaching. Having identified the opportunity and the importance of ethics and the highest levels of personal conduct to business coaching, Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following Ten Commitments to Ethics and Personal Conduct to help turn the criticism into compliments.

Commitment #1: Commit to maintaining the highest ethical standards with your clients.

Commitment #2: Commit to maintain the highest level of honesty & integrity with your clients.

Commitment #3: Commit to being responsible and to do no harm to your clients.

Commitment #4: Commit to always putting the interests of your client first.

Commitment #5: Commit to maintaining the strictest levels of confidentiality with your clients and their information.

Commitment #6: Commit to avoiding conflicts of interest when being engaged by clients that may be competitors.

Commitment #7: Commit to the highest ethical standards in all your marketing practices.

Commitment #8: Commit to always conduct yourself in a professional manner and to avoid inappropriate relations with your clients.

Commitment #9: Commit to maintaining the highest ethical standards in all your public relations efforts concerning your business coaching practice.

Commitment #10: Commit to offering only those professional business coaching services where you have the appropriate experience and expertise.

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

Your strategic thinking business coach encourages you to commit to the highest levels of ethical conduct in your business. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in creating, enhancing and/or fostering an environment that promotes ethical behavior and the highest standards of honesty & integrity within your business, please visit Glenn Ebersole through his web site.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please visit Glenn Ebersole through his web site.

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Business coaching remains a rapidly growing profession and one of the impacts of this rapid growth is more scrutiny of the profession. There have been some predictions that business coaching and other forms of coaching will experience increased criticism. This criticism may come in many different forms and today’s professional business coach needs to be able to recognize the criticism and the opportunity or opportunities that result from that criticism. One of the areas of criticism revolves around ethics and personal conduct and it is essential that these two items receive the highest priority in the business coach’s practice.

I believe there is an opportunity that exists right now to turn criticism of business coaching into compliments for business coaching. Having identified the opportunity and the importance of ethics and the highest levels of personal conduct to business coaching, Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following Ten Commitments to Ethics and Personal Conduct to help turn the criticism into compliments.

Commitment #1: Commit to maintaining the highest ethical standards with your clients.

Commitment #2: Commit to maintain the highest level of honesty & integrity with your clients.

Commitment #3: Commit to being responsible and to do no harm to your clients.

Commitment #4: Commit to always putting the interests of your client first.

Commitment #5: Commit to maintaining the strictest levels of confidentiality with your clients and their information.

Commitment #6: Commit to avoiding conflicts of interest when being engaged by clients that may be competitors.

Commitment #7: Commit to the highest ethical standards in all your marketing practices.

Commitment #8: Commit to always conduct yourself in a professional manner and to avoid inappropriate relations with your clients.

Commitment #9: Commit to maintaining the highest ethical standards in all your public relations efforts concerning your business coaching practice.

Commitment #10: Commit to offering only those professional business coaching services where you have the appropriate experience and expertise.

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

Your strategic thinking business coach encourages you to commit to the highest levels of ethical conduct in your business. If you would like to learn more about how a strategic thinking business coach can facilitate and guide you in creating, enhancing and/or fostering an environment that promotes ethical behavior and the highest standards of honesty & integrity within your business, please visit Glenn Ebersole through his web site.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please visit Glenn Ebersole through his web site.

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Oprah made a mistake. She came forth and took responsibility for it in her admission of error. She apologized. She, and her adoring audience, moved on. There is a huge lesson for all of us here.

Everyone, from the most powerful leaders and opinion makers, companies large and small, to three-year old children, make mistakes. It is probably human nature that, when an error is discovered, many of us immediately attempt to cover it up. We deny it, blame someone else or something outside our control (the dog ate my homework), we launch a smokescreen to avoid admitting our humanity and the fear of our inability to be perfect. The cover-up gets bigger and bigger, often becoming much larger than the original mistake. While many get away with the deception, some get caught and are destroyed by it.

Oprah triumphed because of her honesty and her integrity. For days after her admission of error the news media ran lead stories about the incident and the manner in which she faced this potentially career destroying event. This big flap will be over and done with in short order; probably by the time this column is published. Her audience will forgive and forget but her brand will glow, not because she is immune to error, but because she admits her human fallibility and didn’t attempt to hide it. With most people she has risen in stature because of her integrity and respect for her audience. Contrast the long term effect of this incident to that of political, religious, business, scientific, and athletic icons who made errors, denied them, attempted to cover them up, and got discovered in the deception. Not a pretty comparison.

This Oprah incident is a lesson for all of us. We all should remember it whenever we err. We can use this lesson to review our stand on personal and business ethics, to consider how we will react when we make a mistake. Once we know how we want to react, instill the Oprah ethos to the staff so we all can learn a lesson from Oprah.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” Sign up for his free newsletter here

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Not everything that comes through the mail is valid. Most of the mail I receive–be it through US Post office or my e-mail–is just plain annoying. Still, there must be some people, even friends, who assume that I enjoy receiving so much garbage. They do not get it, even when I tell them, that the deletion of such stuff is an imposition on my time.

Why do they do it? I think, because someone else has sent it to them to be forwarded to a number of people, friends being the key word, and they don’t have the backbone to stop the chain. When this type of a chain e-mail comes from a friend, it is worse than getting it from a stranger, because I can’t block his e-mail since I want to keep my friends.

Chain letters, first in snail mail then in e-mails, started out as pranks or jokes or for circulating information, whether the receiver wanted to get such mail or not and whether he got the joke or the purpose of the mailer or not. In the beginning, I used to send the chain e-mail back to the sender to make him understand, but now I just delete it.

Then sometimes, I get another e-mail scolding me why I broke the chain. Some of the letters used to come with a warning such as: “If you break this chain and do not send this to seven other people, great misfortune will follow you and someone close to you will face adversity.” Nowadays, these types of warnings are passé. Still, the bulk mailing and chain letters remain as the preferred mode of communicating someone’s objectives that do not concern the receiver.

On the other hand, I enjoy receiving personal letters and e-mails from friends greatly and I love it when a friend e-mails me an article or a URL that he knows will interest me. I even like the bulk mail if the content is of concern to me and is sent by someone I know or work with in some capacity.

There are numerous kinds of unconstructive bulk mails and chain letters. A true list would fill volumes. A few examples to those are: addressing one’s soft side by imploring help to the poor, sick, missing, or dying people; political truths or falsehoods under the guise of news; matchmaking or meet-your-soulmate mail; online rumor against one institution, company or person; virus warning hoaxes; mail of advertisements with doctored photos or pictures; e-mail activist petitions that ask a person to add his name to a list; a prize for nothing frauds; and pyramid schemes hiding under false pretenses. Most of these are scams to get the receiver’s money, but even when they aren’t, they are just as leechlike because they take up your time and inbox space.

Although the Federal Trade Commission came up with a “Do Not Call List,” there are no laws I know of that forbid sending junk e-mail and chain letters, leaving spammers and swindlers free to gather e-mail addresses or personal information leading to identity theft and other harassments. FTC acts like a powerless waif against spamming and scamming mail and e-mail.

I believe, the best way to fight this trend is to not to forward any chain letter to anyone else, even when the content appeals to us and even if we think we know and trust a respectable company or business. Most scammers hide behind well-known names, associations and companies. The only weapon to fight this ill is to break the chain and just delete the e-mail from our inbox.

Joy Cagil is an author on a site for Writers. Her education is in foreign languages and linguistics. In her background are varied subjects such as psychology, humanities, and women’s issues. See her portfolio.

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Occupational frauds is a big internal business. Every instance of fraud cause small company a loss of $127500 on an average. Fraud probably occurs in every organization, and you may not be able to totally eliminate it. However you can do something to minimize the risk of fraud.

Information is sensitive and accounting information is even more. Handing over the accounting information poses threat for business secrets. Many Small businesses thinks in this fashion.They are often afraid that if the information is disclosed to a third party be it auditor or competitor , it can be misused. It is hard to change this attitude but there is something which small business owners can do to combat the frauds.

Small business have every reason to worry about fraud. But there is nothing to fear this virus. This is the financial worm that has to be removed from the roots to combat the frauds. There are some useful tips to combat the occupational frauds.

Oversight Process

The second important factor is review of the accounting information. Just because the owners have the authority to sign does not mean that there are no frauds in the accounting databases. Cash is not the only thing to be followed in any business, one more thing that plays a crucial role in commission of the frauds and that is books of accounts such as biils, purchase orders and payment terms. Reasonable internal controls are critical in a small business. It is accepted that the small business owners have some more priority works but to review the accounts they need to spare the time.IF THEY THEMSELVES CAN NOT do it then they should buy the softwares which can perform the requisite functions on their behalf.

Limited controls

Small businesses rarely have sufficient personnel to adapt adequate controls; “one-person accounting departments” as in are the rule, not the exception. Owners are unable to look into the accounting matters. But the business owner should actively understand and verify the financial information reported to him or her. The owner can engage a external auditors to attest to the credibility of the financial information, even if the company doesn’t have a regular audit.The controls in the organisation needs to be checked up regularly for the deficiencies and loopholes, though not the only one, internal controls are the powerful deterrents of the frauds.

Employee Education

A small business owner if takes few cautions he can stop many occurrences of frauds in his organisation. Most crucial factor in any occupational fraud is the empoyee.If there are no employees then there will be no occupational frauds but without employees no growth of the business.Educated employees adds value to business. Now it is well accepted that education about the frauds helps to combat the frauds successfully.Making the employees aware about the nature of frauds makes them aware about the methodologies and they do not remain the passive visitors to the instance of the fraud.Most of the times it is observed that the employees have blown up the whistles against the frauds where they have come to know that what is happening is called fraud. Some of the big financial scandals like Refco or Enron are the outcomes of the employee awareness about frauds. Anti-fraud training is an essential factor.

Adequate employee prescreening

Small businesses rarely spend the money to check work references, criminal records or professional recommendations of potential hires or require applicants to undergo drug screening, psychological testing and other vetting procedures. It is frequently seen that the employees in small softare companies are recruited based on the interview and the resume, however no checking is done regarding his past performances,whether employee was involved in any fraudulant case or not.

Undesirable applicants know this and thus gravitate to small businesses. The problem, according to ACFE study, is that about 7% of employees have a history of workplace theft and fraud. This small but costly group know the degree of scrutiny into their past likely will be minimal; all too often, they are right.

Too much trust

The third factor for large fraud losses in small businesses involves the human element. In a situation where employees know each other well, it is natural for them to trust one another. Indeed, the intimate familial atmosphere of a small business is one of its most appealing features. Most of the time, believing in your coworkers is well founded, but not always. The dichotomy is that trust is an essential element of business as well as an essential element of fraud. Never having faith in your employees is a bad thing; so is always trusting them. The goal is to strike a balance between the two. Or, as Mark Twain said, “Trust everybody, but make sure you cut the cards.”

These few things a small and medium sized business owner should adhere to in order to reduce the median losses of $98000 caused to it every year.

About the author

Mr. Mayur Joshi authored this white paper. He is a Fraud Examiner and is associated with Indiaforensic research foundation for more than 5 years.

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Tags: ethics, essay, personal, business, competition

Ethical behavior is what all career people should aim to have. Not just the ethical attributes but exceptional behavior with this regard. This is because to build a career, you must be governed by rules of ethics to safeguard you and others.

Ethics purely center on personal conduct. It involves personal choices that can make or break you in your work place or business. The major importance of having good conduct is to maintain a high level of respect not just for people but for the profession in which you hail from.

Meaning

Ethical behavior is a pretty wide topic and it might not always be easy to know the different boundaries. However, in your career there are certain boundaries that have been set and different policies that have been formed to regulate what you do. In other words, as a professional, you need to know the things you should not do.

Different organizations have an ethical code of behavior. Over and above this, different professions have ethics codes that are not to be violated. The main definition of ethics is that it is a philosophy which seeks to uphold various fundamental issues that mainly address morality and so on.

There are many things that you can gain from having good behavioral ethics in the workplace.

Benefits

Ethical behavior in your career will do you so much good. The first thing is that it can grow a business to great heights. This is because doing what you should do will develop a discipline which will propel your work practices to a high level and set a high standard.

It has been seen to promote teamwork among workers. This is because there is great respect placed in fundamental issues in the work place. It also builds confidence which will translate to trust among workers. Trust in your career is one invaluable trait that is able to pave way to progress and great success.

Practical Application

It is doing the simple things that will make you an ethical person as you develop your career. For example, being honest and telling the truth at work is an ethical thing to do. Another thing is having respect and the right attitude. The truth is that, these traits are becoming rarer in careers. Apply these virtues today and watch yourself develop not just at work but in your life as well.

Eight Hour Journey.com – Your guide to climbing the Corporate Ladder, Visit Here

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Tags: ethics, personal, habit, business, work

It started out innocently enough. She (we’ll call her Sara) was simply looking for a job. He (let’s call him Sam) was the vice president. Initially, the arrangement seemed to be working. Sara and Sam worked well together. He was her advocate in every way, treating her kindly and earning her respect as a boss.

Sara, on the other hand, was a very competent assistant. She was intelligent, showed savvy business sense, and her administrative skills were superb. The two got along quite well.

In time they developed deep feelings for one another and began dating. While they appeared to conduct themselves professionally during business hours, the rumor mill in the office wasn’t so kind. Sara, who had worked hard at earning her degree and keeping a polished reputation, was now referred to in secret as Sam’s “beck and call girl.” Instead of being known as the professionally trained assistant her co-workers saw her as an opportunist.

Sam, a young up-and-coming professional himself, was now referred to as the office gigolo, a title he was not fond of.

Eventually the stress took its toll. Sara obtained employment elsewhere, and while she and Sam still talk occasionally, the relationship has cooled. Ironically, one of the reasons they chose to date was because the demands of the job made it difficult to meet other people, get to know someone new.

- So what went wrong? – Why can’t co-workers work together and date in their personal time without it becoming the topic for discussion at the workplace? – Is it fair?

Let’s address these issues and more one at a time.

1) What went wrong? You can’t assume that every adult in the workplace is a mature adult. Many aren’t. It might not be nice for people to gossip, but that’s part of life in the workplace. And it doesn’t matter what type of environment you work in (warehouse, construction site, attorney’s office, etc.) people are going to talk. If you’re going to date a co-worker, you should know that going in.

2) Why can’t two adults work together and date? It might not be against the law to date a co-worker, but you could be breaking office policies. If you’re not sure, check with your employee’s handbook or consult with someone in your HR department. If there are rules against it, you might want to discuss the penalties with the object of your affections. After all, maybe that person isn’t into you enough to lose their job. On the other hand maybe they’re way into you and are willing to be transferred or seek employment elsewhere. Bottom line: if policies prohibit dating a co-worker, it’s a serious matter and you just might lose more than you gain by violating it.

3) “It’s not fair!” If life was fair, I’d be taller, slender and rich. Still, although being the topic of the rumor mill isn’t up there with world hunger or the state of the economy, it can be a source of grave anxiety.

4) Sexual harassment lawsuit. Whether or not policies are in place regarding dating a co-worker, you better be awfully careful how you broach the subject of dating. Be discerning. It should go without saying, but I’ll repeat it anyway: sexual harassment is against the law! If your Cupid says he or she isn’t interested in dating you – for whatever reason – do not approach the subject again. That could be interpreted as sexual harassment – and you don’t want that on your resume! Your inviting a co-worker to dinner could be perfectly innocent, but a jury just might see it differently. NO really does mean NO! Regardless of what you’ve read in books, or have seen on the screen – if someone tells you they don’t want to go out with you or talk to you on the phone – give it a rest. And for the record, lurking outside someone’s home at 2am doesn’t exactly endear them to you.

5) The bunny in the pot. Chances of your co-worker becoming a stalker might be slim, but do you really want to take that chance? Another thing to consider: dating a co-worker is the equivalent of “lots of togetherness.” If you’re not looking for something serious, or long-term, dating a co-worker might not be the best solution. Besides, Thumper doesn’t deserve to suffer on your behalf.

In all earnestness, there are many factors to consider before dating someone at the office. Think it through clearly. Ask yourself: What will I gain? What can I lose? Is my job worth it? Will it ruin my reputation? If you take time to ponder these points, you just might make the right decision.

– Judith Brown is a nationally published freelance writer out of Harrisburg, PA. With over 25 years in the work force, her varied background represents county and state government, non-profit organizations, corrections, and the advertising industries. She is also an editor for a health care publisher, and contributing editor of Art Nouveau magazine, Positively Celebrity, and Fancast.

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Tags: work, ethics, personal, relationship, workplace

You might think that it’s a no-brainer why one should live an honest life. But it’s apparent to me that a life of integrity is the exception rather than the rule. How many people do you know who are honest all the time?

We could make a case about the morality and the “rightness” of living honestly. Religious leaders have been advocating this for thousands of years. It’s doubtful that even they could provide a true model of integrity.

I believe in the moral and ethical value of integrity but I also think there are very practical and worthwhile reasons for living an impeccable life. Here are ten:

1. Trust. In order to be successful in business or hold a responsible job, a person must have a reputation of honesty. Resources are not entrusted to people who have proven themselves as untrustworthy.

2. Good Health. I have no research to support this, but I’d be willing to bet that people who tell the truth are healthier. They have less concern, less stress and feel better about themselves. This has to translate into better health.

3. Pride. I’ve yet to meet a liar who has any real pride in themselves. Any good leadership training will stress the importance and value of having pride in what you do and who you are. If your reputation is grounded in deception, your opinion of yourself is poor indeed. Being honest just plain feels good.

4. Peace of Mind. If you cheat on your income taxes, you may get away with it, but you’ll probably always worry that you’ll get audited and face fines, extra charges and even jail as a result. Your reputation would also be tarnished. When you deal honestly, you have peace of mind. It’s impossible to worry and be happy at the same time.

5. Remembering. It’s been said that no one has a good enough memory to be a good liar. When you don’t tell the truth, you have to INVENT it. When you do, you’ll often be asked to recall your rendition of the truth, and you may not be able to do so because you forgot what you said. You KNOW the truth, but you can’t remember your version of it. Very embarrassing. Besides, it’s hard work to continually come up with false stories.

6. Good Sleep. If you lie-unless you have no conscience at all-you’ll often lose sleep because of your fears of being found out. Your worry and your guilt will keep you awake. A good night’s sleep is one of life’s many pleasures and honest people sleep better.

7. Confidence. Many people have excellent “bull” detectors. They know-at least at some level-when you’re being fake. If telling lies is your modus operandi, you know that these people will often see though your façade. There’s no way to have real confidence in oneself when you’re walking on “bull”.

8. Good Relationships. Relationships are the jewels of our lives. Some would argue that relationships ARE our lives. And breeches in trust are the death knell of relationships. When trust is gone, there is no foundation upon which to build. Relationships lacking in trust seem hollow and shallow. They lack joy.

9. Legal Problems. We don’t have to look very far to see the legal trouble people get themselves into from dishonesty. Lying in a court of law or to an officer of the law is literally AGAINST the law. Conversely, if you have no secrets, you can rest easy and its hard for anyone to blackmail you.

10. It Doesn’t Work. All too often our deceptions and duplicity are discovered. In the information age in which we live, it’s even more likely that lies will sooner or later be seen for what they are. Dishonesty is just plain inefficient.

The right thing to do is seldom the easy thing to do. But it’s worth it.

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Tags: business, coaching, ethics, personal, work

It is time once again to recap the fakery, hoaxes, and all-around trickery online over the past year. It seems like we have had an exceptionally busy one. Thanks to social networking sites, user-generated content, and increasing use of online by everyone over eight years old, we have plenty to write about this time around.

To start the creative juices flowing, I caught “The Hoax,” the Richard Gere movie about Clifford Irving, one of the all-time great fakers (he faked a biography of Howard Hughes and sold it for millions of dollars, eventually winding up in jail). I couldn’t help thinking as I was watching this movie (which of course plays very loosely with real events) how much easier Irving would have had it in the online era of today. Back in the 1970s, he had to get on planes and mail forged handwritten letters with real postmarks and such to disguise the fact that he never actually talked to Hughes. Today he could do the same thing in about ten minutes with a blog.

So the biggest news the past couple of weeks has been the Myspace teen suicide backlash taking place about 40 miles away here in Missouri. The suburban community passed a law making it a misdemeanor to harass someone online. Almost immediately we have a fake blog that purports to be the writings of the Drew family gathering hundreds of comments and fueling the vigilante fires even further. The story, for those of you that have been not online, is about a teenage girl named Megan Meier who killed herself last year over a series of fake Myspace postings from a boy that were actually written by Lori Drew and her older teenaged employee. Drew was a neighbor of Meier, and ironically the harassment law that was recently passed to punish her Myspace postings could be used to benefit her and punish her own blogging impostor. (You might need to re-read the above graf, I know it is a bit confusing.)

While this was happening, a friend of mine was telling me about how he was posing online as a woman, trying to ensnare a former employee of his who faked some reports and was never caught. Luckily, he doesn’t live in any community that has any online harassment laws. Sadly, he thinks this is all le mot juste and his own version of online justice.

Back to the blogosphere, earlier this year we have Dan Lyons (with whom I once worked when we were both at PC Week back in the 1980s) outed for being the author of the “”Fake Steve Jobs”" blog and ensuing book tour. I hope some day I can aspire to be the author of a fake blog that will boost the sales of one of my books. (We assume that the royalty payments go to Lyons and not Jobs, but I haven’t checked.) In the meantime, I will have to settle for being the real author of real blogs.

Lyons isn’t alone, here is a list of several others:

Meanwhile, Steve Colbert’s fake presidential bid is dead in the water as a result of his show being in reruns because of the writer’s strike. The main point of contention of the strikers is how writers are paid for online works, which are supposed to be over real bylnes. Are you still with me?

And let’s now forget earlier this summer with John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods, who posted to Yahoo’s financial Web sites using an alias. Mackey was outed in an FTC document, and it turns out he was writing these posts over eight years. Eight years! No mea culpa, either.

Here’s hoping that you all have a really great holiday season, surrounded by the actual people that you know and love and care about, and that you can step away from the computer for a few minutes too.

N.B. For those of you too young to remember Irving contemporaneously, he also wrote a book about Elmyr de Hory, a noted art forger. Orson Wells did the movie version, which is where we get the title of today’s post. Irving continues to sell copies of the “”autobiography”" from his Web site.

David Strom is a noted speaker, author, podcaster and consultant who has written two books and thousands of magazine articles for dozens of IT publications such as Computerworld, eWeek, Information Week and Network Computing. His blog can be found here.

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Tags: personal, law, legal, business, ethics