Why You Should be a Good Person

A. It isn't always. Sometimes whistle blowers get fired. We've all seen it happen. Companies like Wal-Mart that pay their employees minimum wage and don't offer health care can sell at lower prices and take business away from companies that do, and

B. You should do the right thing because it is the right thing to do. Something ISN'T the right thing because it's good business. What if slavery was good business? Maybe it was for the slave owner but not such a good deal for the slave. Jonathan Swift, in an article entitled "A modest proposal" suggested that the best solution from an economist's point of view for the great poverty in Ireland was for the Irish to sell their babies to the British to eat. In one simple plan you help Irish families who can't support all of their children and help the trade deficit as the British would be shelling out a lot of money.

I can't argue with either of those points, and I'm certainly not in favor of babies as "the other white meat". Still, I think ethics IS good business.

Tom Peters, one of the best business writers around, points out that the world is no longer about factories, it's really You,Inc. The greatest assets workers have now is not a set of tools or a shop. For most people, their greatest asset is themselves. Most of us work for a wage and you are only going to get that wage if people who are hiring want to hire you.

Obvious, right? Think about this. Saturday I mentioned that I had a proposal worth over a million dollars that needed to be delivered by Monday morning and I could only think of five people I know who, with absolute certainty, I could give it to them and it would get delivered. Now, how many of those five people do you think I would hire if I had the chance? All five? Damn right. Not coincidentally, I have worked with all of them on projects in the past and hope to again.

It's not just being honest, although that is a heck of a good start. There is being competent, Every one one of those people I mentioned has SKILLS. One is a journalist, one is an MD, one has a doctorate, the other two are both outstanding at their professions as well. How did they get that way? I think they put that same responsibility that makes me trust them so much into their work. They are always reading books, on the Internet - and no not on youtube or Facebook, but learning about their profession. Every one of those people did work that genuinely interested them. Probably all of them could be making more money doing something else - does that mean that ethics is bad business?

No.

Each person I mentioned has ALWAYS found a job as soon as leaving the old one. People who are good people - honest, ethical, hard-working, passionate about their profession - are always in short supply. Try outsourcing THAT to China!