More Golden Rule, Less Smoke and Mirrors

More Golden Rule, less smoke and mirrors.  If we could get that idea through our society, it would be great.  My goal is a bit less ambitious though.  I would just like to get that idea through to those that I deal with on a professional basis every day.  I’m not throwing stones at everyone involved in the real estate industry, indeed over the years I have picked out a group of professionals that I choose to work with because I can trust them.  I cull the ones that I can’t pretty quickly…and so do other professionals in the industry, I might add.  However, people come and go from our industry, as do buyers and sellers.  I guess my folly is the belief that everyone would like to stay in business long-term, and therefore will do what is right.  I have made a conscious decision to trust first in all of my life’s relationships, and business is no different.  If you don’t choose to trust first, then you end up being one of those people that no one trusts.  Jaded if you will.  I guess that’s the reason I feel blindsided by misdeeds and untruths that people are involved in.  Why shouldn’t we have an industry where people trust and are trustworthy?  I understand that all news is not good, but just because it isn’t does not give you the right to hide it, spin it, ignore it, or flat-out lie about it.  Rest assured that it will come out at some time.  Maybe you bargain that you will be long-gone before it does, and maybe you are right.  How does that help you when you lay your head down on your pillow at night?  Facing a problem head-on may not be the most comfortable thing, and it might even make the deal go sour. However if you do that, then you will not be the one who is responsible for the hurt feelings, lawsuits, and other injurious occurrences.  You may have to deal with some of those things, yes…but not because you are at fault.  That’s a whole different position to work on a problem from.  It’s a position of strength and certainty.  You needn’t hide anything that you have done, or try to remember your version of how it happened, or invent a scenario that puts you in a better light.

This is not the popular way to climb today’s ladder of “success”.  Most people want to short-cut the tried and true method of honest dealing.  In society as a whole people will claw at you, climb over you, and knock you off the ladder just to better their position.  Often this is done with total disregard for the downstream consequences for themselves and their victims.  Often these same people are the first ones to cry out as victims themselves.  I would argue that ill-gotten “success” is not success at all though.  It’s willful defeat with a tainted sugar-coating that will eventually melt away.  Step back and take a look at your business practices.  Would you like to be treated the way that you treat others? Would you trust yourself if you were involved in a transaction with someone just like you?  If you did not answer yes to both of those questions, please accept my gracious request that you find another line of work, or seriously change your business practices before we all catch up to your game.  More Golden Rule, less smoke and mirrors.