Honesty Is The Best Policy

Growing up my parents taught me that honesty is the best policy. As an adult, I still believe and live by this policy and it’s served me well in every aspect of life, including personal and business.

When others don’t follow this same principle, it’s so obvious and offensive that I can hardly believe that it’s actually happening.

Two examples stand out to me when I think of honesty in the workforce. Years ago, while working at a PR agency we conducted what we called press tours. A press tour is an event where we’d take clients back to New York, Boston, Washington DC and San Francisco to meet face-to-face with key media. The process was simple, we’d start pitching the media on interviews several weeks in advance and then coordinate all the logistics prior to executing the press tour.

It was common to be more successful securing interviews the closer we go to the actual days of our trip. Needless to say we’d start early to ensure maximum results. It was standard process to keep the client up to date on interviews and most clients eagerly followed and tracked our progress.

In one instance, we were taking a client on press tour and the client had some very specific media they wanted to meet with. A colleague I was working with to set up the tour was responsible for securing these media outlets. In one client meeting he told the client that we had a meeting scheduled with one of their desired media. When we got back to the office, he admitted that he didn’t have the meeting scheduled but that we should include it on our schedule. I asked if he was confident that he would actually secure an interview with them and he wasn’t but said to just include it anyways.

I didn’t agree with this strategy and told my colleague as much. He didn’t care. When we left for press tour we still didn’t have an interview scheduled, but the client thought we did. Once my colleague and the client were on the road, my colleague lied and said the reporter had to cancel last minute so we weren’t going to be able to meet.

In another instance, while at this same agency, we were working with a client and another consulting group. We had worked with this other consulting group before and had a good relationship. As the months went by and we continued working together, the other consultant admitted to me that at the end of every month when it came time to submit his bill, he would bill far more than the work he had actually performed. His rationale was that the client never reviewed the actual invoice, that he simply approved it because he trusted them and was pleased with the results.

I was shocked. I couldn’t believe he was doing that let alone admitting it to me.

In both instances, it didn’t take long for the clients to catch on. In the first instance with my colleague, our client quickly realized that my colleague was consistently making promises and then at the last minute when it came time to deliver was unable to do so. There were other areas where he had lied about results and progress that didn’t add up. In the end, we lost the client and my colleague was branded as incompetent and dishonest.

In the second example, the client was tipped off about the dishonest billing and began reviewing invoices. It was easy for him to see that the billing was off and that he was being billed more than what was agreed upon and delivered. This consultant ultimately faced the same fate as my colleague, released from his responsibility and branded a liar.

In both instances word spread quickly and cost them future opportunities and hurt their business as well as their reputations. The allure of short-term financial gain and appearing to be delivering outstanding expectations with little to no effort blinded these two individuals to the point that they engaged in dishonest practices. The long-term results far exceeded the immediate gratification they desired or may have felt.

As I watched these events unfold and played a role in correcting the problems it was yet another testament that what my parents taught me all those years ago is true, honesty really is the best policy. I’m glad my parents took the time to teach me that at such a young age, it’s paid huge dividends during my life.

Short Term Gratification VS Long Term Ramifications

Recently something happened that truthfully is happening way too often in my opinion. A colleague that has been working with a client for some time now had an opportunity to attend the client’s annual conference for partners and vendors. The meetings are held in a very exotic location. Upon hearing about the meetings, specifically the location of the meeting, this colleague’s boss decided that the meeting was an important one that he needed to attend personally.

Initially his attendance would preclude my colleague from attending which left him speechless. His thought was that he was the one that had worked so hard and invested so much time into cultivating a relationship with the client and as such he was the one that should attend the meeting, regardless of the venue.

The point here is the idea that an executive or somebody in a leadership position would feel like they can step in and take advantage of a perk or special event simply because of their position within the company.

Years ago, while at an agency I was working at, I experienced a similar situation. In this instance, the executive tried to take credit for something he had not been involved with. I had worked hard on an event that, due to my efforts became a very high profile event. In the beginning it wasn’t known how successful, if at all the event would be.

In working with the client I could see that the event not only had huge potential but that it was going to exceed expectations. I worked on the PR side and judging by the attention I was able to generate through the press and social media, I was convinced the event would be a success.

When the event arrived, not only was it an immediate success, but it was wildly successful surpassing even the most optimistic predictions. Together with my client, we were thrilled and felt a great deal of pride in the work we put into making the event successful.

After the second of the three day event, I was in the parking garage with a colleague getting ready to head home after a long day. As we were discussing the next day’s strategy and activities, from out of nowhere we heard a voice ask us what our involvement was in the event. We proudly replied that we were handling the PR for the event.

The man’s response caught us off guard. He replied that he knew the woman that oversaw all of the PR. Curious, we asked who this person was. To our surprise he gave us our bosses name and proceeded to compliment her on the success of the event and give her credit for the wonderful PR strategy.

Needless to say, my colleague and I stared at each other mouths agape. Our boss had nothing to do with the event. She had not spoken to the client once and in fact, the day before the event started didn’t even know the dates of the event.

This man in the garage explained further that he had spoken to our boss and she had, in essence, taken credit for all of our hard work. I’m not one that is all about the credit. I realize it takes a team and that it’s rarely just one person that is responsible for success.

My colleague and I were both disappointed in our boss and her eagerness to take sole credit for the success, especially the PR success. We weren’t really surprised but it was upsetting to know and to hear from others of similar instances where she tried to take all the credit.

In instances like the two referenced here, where executives took credit for and tried to hoard client related benefits for themselves, the results were far more lasting then the joy of getting credit for or participating in these events. In both instances, the loss of respect and credibility far outweighed any benefits these executives gained.

In talking to my colleague, he was hesitant to share information about future events with his boss. His fear was that if he stole this out from under him, what would be next. In my experience, my bosses credit mongering got back to the client as she tried to take credit for the success he generated. While I was limited in what I could and could not say to the person that signed my paycheck, the client had no such limitations and didn’t hesitate to let her know his displeasure with her big mouth.

Executives should take note that the instant gratification of being able to take credit for or participate in perks is short lived. The ramifications and effect on employee engagement and morale is far more detrimental to long-term success.