{"id":23,"date":"2014-04-18T12:23:38","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T12:23:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.195.124.205\/~mylesso3\/?p=23"},"modified":"2014-08-09T17:01:13","modified_gmt":"2014-08-09T17:01:13","slug":"1-be-maniacal-about-doing-the-right-thing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=23","title":{"rendered":"1. Be Maniacal About Doing the Right Thing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Obvious right? Of course you\u2019d do the right thing. No one comes into work saying, \u201cToday, I\u2019m going to do the WRONG thing!\u201d.\u00a0 No one intends to the wrong thing. So why am I saying this? Why am I ranking it number 1?<\/p>\n

Without this, all the other lessons on the list are not important. Because without this, it\u2019s like building a tower on a bad foundation. You might not see the issues today, or tomorrow. But eventually, it will catch up with you. Because if you concede on certain issues now, you\u2019ll keep conceding. You might not get found out, so you\u2019ll think it\u2019s ok to do. But at some point, you\u2019ll have crossed the line without even realizing you did. So the key is to recognize when you\u2019re getting too close to the line\u2026. So here are the rationalizations I have heard when you get too close to the line.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cThere are no rules against it\u201d. OK, but if you know in your gut that it\u2019s wrong, you don\u2019t do it. Policies and rules can only go so far (that\u2019s why there\u2019s the spirit of the law vs the letter of the law). You\u2019re expected to use your judgment.<\/li>\n
  2. \u201cLots of other people are doing it too\u201d. \u2013 this didn\u2019t work when you tried to use it with your parents as to why you were a) drinking, b) staying out late, c) making out\u2026.whatever. It doesn\u2019t work now.<\/li>\n
  3. \u201cI didn\u2019t think it was that big a deal\u201d \u2013 certain rules have no gray: it\u2019s black or white. Things like the Employee Code of Conduct. You might get a slap on the wrist\u2026but you also might get escorted out the building. Why take the chance?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So those are the excuses. Then there are the situations that can make it difficult to do the right thing. These are the hardest. Like when your boss wants you to gloss over certain points in your presentation because it will kill the project. Or when your client wants you to do something you shouldn\u2019t. Or your boss\u2019s expense report is too much, so he wants you to sign off so that he doesn\u2019t have to have his boss see it.<\/p>\n

    Here\u2019s some suggested responses:<\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I am just not comfortable with doing that.\u201d Usually with a level look in the other person\u2019s eyes does the trick.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019m sorry, but our rules and policies won\u2019t let us do that. If I do, I\u2019ll be in violation.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cNo, we shouldn\u2019t do that. Let me be the one to call Joe and explain why.\u201d: sometimes some conversations are outside your people\u2019s weight class.<\/p>\n

    And if they keep pushing, just say\u2026\u201dI can see we don\u2019t agree. Should we take to <insert here> boss, human resources, compliance and get their thoughts?”<\/p>\n

    It will be uncomfortable. But stand your ground on what you think is right. Worse case, if it comes to a head, you have solid ground to stand on. You did what you thought was the right thing. Not what your boss told you, not what the rules said or didn\u2019t say, not what your friend told you. What you thought was the right thing.<\/p>\n

    BTW, there will be times in your career when you think<\/strong> you know better<\/strong>. When you think a rule or policy is stupid. Don\u2019t interpret doing the right thing as NOT following what you think is a\u00a0stupid rule. Before you do anything, see if there is something you don\u2019t know about the rule that makes it important. And if you still think it\u2019s dumb, go and work with the people who created the rule to change it. But don\u2019t ever think your opinion is more important than the policies or rules defined in the company. They are there for a reason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Obvious right? Of course you\u2019d do the right thing. No one comes into work saying, \u201cToday, I\u2019m going to do the WRONG thing!\u201d.\u00a0 No one intends to the wrong thing. So why am I saying this? Why am I ranking it number 1? Without this, all the other lessons on the list are not important. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essays"],"yoast_head":"\n1. 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