Doing The Right Thing

As a former commercial real estate practitioner, and the current leader of a national firm, I have been exposed to thousands of transactions and have witnessed countless examples of professionals doing the wrong thing for their clients, and what they consider to be the right thing for their pockets. There is a huge difference between doing the right thing and doing things right. A bigger problem is that there seem to be fewer people who recognize this difference. In today’s post I’ll share my thoughts about these two similar sounding, yet often very different positions.

So, what does doing things right mean anyway? That’s the problem…doing things right is a moving target…It is based upon influence, power and control, and whatever the status quo at the time happens to be. In many cases, doing things right is just another way of conforming to a politically correct agenda, taking the easy way out, or focusing on short term earnings. But sadly, it often has little connection whatsoever with doing the right thing. The simple truth is that regardless of your position, title or station in life, the way to separate yourself from the masses is by doing the right thing.

It doesn’t require much ability to conform to the norm, or to acquiesce to pressure and do things right. Because it’s easy, popular, and receives little attention, it’s rather simple to do things right. However you’ll find that it is many times the case that doing the right thing means making a personal sacrifice, standing against the masses, deviating from the norm, incurring great risk, and rejecting the status quo. For these reasons it takes great character, conviction, and confidence to do things right, which is why it has become a rarity in the professional world.

Doing the right thing requires work-much more work and effort than doing things right. While each of us has numerous examples of situations where doing the right thing was not the chosen course of action, and not all of these “mistakes” have come back to beset us, I assure you, they were costly errors whose delayed impact will be realized at some future point in time. The following are some examples of doing the right thing positively affecting profitability, your career, and your personal brand:

1. Strive for harmony in a meeting and you won’t get anything accomplished. How many of us have approached board meetings, staff meetings, or important discussions with a written or unwritten “you watch my back, I’ll watch yours” deal in place? Here, while not challenging a program, initiative, or the status quo might be the plan to conduct the meeting the “right way,” this behavior is not in the best interests of the company for whom you work and is certainly not the right thing to do. Challenging thinking, playing the devil’s advocate, shooting holes in another department member’s business plan and engaging in intelligent, healthy debate are what your employer needs most out of you. Conversely, rubber stamping presentations, and not being appropriately disruptive will foster nothing but stagnation, stifle growth, profitability and can lead to a company’s ultimate demise.
2. Approaching transactions with personal interests in mind. Treating a deal as if it were your last and only deal will cost you money, render you unable to procure client’s for life, and will damage your personal brand. Seeking to “Double-end” a commercial real estate transaction (striving to independently identify the buyer of your listing on your own and without the help of an outside broker so as to earn a higher commission), negotiating a one-sided purchase contract, consulting agreement, or unreasonable price are short term, zero sum gain victories which will eventually be realized by the losing party. Rather, approaching negotiations as a facilitator as opposed to a feared negotiator, and being mindful and respectful of the interests of all involved, will produce good deals and increase the chances of your being hired again vs. having the client regret the day the two of you met.

Whether interacting with clients, vendors, partners, peers or subordinates, it is those willing to evaluate every action within a framework of “is this the right thing to do?” that will stand head and shoulders above others. Mind you, this is not easy; it does not come without personal and professional risk, but it does come with great satisfaction. As you watch your right thinking and right acting improve the lives of others, you’ll find that you’ve earned the confidence, trust and respect of many.

Bottom line…When you can be trusted to keep your word, rather than manipulate circumstances to obviate your commitments, you’ll find that the big opportunities start to come your direction as opposed to ending-up in the possession of someone else.