No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Dear August,

We live in a time of unparalleled bounty and yet people steal from others all the time, and the thieves are capable professionals (lawyers and investment bankers, to name a few). In my circle of friends I am known as a smart, high integrity professional. Despite that, and the fact that I work very hard, I am constantly finding people do not measure up to even a much lower standard of conduct.

My feeling is that you are describing a world we wish we had, not the one we actually have. I guess I just don’t personally know enough virtuous people outside my hardworking but hardly rich friends.

How do we merge Integrity and business? How do we vigorously compete within the confines of an altruistic belief system? I fully appreciate that our economy is not a zero sum game: but as far as people’s behavior goes, I am not sure that matters.

Best Regards,
Greg

Dear Greg,

Ah, a man almost as cynical as I am! Of course I’m talking about a world we’d like to have rather than the one we do. If we had it already no reason to preach, right??

I think the apparent contradiction between altruism and competition is just that—only apparent. In my article on Forbes.com, The Business Secrets of the Trappists, I argued that integrity is the best way to be successful. Besides the Trappists and the Marines, I also mentioned Warren Buffet. Read his bio, “Snowball.” He has leveraged his reputation for impeccable honesty into tons of opportunities. It was his integrity that got him out of shady derivatives years ago when everyone else was piling in.

Besides the monks, Alcoholics Anonymous is another amazing organization that has thrived for many years based on my philosophy of service and selflessness. AA is almost completely bottom up–no bureaucrats, no central headquarters etc. It is self organizing and self perpetuating: driven by people who work tirelessly for the “cause.”

It is not that virtue doesn’t pay. It does. I built a business from a few hundred dollars and sold it for millions in seven years based on a lot of hard work and a business plan of values, not financial objectives. We were short of cash right up until we sold, but since we promised our vendors we would pay net 30, we paid on time even if this meant I went without a paycheck. This and the other values we lived by paid off in ways that were so unexpected they were magical.

The problem with service and selflessness as a business model is that it requires patience, deferred gratification, and taking the long-term view. It is not that ethical behavior doesn’t pay: it is too many don’t give it a chance. Of course there is more to business than integrity. You’ve got to be a good businessman as well.

In sum, I don’t feel that integrity and profit are incompatible. In fact they are complementary. Treat your employees and customers like you would like to be treated and they will stick with you.

Thanks for your question. Stick to your guns. Things will work out in the long run in ways you cannot anticipate.

August Turak