Doing The Right Thing?

Doing The Right Thing? (Members Only) (edit/delete)
The NAR Code of Ethics is not a unique phenomenon...or is it? There are hundreds of professional and trade group codes of ethics. Like, physicians, lawyers, funeral directors, and even wedding planners (remember Bride Wars-the movie) to name just a few, and all have professional codes of ethics. So also do many individual companies and corporations. All vary in range and their complexity but none the less they have codes to follow. It helps us and guides along our chosen professions and paths. Like guardrails along the highway, it keeps us accountable and in the yellow lines. Unfortunately, we have to be reminded of them from time to time to readjust the auto pilot and remind us of simply "Doing the right thing".

Professional codes of ethics serve essentially four purposes as Bob Hunt put it:

(1) Codes of ethics bring to our attention and provide direction with respect to issues that might not otherwise even have been identified as matters of ethical concern.

(2) In many situations, codes of ethics provide us with the wisdom and insight of those who have preceded us.

(3) Professional ethics codes sometimes also cover matters that are not so much ethical as they are issues of professional etiquette or proper procedure.

(4) Professional ethics codes are also sometimes used for the purposes of "drawing lines" in order to remove any uncleared about what may be considered acceptable or unacceptable.

So, we will benefit financially if we are ethical or unethical we have to ask ourselves. I say this, Thomas Kostigen of MarketWatch relates a Penn State study that shows how reputable companies had gained financially. Between 1983 and 1997, Fortune's most-admired companies increased annual returns, on average, by 22%. James Mitchell, author of The Ethical Advantage, refers to a Harvard Business School study that showed differences between companies that had an ethical culture and those that did not. Over an eleven year period, the former experienced revenue growth four times as fat, and stock price increase 12 times as great, as the latter. Companies have better employee retention rates when the employees perceive their bosses and co-workers to be persons of integrity.

I know I feel better when I am living right and doing the right thing. My energy level is positive and I project that aura to others that I meet and work with. As we pound the pavements in our everyday sales attempts there will be inevitably this question that will come across our minds. Is it the right thing? If you have to ask yourself that question, then the answer is most definitely it is NOT the right thing to do! www.JamieBoone.com and www.HelloVirginiaHomes.com