Add a Cupful of Ethics to the Recipe this Year

Last year I learnt so much about ethics in business and how important it is to me as a person.  I think in some ways it surprised me how fixed I am in my ways when it comes to integrity, hard work and being entirely responsible for the money that is entrusted to me and which belongs to my clients.  So many of my colleagues over the years have succumbed to the temptation of using client funds for a short time and then returning it before anyone can notice and as a result they have either being struck from the role or fined, but ultimately their integrity is compromised and their reputation tarnished forever.  I am concerned about integrity and business ethics in this country at present and I believe that it is a very real challenge which must be met in order for this country to grow in a healthy manner. Unfortunately it starts at the top and certainly our own president has been an extremely poor example over the last few years.  This has seemingly filtered its way right down through various industries and I think it is going to take some real committed effort to right the wrongs we have in business.  I found sometimes questioning why I stay so rigid in my approach to ethics and to be honest there were times when I felt that others seem to be doing a lot better then me, even though they sailed very close to the wind in term of rules and ethics.  Having restructured my company and being completely comfortable in trusting my business partner now, I was able to think a lot more clearly about the importance of this topic and why it lies close to my heart.  I started my legal career at a firm that had complete ethics in business and the teaching and mentoring I got when I started made it very easy to remain honest in all my dealings with people and if I can do something in this year, as part of social investment it would be encourage and talk to business people about how to maintain their integrity despite all around them doing things which are not strictly correct.  It will take a generation, but we must try in every business dealing to start by following the mantle of "do unto others as you would want them to do to you".  In other words would you take someones money and use it for yourself -  what if the shoe was on the other foot?  If you had creditors to pay would you leave them until they are forced to threaten you with legal action - imagine if clients did that to you and failed to pay your legal fees for months. What about if you buy your work and then serve on ethics committees or boards, to cover your tracks.  These are deeply controversial, matters and I have been told in the past that I should just do it as everyone else is doing it.  This is the root cause of the lack of integrity in our business affairs of this country as we have become complacent and I truly hope that this year will somehow be a spark to change that and to ensure that we start respecting each other (as business is hard as is) and I hope that the big corporates will begin to truly realise and recognise the smaller entities who are trying to make a difference in their business relations and start to use such institutions for the better of all business in this country.  Imagine if we all kept a clean slate this year and treated money and business dealings with respect for 1 year. What a difference it would surely make and how much would we not progress in this country towards a moral and healthy society.  I call upon other business owners to follow suit, mentor and encourage each other and to be uncompromising in their ethics in 2015 and to share the experience with each other through the year.  Celebrate ethics and good form and I have no doubt that we will  be better off in the short and long run.