Honesty is the Best Policy

December 1, 2012

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Honesty is the best policy. “Say what you do and do what you say.” I remember a friend, who retold a face-to-face close door meeting they had with John Maxwell. He said: “I don’t do what I preach, I preach what I do.”

In the book Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko, the authors made a survey of hundreds of millionaires in America…the real millionaires. They created a sophisticated system to assure the survey’s reliability. The result showed the top 20 main reasons how they became millionaires. Here’s the top five:

1) Honesty

2) Discipline

3) Social Skills

4) A Supportive Spouse

5) Hard Work 

Number one is Honesty. It’s Trustworthiness, Integrity, Character…whatever you want to call it…moral values is number one.

Integrity is not like grades in school. In school, if you fail in 1 subject, you can still pass if the other grades are high. But in life, if you fail in integrity, it is a pass/fail course.

How can you get promoted if your co-workers and boss doesn’t trust you? How can you start a business if you need more money and no one will help you get started? How can people trust you if you’re fooling around with another woman apart from your wife.

I heard this story of a businessman in the garments industry who refused to get stocks from a particular supplier. The supplier confronted the owner and asked him why he doesn’t want to do business with him even though his price is a lot cheaper than his current suppliers. The owner who was polite but was backed in a corner, had no choice but to reveal his reason. He said, I’m sorry to tell you this, but the reason why I don’t want to do business with you is because I don’t trust you. I found out that you have a mistress. How can I trust you if your own wife can’t?

Honesty, it’s not just for inspirational talks, it’s very practical.

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