Month: July 2016

#TrainingThursday 16 – Business Ethics

Post author By Dave Guerra
Post date July 7, 2016

Training Thursday (#TrainingThursday) #16

BUSINESS ETHICS

Today I want to talk about Business Ethics. Now you and I know that Business Ethics cannot be taught in one or two or three seven to eight minute videos. Business ethics is one of those topics that takes years to learn
and a lifetime to master.

However, what I want to present to you is a brief overview of business ethics, what they are and what they mean to an organization.

A lot of the business ethics you will experience in the modern workplace are from a set of standards, policies and procedures that have been in place since day one of the organization’s operation and refined over time.

Before moving on, I want to address what is BUSINESS ETHICS. The BOUNDLESS BUSINESS website Boundless(dot)com offers one of the best definitions of business ethics I have ever seen:

“Business ethics, also called corporate ethics, is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that
examines the ethical and moral principles and problems that arise in a business environment. It can also be defined as the written and unwritten codes of principles and values, determined by an organization’s culture, that govern decisions and actions within that organization. It applies to all aspects of business conduct on behalf of both individuals and the entire company. In the most basic terms, a definition for business ethics boils down to knowing the difference between right and wrong and choosing to do what is right.

There are three parts to the discipline of business ethics: personal (on a micro scale), professional (on an intermediate scale), and corporate (on a macro scale). All three are intricately related. It is helpful to distinguish among them because each rests on a slightly different set of assumptions and requires a slightly different focus in order to be understood.”

Let’s look at this line in that definition “business ethics boils down to knowing the difference
between right and wrong and choosing to do what is right.” Most ALL organizations choose to behave in a manner that fits this line. They know they can choose how to behave, act and perform their business
duties and responsibilities. It is those that know something has gone wrong and refuse to act on it and that is when the problems begin.

However, when they get out ahead of the problem and work hard to correct the issue that their comeback is all be ensured and welcomed. For example, let’s look at the recent BLUE BELL Famine of 2015. It all started when someone forgot to wash their hands after using the facilities.

Next thing you know there is Listeria all over the place and the ice cream plant shuts down to begin fixing the problem. Then when things start to look up, another infection of listeria is found in the ice cream making machines. Now the return date to the shelves for the ice cream is unknown. Eventually, Blue Bell worked hard to take care of its staff while operations were offline and they worked hard to get the machinery back online and
producing ice cream.

Fast forward to the summer of 2016 and Blue Bell Ice Cream is fully entrenched in the store refrigerators and all is good with the world. Who knows World Peace might just break out.

Now if the Blue Bell organization had decided to press on and ignore the trouble well we can only imagine what the outcome might have been.

So with that being said. Business ethics are a critical part of the overall operations of the modern work place. However, knowing what is right is one thin line from doing the right thing and doing the right thing is an even
thinner line from doing what is wrong or not doing anything at all. So let’s be careful out there.

Thank you for your attention.

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Making Regret A Thing Of The Past

Post author By Dave Guerra
Post date July 7, 2016

MAKING REGRET A THING OF THE PAST

I want to take a moment to talk about something that I have been thinking about after I posted, on Facebook, the meme about forgetting to place a cake order and wrote on top “Next time, don’t get caught swimming in regret.”

REGRET

Seems that regret, while a completely normal human function, is something that most people do not want to be called on or admit to anyone, let alone admit to themselves. That is all right.

Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have regrets. I am here to tell you that I am full of regrets.

I regret not spending more time with my family. I regret not being a better husband. I regret not being a better father. I regret not being a better friend. I regret not doing something about an injustice or two that I witnessed in my life. I regret not holding on just a little longer with a friend. I regret holding on too long with others. I regret not defending myself when I should have. I regret listening to the wrong people. I regret not listening to the right people.

See the list just goes on and on. Yet, there is a beauty to regret, yes, there is beauty in regret. In the past couple of years, I have grown, moved forward and freely admitted those public regrets, as well as my private regrets (to myself, of course). While most people announce their regrets while on their deathbed, when it is too late. I chose not to.

While we will never truly know the day and time of our expiration, I choose to do something about those regrets, right now instead of when it is too late.

Sure, some can do something about those regrets now but most people will wait until they can no longer do something and complete their time on earth full of regret and anger. Anger because they chose to waste their time holding grudges, internalizing their pain, lashing out at people, putting the wrong people or things above their family and true friends. They would rather spite loved ones because they think they can and are entitled to. They would rather belittle those that are not present because they believe it makes them look cool.

Yet, deep down they know they are hurting because of the regret. Regret based on knowing right from wrong yet choosing wrong because it is a quick fix, a temporary Band-Aid. Instead of working hard to make life better for themselves by fixing those regrets. Admitting regret can be a bitter pill to swallow.

At this point of my post, you are asking yourself, “Who does Dave think he is?”

Please ask that if you have not done so already. You are asking because now you are thinking about the regrets you have. You can choose to be offended. I know at least one individual will be offended. It might be someone whom I do not know or it can be someone that I have known for a very long time. Being offended is good, because sometimes those things that strike a nerve do so to get us thinking.

When we start thinking, we can start acting and when we start acting on our thoughts, we start getting results. Results that lead to minimizing regrets. Once our regrets are at a minimum we have grown as individuals.

Now to answer the question: “Who does Dave think he is?”
I am the person that regrets not writing this much sooner.

Thank you for your attention.

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Things To Give Up To Be A Successful Leader: Stop Complaining

Post author By Dave Guerra
Post date July 6, 2016

Things to give up to become a successful leader:

STOP COMPLAINING (or at least complain less)

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We can stop complaining or do it a little less. It can be done. We can complain and complain until we are blue in the face, that’s fine complaining is who we are, it is what we do. However, as a leader you cannot go around complaining because those that follow you will question what you do when it comes to complaining. Your followers will start to wonder if you complain about them to others. If you need help to stop complaining here are five tools to help you stop the complaining or at least keep to a minimum.

GO COLD TURKEY
Just stop! Yes, I know it is easier said than done but it can be done. People do it all the time. You have heard of Smokers, Drinkers, and Heroin users going cold turkey. Sure, it is a little difficult at first but they eventually break the habit. You can stop complaining right here, right now. However, you have got to want to change. You have got to want to stop complaining. Now here is a little something I tell people all the time, we are all human and none of us are perfect. We weren’t made perfect. However, the issue is know that you cannot go through life 100% complaint free. I try but it just doesn’t happens. So don’t worry if you slip and fall back into complaining mode. Pick yourself back up and try again. Remember, most alcohol and heroin addicts have to hit rock bottom before they realize they have to stop.

BE RESPONSIBLE
Own your mistakes. The first step to being responsible is self-respect. Begin by thinking highly of yourself and your abilities. All your abilities. Keep people in your life who respect you. Eject the chronic complainers. Let them carry their complaints elsewhere. Gather people in your life that like you and respect you. Remember it is a two-way street you have them around because you respect them. It is a mutual respect.

BE ASSERTIVE
Giving up complaining does not mean allowing yourself to become someone else’s doormat. Assertiveness is the way to tell others what your needs are and how these can be met. However, there will always be individuals who will see assertiveness (no matter how small or how large) as a personal attack.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD
When you keep moving forward you have less time to look back and complain about who did you wrong, who is crazy, who owes you money, who done you wrong, who was wearing what and stuff like that. By constantly moving forward you have less time to worry about others especially those that are the chronic complainers, the ones that live off of other people’s misery, the ones that would rather go make fun of people because it enriches their lives.
Keep moving forward and looking forward and soon you will have those that move forward as a habit and complain little to none all around you. Remember, like-minded people LOVE to travel together. Why do you think the old saying misery loves company is more often true?

BE MINDFUL
Be mindful of others. Some will see that you are not complaining or complaining as much and back off. However here is where the mindfulness kicks in. There are those that will bait you either catching you off guard or slowly reeling you in until <> you are caught and you start complaining.

Complaining is a part of life. It allows us to blow off some steam. It also allows us and opportunity share with others what we really feel however usually away from the people that we are complaining about. As a leader, you have to learn to keep your complaints to yourself. Your followers do not want to know you complain especially in front of them. Then they will start to wonder if you complain about them to others. So stop the complaining or curtail it as much as possible.