If you became aware of dishonesty or corruptness of ethics, would you still do business or have association with them? If people who have positioned themselves as industry leaders can’t be counted on to tell the truth and be honorable, what kind of standard does this set? Is there anything we can do to combat this in the VA world?
-Danielle Keister, Founder of VACOC
While the above questions were posited with regard to the Virtual Assistance industry, they are equally applicable to all industries.
My insta-answers to her questions are:
No I do not continue doing business or associate with unethical or dishonest entreprenuers. Having said that, I may not always know when businesses engage in such practices. I don’t investigate my business partners but when these things come to light I do end the association.
Industry leaders are often created by followers. Very few are purely a result of their mere presence among us. That means that something these “leaders” did was effective and deemed to be noteworthy enough to warrant either emulation or adulation. When those leaders decline and fail to live up to the tenets that put them in a position of leadership they inevitably fall and rightfully so.
With leadership comes responsibility and when that responsibility is abrogated it is only just that the leaders be demoted.
Due to my strong belief about this, I made a choice this week to actively support my belief in honesty, integrity and quality in business by signing the Business Ethics Pledge. I may not be sure how to put together that “benefit statement” that tells you succinctly what I can do for you but I can assure you that I am honest and fair. My integrity is founded on doing my best for my clients and my colleagues. At the end of the day I want to be known as a designer and writer who is honest, has integrity and does high quality work-stopping only when I’ve delivered the result desired or the project is cancelled.
I am a writer and designer who loves what she does and tries to do it the very best she knows how. Portraying myself to be anything other than that would be deceiving both you and myself.
I’d rather not ;)
