Following on from my last blog entry I have been thinking about my interactions with people both in business and generally. This has been highlighted this week when I discovered that someone who had let me down last year in relation to a business deal, having strung it along for months assuring me all was good and that we would be having a completion soon, had been lying to me for probably all of the time that he was dealing with me. In fact he was in big trouble having acted unprofessionally which has since resulted in him being struck off by his professional body for misconduct. I was quite upset over this.
I recall a time when if someone gave their word you could rely on it. Yes, okay I have been around for several decades and I do know that you cannot live in the past, yet it seems to me the general acceptance of the lowering of standards is something that is just taken for granted. I have always taken people at face value and looked for and believed the best in everyone until I see or experience something different. I feel naïve. As people have said to me on many occasions over the years “business is business”.
I have been reluctant to change my ways and stop being trusting. I have someone who I am dealing with now, who on being introduced said that he could invest a certain sum into a project only to find in a couple of weeks that that is not the case and that approximately slightly less than half of what he said was available is actually available. He is running around trying to find the balance. Why lie?
In becoming true to myself I find that I am so much less tolerant of this kind of behaviour. It is disrespectful as well as a complete waste of time and energy. I want to reduce and eliminate dealing with anyone who is not able to be straightforward and open.
It's never too late.... 