The only times in my life–ever–that I’ve been uncomfortable–truly uncomfortable–have been the times that I’ve either (a) had something I was afraid that someone else would find out about or (b) misrepresented the facts (i.e. lied) about something.   Generally, (b) I didn’t do for personal gain, but to spare myself the pain of going down every possible option.   Still, a black mark on my character and something to learn from.

So, right now, every tense situation I have is from me worrying about what people think if they find out that….(fill in the blank).

Every failed project I’ve ever worked on has failed in part because there was some type of undisclosed kickback or relationship going on.  Every one, no exceptions.  Mortgage lending: Realtors® that wanted a kickback?  All of ‘em who approached me are out of the business or part time. My guess is that every major brokerage with a kickback arm (title/mortgage) is not going to survive, and the few that have figured out how to last without one may stick around.

What the ‘kickback’ mentality does, always, is it keeps you mediocre. Undisclosed kickbacks, say that there are limits to the amount of business that can be done, that there’s a ceiling somewhere and that you’re not good enough to win honestly.   Asking for or offering them makes you instantly mediocre & limited.

So–going forward, I’ve got to develop a standard of practice that governs what I am to do.  This is a selfish action.  I’m doing it because it’s always in my own, long term, best interests to tell the truth and be transparent.   It’s in my long term, best interest to keep things 100% disclosed.

All of the messes I’ve made are because I tolerated some sort of chicanery, kickbacks, or other intellectual mediocrity.  I have no problem with finders fees.  I have no problem compensating someone that helped me find work.  I do have a problem with anyone on the team not knowing about it, not giving it approval and not seeing it’ there.   The political game I briefly played was rife with that at every single level….and pay to play blows.

So–the basic wire frame is that everyone in the deal knows everything they need to know, knows the incentives of the rest of the team, and knows what their incentives are.  They don’t have to know exact numbers, but to have folks know more, and then to get them in gratitude is the challenge of the team leader.

I’ll flesh the rest of this stuff out as I can–I’m short on time and wanted to get this public.

From now on, everything I do is legal, fully disclosed, and fully understood by all the players in the game.

The other thing I won’t do…I won’t ever, under any circumstances, have ‘show-off’ integrity in a heated situation.  Someone can pitch whatever they want, I’ll just keep notes.  Transparency is the new minimum.  It doesn’t solve every problem.