Ethical Conduct Of An Entrepreneur
July 11, 2006 by
Adam
Filed under
Entrepreneurship
Every Friday, whenever I have the time, I meet up with people from our community close to where we live. In the 1 hour slot which we all have together, we normally discuss life-related issues and concerns associated with religion and ethics.
In the talk that we had last Friday, the main person in charge, started talking about behaviour and mental issues. We talked about how you, as a human being, should conduct yourself in order to appear sophisticated and to gain respect. The discussion that followed introduced many ideas, and ideas which I thought related to being an entrepreneur in the 21st century as well.
For me, and most important, an entrepreneur must be polite and courteous whenever dealing with other people. When talking to potential clients, a budding young entrepreneur should be welcoming and optimistic with future deals or relationships that could blossom. In this way, they are more likely to receive offers and stand-out from the rest of the crowd of hopeful money-makers.
When approaching employees, an entrepreneur must consider problems and arguments from their side, and must attempt to approach and solve these problems in order to maintain respect from his workers.
Another important aspect of the business life that an entrepreneur will encounter is fairness. Watching TV, there are a few programs which show “The Most Famous Scams….” For me, such acts as scamming and cheating money out of clients and individuals is a disgusting act. I have taken the full brunt of one such scammer who cheated me out of a significant amount of money. By having the name of entrepreneur plastered upon your back, you must under all circumstances be fair and impartial and try to uphold these values.
By continually practising these values, you should hopefully distinguish yourself from the other hopefuls. Who knows, with this you could see improved profits and an increasing empire. Never stoop down low to the acts of other individuals, you are who you are. Make sure that other people know this, and make sure that their impression of you never wanders, as your reputation means everything in the world of business.
A thoughtful and intersting post, adnan.
Reputation, sharing and offering help and support really do make a difference in business.
That said, it very much goes against the cut-throat entrepreneurial stereotypes that are so often perpetuated by programmes like The Apprentice.
Thanks Alex, and can I just say what a fantastic site you have there!
I did forget about the fiery side of entrepreneurship that I loved watching on The Apprentice. That said, I think that being ruthless is only one of a few traits that you must take in the balance, ie. being ruthless and short tempered whilst not making any friends and relationships will sure not take you far!
Thanks for your comment Alex!
Nice post Adnan, some very worthwhile points made. However don’t forget that to be successful very often requires assertiveness (which is absolutely not to be confused with aggression!).
T
Nice post Adnan. That’s pretty cool that you have some people to meet up with and talk about some life issues in a business related way.
Your reputation doesn’t just mean everything in the world of business, it means everything. Being and knowing your self is very important.
First impressions leave a lasting impact. So one must be careful how they present themselves to future employers or clients. In my Code of Conduct refresher training we were discussing how people often judge on first impressions. My company was trying to get acrosst that we should not do that because first impressions are often wrong, which is true. Regardless of how we handle first impressions, we must remeber that other people will either be impressed by us or write us off their list depending on the first few minutes of being around you.
I’m curious about what kinds of religious and ethics topics your group discusses. I understand if you don’t want to share, but religion (I need to clarify my defintion of religion because I feel that religion is more about a relationship with God than a set of rules and regulations) is a huge part of my life.
Thanks for your comment Tony, I think The Apprentice also definitely showed me that successful entrepreneurs need the passion and flare of their personal character in order to reach goals.
Matt, you’re completely right. I think it is unfair how people can judge on first opinions, but even I do it and its just part of human nature really.
Although I don’t really want to bring politics into this blog I will expand a bit on the talks we hold on Fridays.
As I am a Muslim, it is necessary to go to prayers on a Friday afternoon. Here I gather with adults and children to dicuss Islam and how we can become better Muslims. In particular in the last talk that I mentioned in the post, we majorly condemned the bombings that other Muslims have made, notably 9/11 and 7/7.
Again, I don’t want to sound all “preachy” but I feel that all Muslims are being judged as “radical” and “extreme” when really that is not the case. I like to think that I do practise my religion whilst at the same time being friendly to other people, honest, forgiving in peace.
Hope I don’t sound to solemn but I thought I should give you guys a deeper insight into my mind and life. So Matt, what religion are you? Maybe we can all go the forum and discuss it there lol!
Thanks for all your comments!
Adnan: I’m Christian. So it seems like muslims and Christians can get along b/c we have built a pretty good web friendship. I agree that many people (including Christians) judge all muslims as radical. Just like judging on first impressions, it shouldn’t be done but is. I don’t agree with the muslim or any other religion than my own (if I did I wouldn’ t be a Christian), but my disagreement doesn’t mean I don’t respect other religions. Maybe we can take this to the forum…
Thanks for your insight Matt. I’m always fascinated by other people’s lives and their beliefs. Whilst I too believe only in Islam, I am also tolerant of other people’s beliefs, and I certainly do not criticise anything they believe in, as others could do the same about me.
Im glad we’ve formed such a good friendship and hopefully this has changed your perspective of Muslims, and maybe other cultures as a whole. This is how it should be done. Instead of suicide bombing, I wish that this small minority of Muslims would use their behaviour to show the world how peaceful Islam actually is.
And I’ve taken the topic to the forums, under “General Chat”. Any other people please feel free to register and share your views and opinions, as this is what I’ve set up the forum for!