In business and in life, we are often faced with moments that challenge our integrity. As business owners and entrepreneurs, we are indoctrinated to believe we should communicate transparently (even when no one is listening), the customer is always right (even when rude) and to always keep our word (even when others do not).
It can become increasingly difficult to maintain a moral code when the societal expectation is to take advantage of any one person or system to increase your bottom line, mainly because the expectation is also that there is the ever-present risk of being taken advantage of ourselves.
Let’s face it, we live in a dog eat dog world where there are few rewards for good behavior. In reality, your love and light could be met with enough negativity to leave you wondering WTF is the point? But fear not fellow good doers, we’re here to help keep you composed. Here are three wrong responses to look for when you’ve done right—and how you can move around them.
Lackluster or No Acknowledgement
When we exercise unprompted kindness and compassion or make the choice to go above and beyond for a client or customer, we might look up to the sky, waiting for balloons to rain down or stand by for a celebratory marching band to show up. But many times, the celebration fails to show, and the hardworking creative is left alone with no slow clap or fist pump to be had.
Perhaps you’re a photographer who typically offers 10 edited images to the client after a gig, but because you enjoyed working with this client, and the editing was less extensive than anticipated, you throw in a few extra. In the back of your mind, maybe you’re hoping for a referral, a tip or a simple thank you for the effort. Instead, the client accepts them all and offers their gratitude by posting all of the images (without tagging you) and applying a God-awful filter to each.
But alas, although you may receive the occasional Christmas card or floral arrangement, the greatest incentive for doing good business should be repeat business, not a pat on the back. If your confidence is waning due to a lack of acknowledgement, remember this and keep at it.
>>Read More: 5 Myths About Entrepreneurship
“Haters will broadcast your failure, but whisper your success.”
Drake
Grave Digging
For most entrepreneurs, any degree of success has come as a result of trial and error. And no matter how many times you’ve shown up to prove you are more than your past mistakes, there may be those committed to digging it back up at any opportunity. These “grave diggers,” as we like to call them, insist on reminding you of your previous blunders, whether big or small, in private or public settings. When you make strides to improve, you may be met with the gaze of a side eye of distrust.
Take for example the 2016 Wells Fargo account fraud scandal. After facing billions of dollars in legal fees and other financial ramifications for opening millions of fraudulent accounts, the bank executives and their public relations teams knew they would need to make a pivot and quickly. Among other thing, the company decided to reverse the high pressure sales expectations placed on employees and did away with a ton of account-associated fees. And while this was undoubtedly the right thing to do, the amount of new accounts opened since the scandal have yet to match previous numbers before the scandal was revealed.
Then Wells Fargo Chief Marketing Officer Jamie Moldafsky had this to say about the backlash in 2018: “As a brand in transition, it’s nothing that we don’t expect, and we continue to believe that if we do the right things, that it’ll take care of itself.”
Chances are, your errors are not as grand or nearly as criminal (hopefully) as those committed by these folks. So, if the grave diggers come your way, press on in your integrity, or in other words, don’t let the haters get you down.
Imposter Syndrome
You’re doing right by your business practices and your clients. You’re being as honest and as transparent as possible, consistently raising the bar and delivering whatever is owed on time or before. You’re pressing on without acknowledgment while grave diggers continue their plow. But try as you might to keep the faith, you may be facing a war waged all on your own: the battle of imposter syndrome.
VeryWellMind.com defines imposter syndrome as “an internal experience believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be.”
It’s an experience many entrepreneurs know all too well. As we sit with this syndrome, we condition ourselves to believe, even as we move righteously and with honor, we are not deserving of success or qualified enough to achieve success in the ways we desire.
This is particularly true for creative entrepreneurs who are more likely to be artists with less access to capital and fewer academic accolades. So what then is the best way to circumvent this? Positive and personal reinforcement through affirmations is a good place to start. Try these on for size:
- I get everything I want by first helping others.
- I am driven by passion and purpose.
- My clients love doing business with me.
- I invest in myself and my business everyday.
- I am smart and successful.
All in all, we hate to break it to you, but there is no red carpet roll out for doing the right thing. Not in business or in our personal lives. However, it’s a little easier to maintain a moral code when you know what to expect from the world around you. Furthermore, when you know what to expect, you learn quickly how to navigate treacherous waters of ingratitude, parasites and your own un-stabilizing insecurities. Here’s hoping you swim good.
