The Honesty Check

Finally, invincible executives—even those who feel they have good intuition—do exhaustive background checks on those with whom they are considering working—employees as well as customers and suppliers. They know that 30 percent of r sum s have material misrepresentations on them. That includes high-level people. An Illinois circuit judge had to resign recently because he had lied about receiving the Medal of Honor. The football coach at Notre Dame resigned in 2001 because he had lied about his prior playing and coaching experience. If you want to be invincible professionally, you must verify the integrity of those with whom you are entrusting your career.

It is surprising (and unfortunate) how many people hire or do business with others based upon an interview, a meeting, or by taking a r sum or marketing brochure at face value. To protect your own career, you need to verify independently the facts people provide you about themselves or their companies. There is so much information available about other people and organizations—much of it online through LexisNexis, Internet websites, and government agencies from police departments to the Securities and Exchange Commission—that there is no excuse anymore for doing business with a bad egg. Invincible executives check out every fact on a r sum . Invincible executives verify every representation in a marketing brochure. They do criminal background checks and study the litigation history of any prospective employee or business associate. They investigate the financial history of prospective trading partners. They do ethics investigations into financial and legal advisers to see if they have ever been professionally disciplined.

If a person lies to get a job, he will lie to keep it and will lie when he sues you after you fire him. If a supplier lies to get your business, he will lie when he cannot perform, and he will lie when you sue him for it. Most of the time, the professional histories of these people and companies will tip you off that they are opportunistic. Do not take the statements of those who want to work with you at face value.