Winners never Cheat - Book Overview

Let me overview a related book, which I had read some time ago – ‘Winners never Cheat’ by Jon M Huntsman

Everyday Values We Learned as Children
(But May Have Forgotten)

Author Jon Huntsman worked as a staff assistant to Richard Nixon on H. R. Halderman’s staff. He was one of the few upper-level staffer to emerge out of Watergate unscathed.

This Self-Made billionaire presents the lessons of a lifetime; an inspirational manifesto for returning to the days when your word was your bond, a handshake was sacred and swarms of lawyers weren’t needed to back it up.

The book contains 10 chapters and ends with a concluding chapter. Important aspects of each chapter are outline below:

Chapter One: Lessons from the Sandbox:
(Everything we need for today’s marketplace we learned as kids)

We all know the drill: Be fair, don’t cheat, play nicely etc. These childhood prescriptions appear to have been forgotten in the fog of competition. Financial ends never justify unethical means. Nice guys really can and do finish first in life.

Chapter Two: Check Your Moral Compass
(We know darn well what is right and wrong)

There is no such thing as a moral agnostic. An amoral person is a moral person who temporarily and creatively disconnects his actions from values”. Certain types of behaviour encourage a disconnect with our inner compass or conscience: Rationalizing dims caution lights, arrogance blurs boundaries and desperation over rides good sense.

People often offer as an excuse for lying, cheating and fraud that they were pressured into it by high expectations or that ‘everyone does it’. Some may even go to the extreme of claiming that it is the only way they can keep up. Those excuses sound better than the real reasons they choose the improper course: arrogance, power trips, greed and lack of backbone, all of which are equal-opportunity afflictions. ‘Succeeding or getting to top at all costs by definition is an immoral goal.’ The ingredients for long-term success –courage, vision, follow-through, risk opportunity, sweat, sacrifice, skill, discipline, and honesty – never vary.

Values provide us with ethical water wings whose deployment is as critical in today’s wave-tossed corporate boardrooms as they were in yesterday’s classrooms.

Chapter Three: Play by the Rules:
(Compete fiercely and fairly – but no cutting in line)

Which rules we honour and which we ignore determine personal character and it is character that determines how closely we will allow our value system to affect our lives. Character is most determined by integrity and courage. Your reputation is how others perceive you. Character is how you act when no one is watching.

There are basically three kinds of people: the unsuccessful, the temporarily successful and those who become and remain successful. The difference is character. WorldCom, Tyco, Enron and other giant companies had leaders who failed to play fair. Because they cheated, they lost. Accumulation of wealth became a driving force to these executives. They forgot the golden rule of integrity.

Real winner never sneak to finish lines by clandestine or compromised routes. They do it the old-fashioned way – with talent, hard work and honesty.

Chapter Four: Setting the Example:
(Risk, Responsibility and Reliability – The three R s of leadership)

Chapter Five: Keep your word:
(It’s high time to corral the corporate lawyers)

‘Let your ‘YES’ be ‘YES and your ‘NO’ be ‘NO’

It is important that we listen to lawyers, but only for a second opinion. Your opinion ought to be the first – and the last. When you shake hands, the negotiating is over. Your word is your greatest asset; honesty is your best virtue.

Chapter Six: Pick Advisors wisely:
(Surround yourself with associates who have the courage to say no)

Success is a cooperative effort; it’s dependent upon those who stand beside you.

Chapter Seven: Get Mad, Not Even:
(Revenge is unhealthy and unproductive. Learn to move on)

Chapter Eight: Graciousness Is Next to godliness:
(Treat Competitors, colleagues, employees and customers with respect)

Chapter Nine: Your Name is on the Door:
(Operate businesses and organizations as if they are family owned)

‘I emphasise in employee meetings that families come first. I have insisted our company workplaces attempt to be an extension of a supportive home’

‘Be a cheerleader for each other. Seek good fortune for the other person first. Most family businesses end up in disarray because of the selfish interests of one or another sibling’. The head of the successful joint families in India were benevolent.

‘The surest path to success is one where others walk with you’

Chapter Ten: The Obligation to Give Back:
(Nobody is completely self-made; return the favour and good fortune)

‘True giving is doing something for somebody who can never repay you.’

Conclusion – The bottom Line:
(Acceptable moral values are child’s play, not rocket science)

Sharad