YOURSELF TOO!

"Be true to your work, your word, and your friend."

Henry David Thoreau, 19th century American essayist/poet/philosopher.

We all must be true to something and this list, with my suggested addition in the title, works for me.

Your list could be much longer, maybe shorter.

It can contain other things; for example, your school were this a Beach Boys list.

What matters most is that you have a list.

WHAT YOU MAKE IS NOT WHO YOU ARE

"No man's fortune can be an end worthy of his being."

Francis Bacon

16th century British statesman/philosopher

It is a form of self imposed slavery to equate your self-worth to how much money you, or the company you work for, makes.

IN YOU I SEE ME

"I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in."

Virginia Woolf

Late 19th/early 20th century British novelist, essayist

You reflect and ultimately become the attitudes and values of those with whom you associate.

Choose who that is carefully.

You Are The Company You Keep

"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation.  It is better to be alone than in bad company."

George Washington

First president of the United States of America

I'll bet President Washington knew to do this because he didn't always do it himself.

But we can learn from our mistakes.

Be mindful of the company you keep before you become them.

Ethics: Mine or Ours?

"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others."

Groucho Marx

It occurs to me that I've never had a boss who told me what his/her principles were.

I have worked in companies that made public pronouncements regarding company morals and the like but no bosses who made clear public statements regarding their personal ethics.

Come to think of it, neither did I when I was the boss.

Should each manager clearly state how they feel on issues of ethics or should it all be a combined statement of company values assumed to be endorsed by all who work there?