“Honesty is not the best policy,
it’s the ONLY policy.”


Howard Putnam
Former CEO of Southwest Airlines

Blagojevich, Madoff, Enron, ugh! What is happening? When did the word LEADER become synonymous with dishonest? Well friends, it’s time for the rest of us to take over. Because the lesson learned from all of this is that while deception, half-truths, and manipulation may get some to the top, the chances of staying there without a foundation of integrity aren’t very good.

So let’s make it our objective in 2009 to be the types of leaders that USE honesty to get to the top, regardless of how difficult being honest can often be. In fact, research done by the Tom Peters group shows us the most important elements followers look for in leaders are as follows:

·      88% say HONESTY

·      75% say VISION

·      68% say INSPIRING

·      63% say COMPETENT

Now here’s the prep. There will be some time over the next 48 hours when you will have a choice to make. And at that moment you will be given the choice to deliver your message with 100% honesty or something less. And once you choose honesty, you have set in motion your greatest asset to becoming a top performing salesperson, manager, CEO, friend, spouse or parent. And I can honestly say, I can’t wait to see how many lives you positively influence in 2009.

Listen to Brian discuss honesty and FUN with former Southwest Airlines CEO Howard Putnam on his weekly radio show by visiting http://www.preciseselling.com/Radioaccess.htm. President of Kansas City-based PRECISE Selling, Brian delivers seminars and internet training programs on sales, customer service, leadership and presentation skills to companies of all sizes. To find out more, visit him at www.preciseselling.com or email Brian at bsullivan@preciseselling.com. To learn more about Howard Putnam’s outstanding leadership programs, visit him at www.howardputnam.com

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