Category Archives: Integrity

Business, Impressions, Integrity, Social Networking

Lying in the Electronic Age

Leave a comment
Lies, Lies, Lies
There have always been a variety of types of lies, some cone from a kind and gentle  place, others are motivated by deception, greed, or from psychopaths who simply can’t tell the difference! No morality whatsoever from the liar makes it difficult for the rest of us to differentiate.
Some lies can be for self-aggrandisement, and we all know these people. Bragging endlessly about their fabulous lives and name dropping to enhance their image or perceived self importance.
The down side is that there is no consideration of the potential consequences.
The motivation can be simple or extraordinarily convoluted.
There are kind ‘white lies’ which are meant to spare the feelings of the recipient. If someone asks how something looks, telling them they look cheap, hideous, or fat will not do much to enhance the relationship. Likewise the age old ‘do I look fat in this” well, you just KNOW that you don’t want to tell the truth. It would be unkind and could result in disaster unless the person asking is secure and mature enough to handle the answer. Usually not.
There are lies of omission, to cover up incompetence, lies of one’s whereabouts, lies about one’s wealth, or lack thereof, lies regarding friends, trips, jobs, hobbies, finances, some are insignificant, and  sometimes the response can also be justified if the person asking the questions is inappropriate and rude.
In the electronic age it is even easier than ever to lie, as usually there are no witnesses to see the red flushed face, the downwards glance, the averted eyes, the twitch, the head touch, or whatever the tell. An inanimate screen can’t tell the truth from the lies.
Resumes are enhanced well beyond reality, education, titles and experience manufactured which bear no similarity to reality.
Some lies are exceptionally cruel, spreading false rumours can ruin reputations and careers, often out of sheer jealousy.
Then there is deception or misrepresentation which causes people to believe something which is not true.
Betrayal is another vicious lie. Throwing someone ‘under the bus’ to protect oneself is disgusting, and frightfully dishonest.
Plagiarism or copying someone’s works, be it music, literature, term papers, inventions and calling it one’s own.
Compulsive liars can emerge from a variety of sources. Some have extremely low self esteem and are seeking attention, others have been lying so long they no longer can tell the difference.
There are broken promises, which are a failure to honour a promise or commitment, where there was never any intention to do so. The most common of those being someone saying ‘lets get together for lunch’, or ‘I’ll call you next week’, or,  “ I”m on the phone, I’ll call you right back”, ‘please lend me the money, I will return it tomorrow’…….why say it if you have no intention of delivering?? These are hurtful lies, which other than making the person saying them feel better about themselves, actually hurt the recipient as they create a false expectation.
Fabrication is the lie of claiming a knowledge about something of which you know absolutely nothing.
Bold-faced lies are evil, everyone knows they are absolute lies and they insult the intelligence of the recipient.
There is an old expression, ‘on the internet no one knows you are a dog pretending to be a dog’ , and unfortunately on the internet, it is truer than ever, and really not as funny as it was.
Some businesses have extraordinary web presences, splashy web-sites proclaiming fabulous offices and business competencies. One individual starts a new company every January which he bankrupts every December. This has been going on for 30 years. He re-opens with a slightly different name, with virtually the same logo, but the differences are indiscernible unless you are seriously paying attention. Being an information junkie, we have his ads going back over 30 years, printed, so that it is possible to put them side by side and see the subtle changes.
He proclaims international experience, lavish offices and a vast partnership of senior executives. The truth is, he is living with his mother in law just over the border of Ontario with NO office, having escaped Quebec due to the vast number of bailiffs chasing after him.
His web site is gorgeous, it is meticulously detailed outlining his huge business acumen, however, the truth is far from what the web site portrays.
Just because a company has a fabulous web presence, does not ensure that there is anything behind it. We see many companies with extravagant web sites making claims of successes, but in fact they have $50 per month identity plans in shared offices. The addresses may be impressive, but the reality is not.
Unfortunately, like many things, it is ‘buyer beware’. Just reading the label is not enough.
Then, of course, is my favourite,  LINKEDIN. To say that people lie on that site is the understatement of the year.
We found one small local company where 6 of the 10 employees have the IDENTICAL resume, the most shocking fact is that the President also shares the same one!!! The other employees comprise a secretary, bookkeeper and sales staff.     So, if the President is complicit in this fraudulent practice, how on earth can you trust anything that anyone in this company does or says??
They claim to be Microsoft, Citrix experts……..but I would be terrified of using them.
Another small R & D company with 14 employees shows 10 with identical resumes, all claiming to be SCRUM MASTERS. Again, 10 with the IDENTICAL resume.How is that possible??
We see fabricated education, titles which were never held, jobs where the candidate was fired disappearing completely from resumes, one fellow went so far as to speak of his incredible successes in a job he had held for a mere 3 days!!  He single handedly put together a team of Enterprise Architects and delivered sensational results………..in 3 days??
There seems to be an expectation that these ‘enhancements’ be tolerated, however when someone looks you in the eye and insists that the details are true, without flinching, it is absolutely terrifying to think what else they could lie about. Lying  for some has become an art form.
A couple of years ago I re-interviewed a gentleman who I had previously interviewed on 2 separate occasions. He miraculously had a shiny new MBA on his resume, and the dates and titles did not line up. Titles and dates had morphed, likewise successes.  He lied to my face repeatedly, and was confronted repeatedly. He insisted. I persisted. Finally I took out the 2 previous resumes and showed them to him. The interview ended abruptly.
Personally, having to keep track of lies is way too much work!! I am much too lazy for that!!
We estimate that 60%, yes, indeed, 60% of the resumes posted on LINKEDIN are fraudulent. Unfortunately most of the people doing the first interview do not have the experience or maturity to catch these lies.
As we only work through word of mouth, we have references on the individuals we meet before we meet them, and we do additional personal references afterwards, sometimes as many as 5 if there is any doubt at all.
Dating sites, well I have heard so many horror stories and misrepresentations about these sites it is incredible. One woman actually posted someone else’s photograph. Two men who both know each other were at a party and people were talking about their dating stories. They both met the same woman at different times, only to discover the tall slim blonde was a shorter brunette. She claimed to be a University Professor, and her excuse was that she didn’t want her students to see her photo on the site. This is complete and utter fraud.
So, each of these men took time to go downtown to meet her, paid for gas, parking, cocktails, lost the time,  to meet someone who was not even remotely what they expected.
Co-incidenttally, both men were at the same dinner party discussing their dating disasters, and her name and profile came up. So, everyone at the party heard about this woman’s lies, and learnt her name. Incredibly embarrassing, but very entertaining for the rest of us.
We hear of men posting photographs of themselves from 20 years earlier, women claiming to own huge successful businesses who are seeking a man to pay their rent, it is endless.
The other big lie is Real Estate agents. There are some who spend tens of thousands of dollars advertising themselves in every print form imaginable. Every newspaper, web site, magazine shows their mugs smiling their fake smiles, proclaiming their successes. The give-away is that they hop from agency to agency as they do not actually sell anything, and end up scrapping with the other agents.
One local woman is so unpleasant no will buy from her, but she has become a listing agent due to her endless advertising. She snaps up listings from unsuspecting people who see her face everywhere thinking that she must be incredible. She is. Rude, vulgar and dishonest.
Unfortunately there are many of them out there, it is absolutely mandatory to do research BEFORE signing the listing agreement, otherwise you might find yourself with a house on the market for over a year with no visits whatsoever. The longer it is on the market, the more questionable it is to potential buyers. The market jargon is that the house listing is ‘burned’.
The online presence of many of these agents suggests something far different than the truth. Once again, you can’t believe everything you read.
It is not hard to find a PR company who will enhance your web presence and your web appeal.
Increasingly, many executives, musicians, movie people and others pay a fortune to have an exquisite web presence. For someone in the industry, we know that they embed keywords so that the names of these individuals always turn up in searches.
Their smiling faces and supposed successes are repeated over and over, the poor unsuspecting reader thinking that because it is on line it must be the truth. Unfortunately  it usually is not.
The sad irony is that many highly successful companies and individuals who are highly discreet are overlooked as they refuse to participate in the hype.
Lastly, FACEBOOK. How many people do we all know who have hundreds of FACEBOOK friends but no real friends?? Once again, they have manufactured an image of themselves which is fictitious  but extraordinarily appealing.
One local woman has literally hundreds of friends on Facebook. I actually confronted her one day about it, and inquired where she had met a couple of people she claims are her friends. It did not make any sense to me that they knew one another.   They DON”T.     Whenever she hears a name of someone she thinks is socially important, she immediately sends them a request to be friends, and many people simply accept.  They have never met, probably never will, and would walk by each other on the street.
Apparently this is commonplace, however I find it extremely sad.
Just think how pathetic this appears to the people who are really friends with these individuals, when they inquire where they met so and so, and are told that they don’t know each other. Oops.!!!
So, be careful out there. You could be talking to a dog pretending to be a dog, or worst, you could hire one!!!
Business, Impressions, Integrity, Job Hunting, Quality

Hiring in the New World!

Leave a comment

Due to the nature of our business, everyday someone calls me and complains about the lack of courtesy shown by large corporations towards potential employees.
People send resumes through job sites and never ever hear anything from the company again.

The problem with this, is that often these are the same companies selling to the very people they are ignoring. Whether a financial institution, clothing retailer or grocery chain, the lack of response can often result in the individual taking their business elsewhere, and telling their friends, which results in hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost revenue, simply because no one considered following up with a response.

The rhetoric that there are too many candidates and not enough time is not valid. A simple, polite form letter is at least a beginning.

Some large corporations have such outrageous hiring practices that they have rendered themselves impenetrable, the employees hiding behind their ludicrous policies in some cases are arrogant beyond belief, on one hand publicly decrying the difficulty in recruiting new talent while all the while putting up huge barriers. Massive arrogant, unimaginative HR departments who hide behind policies and voicemail. The instigators hiding behind meetings, outrageous rules, systematically blocking out new ideas and small creative companies who could bring them the imagination required to help compete in a fast paced global economy.

Having only ‘preferred vendors’ who meet ridiculous criteria, often set out by the vendors themselves to limit the entry of new players onto the field. Smaller players who are creative and have a different approach are not even reviewed, which is outrageous. Many use software packages to receive and filter resumes based on ‘key words’, but that eliminates all those who did not know what the critical ‘key word’ was. Someone may have extraordinary experience and imagination, but as they are missing 2-3 keywords on a resume, they are overlooked.
This is people being evaluated, not widgets. Understandably, if it is a technical widget which must be exact to the millimeter, that is one thing, but humans with varied knowledge, educations, experience and life history cannot be evaluated this way. Using software to go through resumes is insanity. Part-time employment, awards, international travel or experience, a variety of spoken languages, hobbies are not evaluated. The ability to learn is not. Like many things, if you have experience in a variety of industries, learning a new one is not a big stretch. Someone who has worked in complicated manufacturing can easily understand banking or retail, it is simply a matter of learning a new vocabulary and applying the ability to learn.

The other problem with these huge HR departments is that recruiters are trying to work cross industry. A 24 year old clerk with no business industry experience is simply not qualified to interview engineers, accountants, lawyers and IT professionals. Each of these specialties seek different skill sets, and only someone from the industry can understand the differences.
The example I have been using of late is the new replacement of the Champlain Bridge. There will be a requirement for a multitude of engineers, Structural Engineers, Seismic Engineers, Oceanic Engineers, Engineers specialized in Cement, Steel, Load Bearing and Balancing, and more. These people MUST be interviewed by their peers, not a 24 year old with no experience in the industry.

We need to put the hiring back in the hands of the Managers, so potential candidates can be evaluated and hired by their peers. Likewise doing references, as HR or a background checking company will NEVER get the type of references someone will acquire by going through the back door. The best references are NOT official. They are off the record.

Creative, competent, motivated people are the key to a successful company.

Proper hiring can be time consuming, expensive, but can make or break a company’s success. The knowledge base of every company walks out the door at night, and hopefully returns the next day. Without the people, there is no company. People need to be hired and managed with respect and decency, not treated with contempt.

Preferred vendors, price wars on recruiters and consulting firms, job boards, on-line job boards are not the best way to seek out the brightest and the best, they are the way to seek the mediocre, and the job hoppers. The best people are usually not seeking employment and need to be sought out and wooed. They must NOT be treated like a commodity.

Then comes the rhetoric on salary scales. Once again the so called research by HR and specialized firms does not take into account all the possibilities for compensation, as well as the fact that not everyone is motivated by same thing. The one of a kind skill must be compensated as such, and not put into the category of people with ‘x’ years of experience and a specific education.

Currently there is a huge demand for people with ANALYTICS experience, and we actually have interviewed many people with those skills. Someone with NO university education and 20 years of IT experience in 3 companies is NOT the same as someone with a PhD in Physics and Mathematics with 10 years of experience working with advanced technology and having been educated in 3 countries at the best universities in the world, speaking 3 languages and extensive experience developing algorithms to solve a variety of problems.

Trying to suggest that the PhD only has a few years of experience and planning to compensate him based upon years of experience is ludicrous and frankly insulting. The company with the imagination to pay him the REAL market value for his skills will hire a genius, and there are companies out there who will do just that. New York and California corporations are hiring these individuals for $500,000 plus incentives. Offering them $90,000 is simply insulting and ignorant, and will ensure that they will stay for a short while and then be gone, the knowledge along with them.
Our Company is a small independent Consultancy working with Fortune 100 and 1000 clients internationally, as well as funky start-ups. Salary scales range from $100 – 500,000. We meet people from all over the world with extraordinary backgrounds and life experiences, which give them a view on the world and best practices from afar.
For example, we are currently working with one individual with extensive experience in Banking and Mobile applications to seek a position within a Financial Institution in Hong Kong. He is not Asian.

Often we find ourselves seeking individuals with ‘tough skills’. These are people who are highly valued and can bring enormous success to the right company. Why would we want to put them in a corporation obsessed with salary scales based on ridiculous criteria like age and number of years of experience?? A company which does not value imagination or a cross section of types of experience will only seek to pigeonhole people and the bright ones will not thrive, they will leave.

Companies need to recognize that 10 people with 5 years of experience and a Bachelor’s degree are not great criteria for establishing worth.
Have they travelled? Worked abroad? Speak other languages? Held part-time employment? Have super hobbies?
Someone who has worked in a small start-up where people worked on average 50-60 hours a week and had to get involved in just about everything imaginable in order for the company to survive, is not the same as someone who worked 35 hours a week in a huge corporation on one system. So how can a large company even begin to suggest that they should be paid the same?

Whether seeking individuals for permanent or Consulting mandates, all the above criteria MUST be evaluated.

Huge multi-national Consultancies are putting very junior associates on assignments for exorbitant hourly rates into companies to give advice which is frightening. Knowing how to ask questions and write a massive report but having absolutely NO industry experience is not a guarantee for success.

A much smaller more nimble firm will have the freedom to seek out the expert with industry experience who may not be the best at writing comprehensive pretty reports, but will certainly understand the issues and can formulate ideas which make sense in the global marketplace of today, and for a fraction of the cost.

How do you want to write your legacy?? Genius like Steve Jobs who totally thought outside the box and hired some of the brightest people imaginable with totally different skill sets, and paid them a fortune, or someone who hid in their office and followed the rules??

Up to you.

Consideration, Integrity

Impolite Society

Leave a comment

Everyone who is out in public and doing business today is complaining  about the incredible lack of respect and courteousness one experiences  in everyday life. There seems to be no barrier through socio-economic  levels, it has reached pandemic proportions throughout society.  Parents are no longer teaching their children about manners or  respect, people are stressed out and angry, and will take out their frustrations on whoever is in front of them.

The problem with this is that eventually it incites violence, as not everyone is able to deal with this level of disrespect and anger.

Some examples of extraordinarily bad behaviour follow, but there are more than can be listed in one small blog…..

  • returning business calls at 7:10 in the morning, hoping for voicemail so you don’t have to speak to the caller.
  • walking into a store, and before anyone approaches to see if you need assistance, screaming at the sales staff.
  • sending emails at midnight to change a scheduled meeting for early the next morning.
  • sending emails one hour before a meeting to change the time and day.
  • phoning a help line which says ‘press 9’ for English, then being told by a recording that the line has been disabled.
  • rude, surly cashiers who are speaking loudly with a co-worker about their social life while scanning your purchases, then being rude and dismissive when the client has the audacity to interrupt the  conversation with a question.
  • people who interrupt others constantly to talk about the minutiae of  their boring, insignificant lives, and never let anyone else get a word in.
  • people who constantly complain about hard it is in business, how they can’t pay their rent or their bills, yet have abundant cash to eat in restaurants 3 times a day, go to the spa, go to the hairdresser and manicurist, go to movies, trips, and new clothes. We all have bills to pay. Get over it.
  • Is it a question?!!! stop up-talking, it is not cute.
  • don’t discuss the intimate details of your sex life, particularly when you are denigrating your partner’s abilities, or lack of abilities. How are we supposed to look this person in the face?
  • never answering your phone or voice mail messages, but spending the day texting furiously. Not everyone likes to text, or have the means
  • to text. Some of us actually believe in real live conversations.
  • speaking on your mobile while getting into the elevator, walking through a store, sitting in a restaurant, sitting in a movie, sitting in a business meeting……at the top of your lungs. Do you actually think you are that interesting?
  • cutting in front of people while they are being served in a shop or a restaurant, interrupting as though the other person is invisible, not excusing yourself, as though you are the most important person on the planet.
  • being referred through someone in business, who has absolutely no idea who you are, what you do, what company you represent, if any, and spending 10 minutes denigrating the caller, never letting them speak or explain the reason for the call.
  • behaving like a DIVA at a party or other social function, and not taking the time to look around the room and assess who is there, when in fact, most of the other guests are more successful and famous than you, they are simply being quiet about it.
  • treating people who actually DO have manners and are courteous as  though they are either weak or invisible. We are not and we KNOW who
  • you are. Do you REALLY think we won’t tell each other about your appalling behaviour?
  • just because you married a man who is rich and successful doesn’t make you a lady. Behaving like a lady has nothing to do with money or position, it is simply a matter of class, or lack of it. Many of us know where you came from, and if you continue berating us in public will let the world know who you REALLY are at some point when we have had enough.
  • we are all in business to make money, it has to be conducted in a fair, equitable, respectful manner. It HAS to be win, win. Just because you work for a large company today, does not mean you can’t be fired, nor does it mean the company will still be in business in 6 months. If you diss all your suppliers, we will remember all the details of your insults when you come crawling for a job, regardless of what level of position you have held in industry. Recently we have had a number of former Vice Presidents, and Senior Vice Presidents knocking on our door as they were fired from their previous employment, and behaving as though we are their long lost friends. Have you forgotten just how rude and arrogant you were when we tried to do business with you??
  • calling someone either Miss or by their first name when they are old enough to be your mother. If you don’t know how to address them, then just call them Madame……or as in French, tu-toyer……when it should be vous.
  • the French (France) have an absolutely wonderful expression for this which is ‘monsieur, or mademoiselle, nous n’avons pas elever des  cochons ensemble’!!! to translate, we didn’t raise pigs together, or  FIND YOUR MANNERS.
  • attacking the food and drink at a cocktail party as though you have never seen food before. It is a Cocktail Party, you were not invited to dinner. You are expected to politely graze not fill your plate to overflowing, and go back for seconds.
  • going to a party in someone’s home, staying until you have consumed every drop of alcohol in the house, including rooting through cupboards and the refrigerator to make sure you have consumed it all.  YES, we did see you, and we also heard all about it the next day.
  • arrogant employees in companies who actually think they have the right to tell you who you have the right to speak with or not. Seriously??

I am sure there are more examples out there…….but these are the ones which come to mind……please feel free to share this BLOG, we need a return to polite society.

Consideration, Integrity, Socialites

The Gift of Giving..

Leave a comment

The Christmas shopping frenzy is now behind us, retailers are quietly sitting in back rooms calculating the returns versus sales numbers so they can estimate their gross sales, and whether or not they can survive another month.

There are a new sprinkling of shop windows papered over as sales expectations failed to materialize, and January rent was a distant dream.

We have spent the last few months being absolutely bombarded with requests for money from every every possible charity imaginable, some of which didn’t exist a week ago. Emails, mail, phone calls, donation boxes, it is tiresome beyond belief, and for many, overwhelming. Walk on the street and you are absolutely accosted by those claiming to be homeless, some with dogs, some with signs, all with tales of woe, others playing offensive music; which is a true assault on the ears, some on crutches, wheelchairs, the choices are endless.

As someone who is, and has always been a walker, I have been passing by many of these so called ‘down on their luck’ people for years and years, and witnessed the incredible generosity of many naïve individuals giving and giving until it hurts. The problem is, many of the pan-handlers are actually earning 10 times more money than those giving it, they are not paying tax, and are increasingly taking over our sidewalks, and giving a black eye to our city.

What is unknown to many, is that there is a pecking order of panhandlers, and they are actually paying a commission for their spot. I found out be accident one day when speaking with the owner of a downtown restaurant. I complained to him about the fact I was practically tripped by the pan-handler on his front step, and found it offensive that I had to deal with that every time I entered his restaurant. He told me that when they insisted the pan-handlers remove themselves, many times their front window was broken when they arrived the next day. They are actually threatened with damage to their premises. As their restaurant is in a ‘key spot’ someone actually comes several times a day to collect a commission for the spot. If the pan-handler is not the ‘authorized’ one, he will be threatened and moved.

There have been many stories over the last few years about pan-handlers, many in Toronto, as a few Toronto reporters have followed pan-handlers home on more than one occasion and witnessed the change in comportment when they get in their car or on the bus. One which made the headlines in Montreal and Toronto was about the woman from Hamilton Ontario, pan-handling for years outside the Eaton Center in downtown Toronto, proclaiming that she needed money for food and education for her daughter. A journalist followed her to her  new VW Jetta, whereupon he leapt into a taxi and followed her home. She, at that time, was living in a paid up $750,000 home in Hamilton with her Accountant husband. Her daughter had long since graduated and was going to University. Her expensive lifestyle, home, car and clothes made it blatantly obvious that she was earning way above the money she claimed.

Another well known ‘street musician’ who is aggravating beyond belief on Ste Catherine Street had a bunch of do-gooders ranting about his right to earn his living, regardless of how tiresome he is. What these people have failed to witness is the wife coming in the new SUV to pick up her husband around the corner every night.  They vacation in Florida, and are wearing expensive clothes. At Christmas if one stands in the doorway and watches, one sees a stream of people handing him $5, $10 and $20 bills over a period of ten minutes, so clearly he is earning well above the money he claimed. In fact, he is earning several hundred dollars an hour on a good day. Tax free.

Another extremely rude pan-handler can move locations several times in the same day. He starts on Greene Avenue in Westmount, then in front of Bice on Sherbrooke, sometimes to Holt Renfrew at Mountain and Sherbrooke. If there is a football or Hockey game, he is in front of the stadium, sometimes it is with a fake cast on his leg, other times in a wheelchair, other times with crutches. But watch him board the bus!!!!   Stands straight up, marches brightly on board and sits down. The Crutches, or wheelchair stowed out of the way………. Seriously???

I have crossed him up to 5 times in the same day over the years, on a good day I estimate he earns $1000.

Then there is the rude one in front of Westmount Square on Greene Avenue, complaining about his horrible lot in life. Ever watch this liar over Christmas??    Little old ladies are giving him $50 and $100 bills so he can have a nice Christmas. He actually was in Westmount Square one day complaining about one who gave him $200 then had the audacity to tell him to get a nice meal for Christmas. He was complaining about her thinking she had the right to tell HIM what to do with HIS money………wow. …..and ….by the way, …..he is in Florida right now………watch him come back in a few weeks with his annual tan, and a scarf around his face hiding the tan………it is an annual event…………

Complaints to Westmount Public Security have yielded no results. They are still there, likewise the police on the downtown beat.

Certain well publicized charities do extensive advertising, yet few individuals or companies actually take the time to research what percentage of the money actually goes to the charity in question  versus fees, commissions, overheads, etc. Many would be horrified to learn the actual numbers.  Over the years I have worked on an incredible number of charitable campaigns, some political, some not, and was absolutely mortified to learn in some cases how little actually went to the cause. Several huge charity balls are paying enormous amounts of money to the organizers. More than one well publicized event bringing in millions are paying PR firms to organize the events, yet year after year they are larger and more publicized, and it is considered ‘in’ to be seen there. Companies purchase tables of 8-10 for outrageous amounts of money, to be seen as good corporate citizens, unfortunately, proportionately the amounts actually finding their way to the charity in question can only represent 20% of the take. I found out the hard way when one of the companies I was approaching insisted on seeing the financial statements of the charity. They only participate if over 60% is given to the charity. It was extremely embarrassing on my part to discover I was being lied to and was working gratis for organizations who totally mis-represent themselves.

We have a group of individuals who are now pushing the idea of ‘giving back’ and we hear this being spewed out in the press and at most public affairs. This seems to be the latest trend, bragging rights about ‘giving back’ . We hear the rhetoric about Haiti, Katrina, and other disasters, but what are they really giving other than lip service???

Many of the super-rich in the USA are setting up foundations to distribute some of their amazing wealth, however, what is not being mentioned is the fact that it is 100% deductible against their income taxes, so at the end of the day, they are giving out the same amount of money to charity which would otherwise go to the government in tax. Is this money actually doing anything useful? We continue to have a level of poverty in parts of Canada and the USA which are astounding, teen pregnancies, children are selling themselves and drugs, people are living in tents in parks, and under bridges, AIDS is still rampant, Cancer has not disappeared, and there are more religious wars raging than ever before. Children are starving in Africa, people in New Orleans and Haiti have not been re-located to new homes, part of Africa does not have potable water ……..

So, other than a lot of noise and space in the press, what has actually changed?

I have donated over 790 huge bags of goods to both Value Village and the Salvation Army over the last couple of years. This creates employment, money is given to several charities, and the merchandise does not end up in landfill. But as my contributions are silent, no one is giving me public recognition, and this is really what the commentary is actually about. What has all this ranting actually become?            ……  Getting public recognition for TALKING about how wonderfully generous we are while actually doing nothing??

One good friend of mine is very kind and generous. She is always introducing people to one another who she thinks can help, she entertains endlessly, and is always available to friends in time of crisis. This week she took time off work to bring a friend to a top divorce lawyer she knows to help him as he is not from here, and doesn’t have her network of contacts.  There is always something.

Every year we exchange Christmas gifts, and it is always great fun, as  we both have a knack of finding totally amazing, and appropriate gifts for one another. This year was no different, and the evening I went to her home just before Christmas to do our annual gift exchange, she had other guests for dinner and cocktails.

When I was at her home a few days later, I asked what the others had given her, as that particular night they had arrived totally empty handed. Not wine, no food, no gifts. She told me that I was the ONLY one of her friends who had given her any gifts, which made mine even more special.

EXCUSE ME??    Many of her friends are multi-millionaires and they gave her absolutely NOTHING?

They should be ashamed.

Even a trinket for $20 would have been better than nothing. It would certainly not have changed their lives.  But this is pure selfishness. Some of them went on extravagant vacations to luxury resorts, others were bragging about the expensive clothes……purses, etc they had purchased for themselves. Some of them sat at the table and carried on about how important it is for them to ‘give back’. Yet they gave NOTHING to a friend who entertains them.

There is another well known lady who hosts fabulous parties every Christmas in her elegant Westmount home. Although she stresses not to bring a gift, common courtesy dictates that one does, in fact, not arrive empty handed.

The frenzy of Christmas shopping, which initially was about giving onto others, has become a pre and post holiday shopping extravaganza of monumental proportions, yet, I am seriously questioning how much of this shopping is now given as gifts as opposed to purchases made for themselves. We hear another totally vulgar expression, ‘to treat oneself’ all the while proclaiming their generosity.

But have any of these loud people looked closer to home?     How many have friends who are down on their luck?      Sick?       Closed in?  Have ANY of them actually considered doing something kind for those individuals they actually  know?

One very close friend of mine died a few years ago, she was un-married, childless, and wealthy, as are her family. There are very few  in her family.   Many of us spent endless hours with her during her illness, driving her around, feeding her, bathing her, taking care of her, and ensuring she was not alone.  Yet she very publicly left a lot of money to charity, and the balance to her family, who are wealthy in their own right. Those close to her, including one friend who nearly lost everything, received absolutely nothing. We were not friends with her due to her wealth, most of us had absolutely no idea how rich she was. Yet her oldest friend who lost her home due to the recession, received absolutely nothing.

This is morally reprehensible.

Giving to strangers and charities  very publicly  while your oldest friend loses her home. There is something seriously wrong with this picture. I am not suggesting she should have purchased the home for her friend, however offering some assistance to help her out would have been the right thing to do, as given her level of wealth compared to the amount in question, it would not have made a difference in either her life of that of her family.

So, what is the message here?

Perhaps I will never be as wealthy as many of these people, perhaps I am old fashioned, naïve, overly generous, not selfish enough, not public enough with my good deeds. However, I do believe in KARMA. Think about it next time you give money to a stranger while a friend of yours suffers. Something seriously wrong here.

It is time to do the right thing. Just because you talk about it doesn’t make it so.

Consideration, Government, Integrity

Student protest June 22, 2012

Leave a comment

It is now 4:03 on a sunny Friday afternoon in downtown Montreal. For the last 2 hours the so called ‘student’ protest has taken over the streets of Montreal causing havoc for business owners, and the population at large.

It is the beginning of a long weekend, so they have decided that they should disturb what is left of commerce in the downtown core.
Last night, Thursday, the streets were abandoned, restaurants were virtually empty. Tourists and residents have ceased coming downtown as no-one wants to find themselves in the middle of this nonsense. To date the cost of extra policing has been well in excess of $10 million, however the cost to the society at large is far greater. I have attached photographs which clearly indicate this is NOT to do with the puny tuition increases, but is a UNION and POLITICALLY motivated protest, unfortunately the protestors and the international press has been biased by the reporting of this, and the so called loss of rights with the passage of Bill 78.

If we want to discuss the loss of rights, perhaps Bill 101 which limits the rights of the English population to conduct business in their own language, and restricts the education rights of immigrants to this province. Or we can protest increased gas prices, food prices, paying tax to educate the children we don’t have (I pay a fortune in school tax, tax going to IVF, day care, etc, and have no children…….why should I have to pay???)

Check out the banners, mostly political and union. Do not be swayed by the rhetoric.

Consideration, Government, Impressions, Integrity

The Student Uprising!

Leave a comment

For far too many weeks, the City of Montreal and its inhabitants have been held hostage by a group of students who claim to be protesting an insignificant increase in the cost of tuition.

This will bring the costs to 1/3 of the tuition fees in Ontario, pennies on the dollar compared to International Students, and then, we won’t even begin to mention the cost of a University education in the United States.

The students have moved to violence, disrupted classes in numerous Cegeps and Universities, vandalized the business of innocent store owners, broken windows, burned cars, thrown molotov cocktails, rocks, bricks, and just about everything imaginable at the police while taunting them and calling them names. Now they have amended their propaganda to include corporate and government greed, and have blockaded companies such as the National Bank, Power Corporation, destroyed the windows of hundreds of business owners, including Apple, which, would be funny normally, as probably 90% of the students are walking around with iPhones, but I digress.

Last week I attended a conference at the Conference Center on St Antoine Street in Old Montreal, and lost a great amount of time trying to get through the students and police, only to be totally inconvenienced again as I parked several blocks away to be sure my car  was not vandalized, and had to walk to and from the Center from there, while paying outrageous parking costs for the privilege.

There are some interesting facts which must be discussed:

  1. The school drop-out rate for French males in Quebec is the highest in Canada
  2. It is primarily French Canadian students marching in this protest,  one does NOT see any immigrants in this protest whatsoever…..
  3. the large majority of students do NOT support these actions, and are extremely angry that they are losing their semester.
  4. most of the English students are quietly attending their classes  when their schools are not barricaded, and are trying to write their  exams, graduate and find great jobs.
  5. when one photographs the ‘students’ one sees an abundance of very  expensive designer clothes, shoes, purses, iPhones, coffees, etc.
  6. a large number of these ‘protesters’ are not students at all, and  are over 40 years old waving Quebec flags and chanting for separation.
  7. when I was in a restaurant last week, several of the leaders of  the protest were at the next table having a costly lunch with imported  beer. None of their meals cost less than $40.
  8. these supposedly ‘poor’  put upon students are out in bars and  restaurants on Friday and Saturday nights on rue St Denis, rue St  Laurent, drinking and eating posh meals.
  9. the increases are pennies a day
  10. the same people who are having their daily life interrupted and the  businesses who are being destroyed are the same people who would  potentially have offered jobs to these students. Who could possible  want to hire them now?

The reality is that the PQ government and the Unions are really behind  this movement, and the students are ignorant pawns being played in a  huge ugly political power play.

Two extremely wealthy PQ leaders were out marching and screaming for  the Liberal leader to resign. The two of them have a hidden agenda and
both live extremely lavish lifestyles at the expense of the Quebec populace. Chauffeur driven limousines, elegant massive homes decorated  with fine antiques, fine dining on expense accounts, huge Federal and  Provincial pension plans, extensive insurance coverage, and more…..

None of these arrogant lying individuals who are using the students to  play politics could care less for the futures of these students, the  financial costs to the city and to private citizens, or the incredible  damage to our reputation internationally. Our tourism accounts for a  large part of our budget and this summer is going to be disastrous.  Hotels and restaurants are already complaining of a 20% drop and are  expecting it to continue to plummet.

Yes, the same institutions who could have been hiring all these students in summer jobs!! gone.

There are ‘do not travel’ notices on international travel bulletin  boards which is giving Montreal an international ‘black eye’.

Lastly, in their arrogant disgraceful game, they have not told these  little political puppets they are manipulating that if they are  arrested and convicted, they will have a criminal record and their  futures are extremely limited.They will not be allowed to travel to the United States, they will not  be considered for many Government positions, they will not be hired in  Financial Institutions, as criminals are not hired.

Today, companies are increasingly insisting on in-depth and extremely  rigorous background checks, most of this to ascertain if the candidate
has a criminal record. They use agencies in the United States, and the  information is shared internationally.

A good friend had the following suggestion regarding the situation:

Mr Charest, you are being far too easy on the students and the  antagonists…….you should tell them to report to school by next  Monday. (choose the date) if you do not report, you will not be able  to register for next year, or your student fees will be $10,000 per  year, or you can not register in any Quebec school. The Government  will  NOT be threatened by terrorists.

The Friday Ottawa Sun had a matrix which compared Quebec and Ontario  school fees. It was interesting to note that Quebec student fees were  30% (approximately $2,200) of the Ontario student fees.

Further to that, a friend has been doing tax returns for many students  and noted that after all their deductions from the Quebec and Federal  Governments, they are actually only paying around $500 in tuition, and  many of them are living on loans or with their parents.

Time to stop the madness and wake up. This is a political play. The  students are puppets in a disgraceful protest.

Business, Consideration, Integrity

Busy in Meetings

Leave a comment

…….And still more on the subject…….

Have you noticed that some people are perpetually in meetings and always are heard to exclaim loudly (heavy sigh!!) how over-worked they are, and how they have to bring work home at night?

Have you ever asked the question as to ‘why they are in the meetings in the first place???’ !!?

Daily in large corporations, emails go out en masse to everyone even remotely involved in projects. Many insecure individuals take this as an invitation to attend, even though they will not participate or contribute to the success of the meeting, and inevitably scurry off to yet another meeting, increasingly stressed out as the day progresses, and the work is piling ever higher on their desks. By the end of the day they escape to the sanctity of their homes, exhausted, exasperated and having accomplished absolutely nothing during their business day.

What needs to happen, is that Managers take control of their meetings along with the attendance, and question the validity and presence of most of the individuals. More ‘stand-up’ five minutes with fewer attendees, and a shortened agenda, as well as an official ‘note-taker’ of action plans, and the mandate to actually follow-up the status.

There is the unfortunate impression among many people that being invited to never-ending meetings is an indication of their importance. This is a colossal waste of time and resources. Canada is considered as a country which is in-efficient compared to many others, our productivity is fairly low. Cutting meetings to focus on delivery of work is certainly one way.

Once attendees realize that someone is mandated with following up on attendees and deliverables people will stop attending endless meetings, and there will be an improvement in the efficacy in corporations.

Business, Consideration, Integrity

Hiding Behind the Secretary

Leave a comment

If you have a sense that there is a continuing theme in my recent articles, you are absolutely correct.

I speak with endless people in a day, from all walks of life, and interestingly, from a vast cross section of industries.

The common theme which runs through many conversations these days is the total lack of civility and respect for other people, and the endless game playing as people strive to give the impression of being more important than they really are.

There is a very thin veneer of politeness on the surface, but with only a small scratch of the surface one unearths a very shallow shell.

We hear people constantly complaining about how busy they are, how tired they are, how over-worked they are, yet these are the same people who take their holidays, their lunch hours, which usually run well over an hour, and are inevitably out the door by 5pm, and unreachable.

So the question is, what is it that they are in fact doing all day long???

Middle Managers are hiding behind secretaries who screen their mail and their calls, and who rarely  are polite about it. Callers are interrogated as to who they are and the reason for the call, and whether or not Mister Self Importance knows them or not, in such a condescending fashion as to ensure the caller never calls again.

There are some statistics being quoted these days that it takes 7, yes 7 calls before someone calls you back.

The perceived prestige of the Manager, at least in his mind, is that he is a Senior Executive, Master of the Universe, and that his precious time is not to be wasted by anyone inferior to him.

This incredibly arrogant game playing is just that. If one looks at some of the most successful entrepreneurs, the joke is, of course, that almost of them answer their own phone. I know numerous individuals who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, some of whom were millionaires by the time they were 18 years old.  Do you actually think they would allow a secretary to screen their calls and ascertain who was important enough to speak with them? They would be horrified at the mere suggestion, one lost call could represent a business deal which would represent millions of dollars. How on earth is a secretary capable of judging the importance of the call??

Do you really think people like Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and others would allow this type of behaviour? Certainly not.

The most striking thing I have learned is that the more successful the man, usually the more accessible.

Steve Jobs of Apple always had an email address at Apple where he could be reached. Ideas for new products always appreciated. How else to drive the development of new innovative technology than to listen to the ideas of your clientele. ………Steve@Apple.Com

He was one of the most creative innovative men in the world, he took simple products and made them so simple that no instructions were required. They were totally instinctive…

When I acquired my new iPhone, using it was obvious, easy and a joy. The applications available in the hundreds of thousands speak for the incredible success of the product.

Yet, daily we are confronted by middle managers, who are employees and not the creators of companies who have such delusions of grandeur that for some obscure reason, they lock themselves away from the world, trying to give the illusion they are the Masters of Industry, all the while they are in fact isolating themselves from reality, and proving to some of us how totally inconsequential they truly are.

Consideration, Integrity, Relationships, Socialites

Mean Girls

Leave a comment

Recently there seems to be a preponderance of articles in various magazines describing school yard bullies and the devastating effects they can have on the recipients of their mis-deeds, with an increase of teen suicide. It has escalated to such an extent that it is finally being documented, schools are finally becoming more aware and taking steps to limit it, and recognize the extreme damage that can be inflicted by these bullies.

What is not, however, being spoken about, is that these girls continue on in life to adults, and continue to be bullies, which is why we also hear of a level of competitiveness beyond compare. These women aspire to be the most popular, most pretty, and are absolutely vicious social climbers who will stop at nothing to attain the position of  ‘top dog’ within their group. The big question in my mind, is that once they have clawed and scratched their way through life to attain whatever perceived social position they are grappling for, then what???!

In life, there is always someone more popular, prettier, smarter, with a better husband,  better husband, better homes, better clothes, better trips, more popular children, more money,   more and better everything.  In fact, there is nothing that will ever make them happy, because they are always trying to attain the next level…..of what, it is  frankly not all that  clear.

They snipe at people for sport, criticize people they barely know, and are cruel for sport, insults to them are second nature. Sometimes they can appear to mask their insecurities as humour and can be wildly entertaining – stories of their lives and exploits described in a such a manner that they can keep a group of people spell bound as they describe their latest trip or event.

Kindness is a tool only bestowed upon those who appear to have something to offer.

Everything in their existence has to be bigger, better,  more special. They have to be ‘seen’ at only the best restaurants, and they insist on having the ‘best’ tables, they have to go to the best social events where they can rub shoulders with only the ‘best’ of society, only the best hairdressers and manicurists will do, for them the idea of going to a cheap corner store is not even contemplated.

Their groceries can only come from the ‘best’ shops, clothes , shoes, bags, hair styles and colours, jewellery   are carefully researched to ensure that they only have the best names and are on top of the newest trend.  Not for them being ‘seen’ in anything or anywhere which they perceive could damage their social image.

Why do they inflict such cruelty on their victims? It is a sense of empowerment, which only they think gives them the ultimate power over others, and elevates them to being Queen’s. The damage they inflict however can have dangerous results to their victims, from anorexia, cutting, suicide, depression, weight gain and a multitude of other dysfunctions. The victims are not always in a position to be able to withdraw from or ignore the bullying, or are simply not emotionally strong enough to recognize it.

It is only when these ‘mean girls’ are called what they really are by their peers that this problem can be rectified. Cruelness is never justified.

 

 

 

 

 

Consideration, Integrity, Relationships

‘Thank You’

Leave a comment

…..Now……was that really so difficult to say?

Two very small words, single syllable ,  yet they seem to have virtually disappeared from the vocabulary of many people – where did they get lost?

How many times have you done a favour for someone who behaves as though they deserve to be the recipient of your labour and never utter a word of thanks?

Fundraising for charities, working for political parties, being endlessly asked for donations to various charities, those of us running companies are treated like it is our responsibility to donate our money and time endlessly, yet, how many times have those of us who did all the work to ensure that an event was a huge success actually been properly thanked?

Many people are under the impression that they have the right to acquire professional assistance for free, and ring up endlessly asking for assistance or advice, yet when the tables are turned, expect to receive top dollar for their own services.

The only people who don’t ascribe are the sycophants who will gladly give of their time and  money to be seen with their newest bestest friend of the moment. No favour too small in order to garner the recognition of the perceived hero.

But when is enough enough??

What right do certain individuals have to expect favours incessantly?

Some extremely arrogant individuals actually treat kindness and generosity as a sign of weakness, laughing behind the backs of those doing the work, and laughing at how gullible some people can be. And of course, they never, ever, say THANK YOU.

One good friend uses the expression ‘no good deed goes unpunished’ to describe his feelings of being manipulated and used.

I was on a Board of Director’s several years ago where the Executive Director actually threatened most of those on the Board, even though we were not remunerated. Many people worked for him for years in order to be part of such a prestigious event. Slowly, one by one the entire group removed themselves, citing every imaginable excuse….and this rude man actually bad mouthed all those who had supported him for years.

Next time someone goes out of their way for you, take the two seconds and say, ‘THANK YOU’ – it might change your life.