Archive for the ‘Behaviors’ tag
Confidential conversations are not confidential in public
Just had one of those experiences emphasizing the need to be careful where you have your “confidential” conversations. I’m sat in my favorite coffee shop in downtown Richmond listening to a real estate broker pitching his business to a prospect. Within earshot of the entire coffee shop he:
- named his company (that’s fine)
- called all his competitors unethical (not so cool)
- boasted that to get a deal, if he doesn’t know the answer he’ll just BS (whoa!)
I felt like asking him who he worked for (although, like the rest of the place, I already knew) and letting him know that he had done me a great service by allowing me to take him off any list of potential partners and that I would be sure to tell the many people I know in real estate in Richmond that this guy shouldn’t be trusted.
Now, I’m sure he was just showing off and letting his mouth run away from him and I could give the benefit of the doubt that he really doesn’t mean half of it. Unfortunately, the reputation stakes are often higher in public than in private. I wish I’d realized that when I was out on the town in my student years, but that’s another story.
It’s a great example of the need to be careful about what is said and the volume used in public if you want to keep your reputation and the reputation of your employer/partners intact.
