Ethics for new managers: Start your reputation right by upholding professional principles.(higherground)

Open any news publication or watch virtually any news program today and you will find someone who appears to have made a bad judgment in dealing with their family or their business. While it may seem that we have lost our ability to control the tilings around us, it is certainly a fact that no one has a greater ability to damage your reputation than you do.

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For you newer managers out there, you have achieved your position based not only on how others see you, but because your past achievements have met or exceeded the guidelines established for your position. Where you are today is based on the reputation you created for yourself yesterday.

As a new manager, for the first time, people are not on you from above looking to see what kind of impression you make, but now people are following you, waiting for you to set the tone and be a leader. Your future as a manager and leader will be determined not just by a financial report but also in a larger sense by how you work with others. What you do today therefore creates your reputation of tomorrow.

As an IREM Member you have worked hard to achieve a professional designation, that of an ARM[R], a CPM or ACoM. You were not able to become a member without attending an ethics class and obtaining recommendations from fellow members of the Institute. Recommending a candidate is not done lightly. As IREM Members, we rely on each other to maintain the value of the Institute by our actions. We must believe that you will continue to display the highest level of integrity in your dealings with others.

Each one of us has pledged ourselves to uphold the 14 Articles of Conduct listed in the IREM Code of Professional Ethics. Each article deals with duties you agree to provide at all times to your employer, your clients and the public. In the member pledge we affirm "to maintain the highest moral and ethical standards consistent with the objectives and higher purpose of the Institute" and "to place honesty, integrity and industriousness above all else." Think about those words.

Would you hire someone who you knew did not have high moral and ethical standards? Is a quick gain or making something look better now and not being concerned with how it will look tomorrow worth compro mising your honesty and character? Hopefully not.

Successful managers are not those who always have the answers, but those who continue to listen and learn. Not every question has an answer based on policy, law or past experience. When faced with the "gray areas" that so often arise, take the time to ask your supervisor or one of your peers, "How would you handle this situation?" Asking a question is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of good judgment and leadership.

If you set your moral compass to point towards protecting your good name, even in the face of difficult decisions and tough consequences, you will not only lead those under you to achieve all they can, but your value to your organization and your community will only continue to grow.

Your actions are creating your reputation of tomorrow. What will that reputation be? Only you can control that. Every member of the Institute is counting on you to bring credit to all of us by your integrity in dealing with others. Do us proud! Always follow the Golden Rule.

Carl York, CPM (york@sentinelcorp.com), is a vice president with Sentinel Real Estate Corporation in Fishers, Ind., and serves on IREM's Ethics Committe, and the Ethics Inquiry Board.

"Your reputation is your resume."

--MADELINE ALBRIGHT, DIPLOMAT

Successful managers are not those who always have the answers, but those who continue to listen and learn.

by Carl D. York, CPM[R]

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