by Rob Wolfe
If you are a mensch, you are honest, fair, kind, and transparent, no matter whom you’re dealing with and who will ever know what you did. In his book Enchantment, Guy Kawasaki lists 10 ways to achieve menshdom and, ultimately, trustworthiness with your clients (or anyone):
- Always act with honesty.
- Treat people who have wronged you with civility.
- Fulfill you unkept promises from the past.
- Help someone who can be of absolutely no use to you.
- Suspend blame when something goes wrong and ask, “What can we learn?”
- Hire people who are as smart as or smarter than you and give them opportunities for growth.
- Don’t interrupt people; don’t dismiss their concerns offhand; don’t rush to give advice; don’t change the subject. Allow people their moment.
- Do no harm in anything you undertake.
- Don’t be too quick to shoot down others’ ideas.
- Share your knowledge, expertise, and best practices with others.
To engage clients, being someone of noble character and undeniable integrity goes a long way. It also goes hand-in-hand with your brand, which you represent. Your character is a part of your brand’s identity.
For more on demonstrating genuineness as a leader and in all your interactions with others, check out the book (from which Kawasaki paraphrased the author’s insights in the list above), The Leader as a Mensh: Become the Kind of Person Others Want to Follow (by Bruna Martinuzzi).
