Nisadas

The allure of books written by millionaires or billionaires is that there might be something in it that’ll help the reader along the same path. Of course, reading alone won’t get you far, but it helps understanding how some people made it to the top.
Jon M Huntsman is a billionaire who has written a slim little book called Winners never Cheat. It covers some lessons on morality and integrity that immediately appealed to my idealistic side. These lessons are broken down into ten compact chapters, each beginning with a couple of quotes relevant to their content.

• Chapter 1: Lessons from the sandbox. Everything we need for today’s marketplace we learned as kids.
• Chapter 2: Check your moral compass. We know darn well what is right and wrong
• Chapter 3: Play by the rules. Compete fiercely and fairly, but no cutting in line
• Chapter 4: Setting the example. Risk, Responsibility, Reliability – the three R’s of leadership
• Chapter 5: Keep Your word. It’s high time to corral the corporate lawyers
• Chapter 6: Pick Advisors Wisely. Surround yourself with associates who have the courage to say no.
• Chapter 7: Get Mad, Not Even. Revenge is unhealthy and unproductive. Learn to move on.
• Chapter 8: Graciousness Is Next to Godliness Treat Competitors, colleagues, employees and customers with respect.
• Chapter 9: Your name is on the Door Operate businesses and organisations as if they’re family owned
• Chapter 10: The obligation to give back Nobody is completely self made; return the favours and good fortune

Finally, the book ends on the note that Acceptable moral values are child’s play, not rocket science.

Starting with a quote about the fourth of Gandhi’s seven sins - “Commerce without morality”, the book covers Huntsman’s take on the ups and downs of doing business in America – the American Dream and how so many people cut corners to make a quick buck.

A recurring point in the book is Huntsman’s dealings with H. R. Haldeman - the White House Chief of Staff during Nixon’s tenure. As White House staff secretary, Huntsman was independent and demurred to the practice of “blind faith” in the president that Haldeman propounded. As a result he left the post within six months – making him possibly “the only West Wing staff member not eventually hauled before the congressional Watergate committee or a grand jury”. Throughout the book, the idea conveyed is that values are not ambiguous, but are simple lessons that are learnt at an early age.

Huntsman includes Sophocles’ message that “There is no witness so terrible or no accuser so powerful as the conscience“. He presents that laws and ethics may overlap, but the exercise of the latter is often up to the individual.

The painful truth that doing something because you were “pressured into it” is merely a way of glossing over a lack of backbone is driven home quite solidly.

On leadership, there is a small anecdote on how Huntsman misheard the confirmation of his orders from a helmsman during his time in the navy. As a lieutenant who was responsible for ensuring the formation of ships, this caused a dangerous disarray, with possible collisions between warships of different nations. The captain immediately takes over (albeit in his bathrobe) and instead of berating his junior, explains that he continues to be responsible for what happens on his ship and that the occasion will be a life-long learning for the young Huntsman. This is a lesson for all CEO’s the world over, a reminder of what we call Agency Theory.

Huntsman seems to have a dislike of corporate lawyers and their insistence in creating mounds of paperwork just to ensure that people keep their word. Of course, this is going to be de rigueur until everyone in the world decides that their word is their bond, but his point is that these long clauses tend to impede the execution of a promise.

The best example is a quote featured from the National Review:

The First Amendment is 45 words;

The Lord’s Prayer is 66 words;

The Gettysburg Address is 286 words;

There are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence,

but the Government Regulations on the sale of Cabbage total 26,911 words.

That there is a danger in being surrounded by “Yes-Men” is also included in chapter six. As mentioned in the book, the reason for having so many whistle-blowers is the lack of a proper internal warning system -something that many companies will be mindful of in these times of crisis.

Chapter seven was my favourite, since it pretty much summed up one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life. Getting beyond petty squabbles and thoughts of revenge (for whatever reason) helps keep a much clearer mind and causes less heartburn in the long run.

The most compelling message however, is at the end of the book in the tenth chapter, about giving back to society. That Jon Huntsman Sr is one of America’s biggest givers lends more credence to his appeal that businesses and individuals spend time and money to make better the lives of the less fortunate. As he says (and the same is often said by my better half), “Save for God’s grace (and a few worldly breaks), there go us“.

I’m fairly sure that at some point people will read this book and criticise it for the high level of Christianity prevalent in it. That Huntsman is close to his religion and has leveraged it to make him a better person is beyond doubt. Reading this book, my cynical self thought whether it was just good morals and values or Christianity that was being propounded – a point many anti-conversion types the world over are likely to pounce on.

However, if anyone is willing to read this book for what it is – a slim volume of thoughts cleverly and appeallingly written about the importance of morals and values in both business and life – they will not be disappointed.

In a case of synchronicity, it turns out that the Vesess blog has an interview with a company responsible for a site about good deeds.