Happy Tuesday Confident Lady,
This week we had an amazing guest on the podcast, Terri Cole who shares with us how she has been able to grow her business online while managing to maintain her ethical integrity as a therapist. Today I want to briefly dive into ethics +integrity with you, as I know so many therapists/healers/medical professionals can relate to these feelings.
Let’s begin with the simple definition of Ethics, moral principles of right and wrong. And Integrity, what you do when no one is looking. Today I want you to pause, evaluate your business, and make sure it's practices are aligned with your values. Consider writing out what those values are that set your business apart and enable it to run with high integrity.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
Is what I am saying and doing aligned with who I really am? Be yourself -- don’t put on a different persona in your business, because it won’t feel natural. Set an example. You want to be transparent and honest with your clients at ALL times. They want to see the REAL you, imperfections and all. You know me, I am an OPEN BOOK. I share the good, the bad, and the ugly. If I mess up, I admit it. I take ownership of my actions.
Am I treating others the way that I would want to be treated? Not JUST treating potential + paying clients like gold, but anyone that you interact with, whether they purchase your products and services or not. One thing that helps me is envisioning each person who I have an interaction with to be someone who I care deeply for—my mother, my daughters, my best friend, etc. How would you want each of them to be treated as a client or customers? Treat ALL of those you interact with, whether they are potential clients or not with the highest respect.
To sum it all up, make sure you continually work your mindset so that you can be consistent in your ethics, values, and integrity and always show up as your best self. I truly believe that as a business owner we must model ethical and “leadership behavior” for our clients at all times.
Now you’re probably wondering, “how exactly can you model this behavior?” I will give a few examples of how I model:
I keep my word. If I say I’m going to show up at 4pm, I will show up at 4pm. I will respect their time and not keep them waiting. You would think this would be common sense, but sadly I’ve heard horror stories. And of course emergencies arise at times, so in that instance give yourself grace.
I am fully transparent when my clients ask me questions. Acting like I have it all figured out and together is not only unethical, but doing a disservice to my clients who might be struggling and need to see some glimmer of hope that they CAN come out on the other side.
I don’t sugar coat or paint this beautiful picture of how I am going to change their life or business unless I can 100% guarantee this will happen (which I can’t, so I never do!). You can’t PROMISE results...aka the many false promises we all too often see…. “Hire me for 10k and i’ll get you your first client in 30 days, help you make 5k days, and so on”. You know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. Not only is this unethical, but it crushes people’s confidence and mindset when they are already vulnerable and believing this.
If I get on a breakthrough call and the individual is not a good fit for my services, I will tell them and give them next steps to prepare for us working together OR refer them to a colleague if it’s out of my scope of practice. I have literally sent thousands of dollars of potential sales away since being in business because I felt the client needed support in a different area, wasn’t right timing or other reasons. People are shocked when I do this, but I would sure hope someone would do the same for me if I wasn’t a good fit for their product or services!
These are only a few of the big ones and there are many many more! What are your ethics, values, and beliefs about who you are as a business owner? Are you modeling positive behavior for your clients?
Think about what you can do to keep in a clearer mindset to make sound, ethical, and integral decisions in your business. Is it not overloading yourself with too much work? Limiting how many clients or workload you take? Setting a boundary with your time? Where can you draw a line to ensure you have enough mental space to make sound decisions in your business? What big or little steps have you taken to clear out clutter in your life and allow more energy and clearer thinking into your business in order to continue making sound ethical decisions?
Comment below and share with me! If think you might be ready to get some support with this, shoot an email to me at kate@katecrocco.com and we will chat about some ways I can support you in getting confident in what is already within you.
And catch Terri's episode all on this topic over on the Podcast HERE!!!
Blessings + Abundance,
XO Kate
