In our business I have met some real scoundrels over the years. We have this internal list we keep of liars and cheats we refer to as the boneheads. These are the people that are blocked from all data or emails we send out. They just simply cannot be trusted.
Abraham Lincoln said; No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar. Ha.
What a simple yet so very true statement. When you start with a fabrication of the truth, it takes a lot of memory just to keep up with all the twists and turns. Obviously when you tell the truth you don’t have to keep up with it or try to remember it.
In our business, there are several names that come quickly to mind of people I have met and worked with that I don’t ever care to see again. Sometimes it make me laugh at some of the things that people do. I remember one in particular who was selling several hotels to a public traded REIT. It was a big deal and one where the owner was going to make a lot of money. It was almost like he could not control the real person he was inside and just had to cheat and lie to get every dollar he could. The dishonesty he had was so strong and so much a part of him, he just could not control it. It was like an addiction.
The night before closing he pulls a U-Haul trailer up to one of the hotels and start loading all the supplies from soap to toilet paper and also tried to steal some of the computer equipment from the hotel. Ha. What a doofus. He of course got caught and had to bring it all back and I ask myself, why? All he did was embarrass himself and his family for nothing. He also insured that the buyer and Hotel AG would never work with him again. Was the value of those things worth the lose? Absolutely not. I guess when you are tempted to lie or cheat it is important to first ask yourself, is it worth losing my credibility over.
Your credibility and self-esteem are like a fragile egg. When you tell the truth and do what is right it is like adding a layer of hardener to the egg. When you lie and cheat it is like removing a layer of hardener from the egg. If enough hardener is removed from the egg (your credibility and self-esteem) the egg becomes fragile and will eventually break.
We all know what is right and true and there is very little gray area in life. Just do what is right and you will sleep better and have more joy in your life. KT
What’s a REIT?
It is a public traded real estate company that owns hotels. A REIT is generally property type specific such as an apartment REIT, an Office REIT, A hotel REIT etc. I appreciate you Dennis. Be safe. KT
PS: Excellent Word!
amen