Mark Fackler

The first step in handling dishonesty is to understand it and to admit that everyone is dishonest at times. Absolutely everyone. Leaders much teach about dishonesty, why it happens, the types of dishonesty, and how to strive for an honest workplace. People are dishonest for various reasons ranging from avoiding social rejection, to avoiding punishment, to gaining advantage over someone. The degree of dishonesty ranges from a white lie, to withholding information, to exaggeration, to intentional misrepresentation. Once an organization understands dishonesty and commits to eliminating it, the next step is the harder one, having conversations, without judgement, about dishonest events in the company. Analyze them and commit to improvement.

Learning about philanthropy through local organizations has many benefits. The Council on Foundations (COF) can direct you to a community foundation in your area. When I shifted from working the soup kitchen to running the soup kitchen, the San Diego Foundation was a great resource. Another philanthropic organization that can direct you a local opportunity is Social Venture Partners International. There a chapters around the world. San Diego Social Venture Partners has provided me a wealth of opportunity and education. They are my “goto” for any executive looking to begin or enhance their philanthropic life.

A company that thrives is at company that has a vision that everyone knows. Of course vision is critical for your staff and also important to customers, clients and vendors. What is often overlooked is how important vision is to prospective employees. In times of staff shortages and in times of staff over supply, a well know vision brings those who believe to your company.

Lifelong learning is paramount to success. It does not matter how you learn. What matters is you never stop learning. You should focus some of your energy in learning “the business”, whatever that might be for you. Just as important, you should also focus some of your energy on learning about yourself. This is hard work, often harder than learning “the business”, but it pays dividends. And of course, never stop asking questions, no matter the situation. I have asked, what some would consider, the most remedial questions in the highest stakes meeting. Never once were my questions not answered and quite often, someone in the room thanked me for having the courage to ask. Asking questions gives the room permission to learn

Filling in your gaps is critical to success, but remember that filling your gaps is easier than finding the gaps. A self-audit is a decent start, but not good enough. You'll find the easy ones, but the gaps that you ignore are the ones that are damaging to your team. Getting feedback from your staff will help, but staff often defers to power, especially to the CEO. As a longtime CEO, I found the best source for real feedback was from a CEO peer group, where there is no problem talking to power. Since everyone there wants to learn, openness and vulnerability is high. That's the environment where finding weaknesses thrives. BTW – The first one the group helped me find was unbridled people pleasing. I am still a work in progress.