Stop waffling, you're kidding no-one

Born into a working-class family on the West coast of Scotland, being honest, and always telling the trust was drilled into me from a very early age. I learned the importance of honesty, regardless of how difficult it felt. My parent’s have passed on their belief that there’s nothing worse than a liar, and it’s something I don’t tolerate either.

We’ve all got a personal brand, the things people say about you when you aren’t in the room, and for me, personal integrity is number 1. To build any sort of relationship, in the workplace or otherwise, trust is essential, and without integrity, you’ll never be fully trusted. I regularly walk away from deals and opportunities because I simply can’t trust the other party, and I know I’ll never be able to build that relationship, the same goes for employees and partners. I’ve got a sharp bullshit detector, and can spot lies a mile away.

We have hugely ambitious goals in our business, so we’re always pushing boundaries, stepping out of our comfort zone, and attempting things we’ve never done before, so failure and fuck ups are commonplace…and that’s totally fine by me. We work with the best people, advisors, suppliers, and experts, but everyone makes mistakes. Being able to say “I gave it my best” or “I thought this was the right decision”, when things go wrong is essential. Making up excuses, blaming others, or flat out lying helps no-one.

I admire people who own up to their mistakes, who hold themselves accountable, and work to find out a way to fix it. I’ll always be available to help my team when they make mistakes, to put things right, but I need to know the facts. I’m not saying it’s easy, and owning up to mistakes can be painful, there are consequences to actions, but avoiding the truth is never the answer.

Accountability is the foundation upon which successful careers and businesses are built. It should be ingrained in the culture of a business, in my experience, leaders who embrace accountability are not only more respected but also more effective. People who lead by example and take personal accountability for their actions, create honest and open teams.

Never underestimate what can be achieved by a team of motivated and committed people. I’ve always worked closely with my people, making sure we check in regularly, discussing our challenges, and working together to find solutions. Everyone brings different experiences and knowledge to the table, so together we figure out our problems and fix our mistakes.

For me, failing to highlight an issue is the same as lying about it. The net effect is the same, as a team we don’t have the information necessary to fix the problem, and that just wastes time, and makes things worse. Be honest, speak about your mistakes, don’t downplay or sugar-coat situations, and let the people around you help…it really is pretty simple. So cut out the nonsense and stop waffling…you’re kidding no-one.