As a whole, people I have been lucky enough to "meet" online have all been wonderful, caring, helpful, respectful and decent. When I first started online, that fact was a wonderfully pleasant discovery! Over time however, I did run into a few people who needed to learn common decency.

So if you run a business/affiliate program, do not let money be your first priority, make people number one and money will follow. If you owe somebody money/service. etc., pay them. If your affiliate decides to "resign" from your program show them your good faith and common decency. Pay them what you owe, even if amount does not reach your "minimum"!

Their reasons for "resigning" might be totally false in your eyes, but you still owe them what they did sell for you. Common decency prohibits me from "blabbing" product/program I had this problem with, but it is no longer on my site and if people ask me about this specific product/program, I will tell them truth.

I am not out to get this guy, but cannot recommend a product/program that I know does business in this manner.

I usually don't write this type of "venting" article, but this topic is so very important, I thought I would make an exception.

So let's think about when we are dealing with customers, subscribers, Newbies, associates, affiliates, etc., we need to keep common decency and respect alive. Do not lose sight of our fellow human beings so we can have a few extra bucks in our pocket!

************* Terri Seymour and her husband Terry of www.seymourproducts.com offer a no cost, home business opportunity. Apply online. Resources and more for your home business available at www.myownezine.com Free ecourse business-building-ecourse@getresponse.com

As professionals, we should be interested in how we represent ourselves in every communication situation. A slight lapse of conscious effort on our part to communicate clearly and responsibly indicates to our partners in communication that we are shifting responsibility away from ourselves.

How damaging can this truly be? Consider this: we tend to model behaviors and patterns of those we communicate with and who we respect. We hear clearly words they use, and we watch their body language to see if it matches message (but that’s a different article). Those who are in communication with us do same thing.

When asked a pointed question—such as, What physical manifestations do you personally experience when you find yourself in a tense situation?—the response we give conveys whether we’re willing to accept responsibility for our behavior and responses. If our subordinates sense that we are abdicating responsibility, they in turn may take it as acceptable behavior when they are asked challenging questions. Likewise, we never want to unintentionally send a message to our supervisors that we are attempting to avoid responsibility.

The consequences of an unguarded communication moment are enormous. Professionals who have attained high-level positions in their organizations rarely abdicate responsibility. When they do, they incur severe consequences for their actions. When we keep larger picture—and more costly consequences—in mind, it becomes easier to see that we can never let our guards down when it comes to communicating professionally. We must constantly be aware of how each word we choose reflects our beliefs about ourselves and our responsibility in matters at hand.

Ensuring that we are accepting responsibility with our words as well as with our actions will help us protect our professional credibility. And there’s another advantage: we’ll be modeling behavior we want from others, encouraging them to accept responsibility for themselves.

Copyright © 2003 Tracy Peterson Turner, Ph.D. All rights reserved.