

Business people: good guys vs. bad guys - adam
http://smalldogsbigdogs.tumblr.com/post/33871988342/good-guys-vs-bad-guys

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jpdoctor
> _Sometimes people who are actually good guys get confused for bad guys._

The bigger problem is the opposite: Really bad guys come across as good guys,
with exactly the traits described in the article.

~~~
paulsutter
Do you have examples or references? My experience is that dishonest people
usually reveal themselves in small ways, even when they get skilled at
simulating positive traits.

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lnanek2
I worked for a CEO once (Saeju Jeong from Noom) who told me early on that
being a good business man was all about being a good host and a nice person.
Actually working for him: he frequently didn't pay me some months, paid too
little other months, stopped paying benefits like gym membership so I had to
take over, promised to do important paperwork and then never did it because he
hated paying the accountant and wanted to micro-manage every hourly charge. He
was pretty much the cruelest boss imaginable, even though he put on a happy
face and said nice things.

If you'd approach him about these things he'd say the nicest things
imaginable. I still have dozens of emails about him going to fix the payment
issues, going to work on paying the benefits like the gym membership again,
promising to do the paperwork I needed for my wife's immigration - how all
these things were important to him. You really had to push hard to actually
get anything done, though. After countless emails once we made a meeting to
try to work on some of these issues, but he wouldn't hold it at his desk where
we could actually trigger payments like I asked, instead he insisted it be in
a meeting room where he made it all about how I didn't respect him and how we
had to have a happier office.

So anyway, he was always trying to setup a good relationship and happy office.
Good being where everyone said super nice things, but he cheated the hell out
of you in practice. It's easy to talk super nice things, and then just never
follow through when it actually costs you. I guess that counts as small ways,
but I'm just trying to explain people can be super nice to your face always,
but still be crooks.

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paulsutter
Sounds like your boss fell a little short of the good guy definition offered
in the original post, starting with the following:

> Be as straightforward and transparent as possible;

> Don’t waste people’s time, this means saying “no” a lot vs. stringing people
> along;

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CookWithMe
Good written article, I agree with most of it, except:

> Don’t just complain or critique, offer up solutions too;

I often had the feeling that, when I got offered a solution from a good guy
who's opinion I value, the usually limited time could be better spend with
critique or hints.

Say I describe my solution A and solution B is offered, I don't know why
she/he values B more than A.

Could be: 1) She/he knows something about A or B that I don't. 2) I know
something about A or B that she/he doesn't. 3) She/he doesn't have additional
knowledge. but she/he weights it differently.

In cases 1) and 3) I can hardly go ahead and implement solution B correctly.
Case 2) is actually not that unlikely if I have spent a lot of time on the
topic.

So if instead she/he tells me what is wrong about A or which opportunity I may
exploit, I can use that info to either do B, or more often, come up with C.

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n00b101
OH ya I'm sure traders in Chicago are the good guys. Whatever. Brown nose.

~~~
adam
Relevant point to bring that up. However notice the progression from trader to
other more classically "noble" pursuits. And again, I was speaking about his
(and other's) character in how they treat people, not necessarily what the
stereotypical viewpoint of their profession is.

