My pal Marc Mawhinney sent me a copy of Thick Face, Black Heart, a seminal tome by Chinese-American Author Chin-Ning Chu.
Chu writes about balancing the desire to be nice to everyone with the awareness that the world can be a tough and cruel place.
In his words – the pickpocket doesn’t see a saint, he just sees a wallet.
As a 21st-century digipreneur, it’s good to temper your open kindness with some simple safeguards:
- Update passwords regularly and keep them cryptic
- Ignore/block/report anything that doesn’t feel right, right away
- Don’t discount your prices in response to the poverty pleadings of a client
- Spread payments only when your instinct tells you that’d be smart
- Exude confidence, strength and authority in all you do
- If you feel you are getting screwed, back away, because you probably are
- Create friendship before business – it’ll always turn out better for you both
You don’t need to be a saint to be popular, in-demand and successful.
Just don’t be a pickpocket either.