Residential Real EstateBook Review: Ethics for Real and for Good
Imagine you have invited a small group of your best friends, Realtors® all, for dinner and a rousing game of "The Ethical Way." After the meal, you all sit on the back deck; one person reads the description of a situation in which a real estate professional might find himself or herself; and the rest respond to the situation with their own thoughts about what would and what would not be the right thing to do in this situation. After sometimes heated discussions, the analysis of the author is read, throwing another log into the intellectual/emotional fire.
There are, of course, situations in which one response is wrong, as when we are faced with a request to discriminate against people of one race or religion. There are also situations in which one response is right. For for the most part, though, our business life doesn"t offer up a great many cases of right-or-wrong, black-or-white. We have to feel our way through the varying shades of gray, calling upon our deepening sense of the Golden Rule, our understanding of national and local laws, our awareness of traditional business practices, our reading of the Realtor® Code of Ethics and a few pinches of common sense and dollops of genuine compassion.
Bob Hunt, in his generous, extraordinarily wise and entertaining Real Estate the Ethical Way (Bella Vista Publishing Company, Inc., 195 pages), has given us exactly what we need for such an edifying game and utterly swept aside any claims that ethics is a tired or irrelevant concern. In Bob"s hands, it is very much alive and enriching.
Suppose a real estate professional, George, is stopped on the street by a couple whom he knows, people whose home has been listed by another agent for two and a half months. They invite him in, sit down and discuss their utter dismay with their listing agent and ask him to take on the marketing and sale of their home. George rather reluctantly agrees to take a post-dated listing on the property that will activate as soon is the existing listing expires.
Is George committing an unethical act? Is he breaking a law? Should he be disciplined by a Board panel? What would YOU have done?
This is the sort of question Hunt raises again and again, and he has the deft ability of a novelist to paint a picture and give us sympathetic characters in a few amiable brush strokes. As a consequence, we dive deeply into the situation at hand, and very likely find in our own responses a few judgments and biases we didn"t even know we had.
But is this just a game? Not by a long shot. For one thing, we have all sworn to abide by the rich and always-evolving Realtor® Code of Ethics and it makes sense to know very well what we"ve allied ourselves with. For another, we need to be aware of the laws and practices that govern decisions in certain situations so that we don"t take long walks on short piers, clients" in tow. And there"s more.
But first, is there a connection between the quality of our ethical behavior and the size of our income in real estate? Bob, a scrupulously honest Realtor®, makes no claim for such a thing, even though studies have suggested that companies whose practices have become far more ethical see a rise in their income (and in the productivity and general happiness of employees). "Doing the right thing and practicing business in an ethical manner is definitely not incompatible with financial success, and well might even enhance it," he is willing to suggest. "But that"s not the reason to live that way. We live that way because we value ourselves."
Valuing ourselves is about feeling reasonably good when we look in the mirror each day, about creating a work environment that people trust and gain great enjoyment from, and -- as he noted in a recent Realty Times article -- about being at home with yourself -- being exactly who you are in every aspect of your life, including your professional life.
The heart of the matter, of course, is the Golden Rule, as Bob states plainly and eloquently very early on.
Taking others into account goes to the bedrock of ethical conduct, namely, the notion that everyone counts. Taking others into account is the behavioral embodiment of the Golden Rule. It is the habit of "putting ourselves into the other person"s shoes." It is asking, "Would I want this done to me?" It acknowledges our basic equality. It is central to ethical living.
But Bob points out that one person"s view of the Golden Rule -- How I want to be treated -- may sometimes differ from another"s. What happens, for example, when a client clearly wants to be told, "What color are the people in this neighborhood?"
Not only is it illegal to discuss racial or religious profiles of neighborhoods, no matter the intent of your client, it is also tremendously unethical, as Bob asserts. It all comes down to a deepened understanding of the Golden Rule. Would we want to be discriminated against? Who, potentially, can be hurt here? What should we do in this situation?
Again and again, Bob Hunt invites us to go deep, to make a habit of thinking this way, of getting in touch with our strongest beliefs about fairness and behavior that honors the humanity and equality of others.
"Real Estate the Ethical Way," Bob writes, "is a book written out of experience." It is, he says, "a book written for Realtors® by a Realtor® … . [And] it is my fond hope that this book will be read "in community." That is, I hope that those who read this will share and discuss these issues -- perhaps even argue about them -- with friends and colleagues in the real estate community."
I suggested at the outset that the book would serve perfectly at an Ethical Way party because the ideal way to read the book, given its form and content, is surely in a group—with friends in the business. It can take your discussion to very fruitful topics, sharpen your thinking regarding an immense number of relevant subjects, and help develop the "ethical clarity," for lack of a better term, with which you approach every detail of your business experience. It can even foster an ethical community (or commonality) among those who read and discuss it together.
And that cannot help but improve the business of all who are involved, as well as the people we continue to become. Bob reminds us of just how important this can be by invoking the words of a great philosopher of business ethics, Tom Morris: "In everything we do, however large or small, we should always be asking ourselves: "In doing this, am I becoming the kind of person I want to be?" One of the greatest dangers in life is the ever-present threat of self-deception. We often believe we can do something, "just this one time," without having any implications for who we are. But there are no exceptions to this process. We can never take a holiday from moral significance."
Bob stays in the realm of process, of living and becoming, never straying into lifeless dogma or counter-productive moralizing. Whether you read his book with colleagues or alone, in an office conference room or on the beach, do read the book. Bottom line: It will likely introduce you to yourself at a deeper level, and it may even support you in living with a more satisfying sense of personal integrity. And an income you can feel very good about.