Sometimes You’ve Just ‘Gotta Do What You’ve Gotta Do’

I really believe that sometimes you’ve just ‘gotta do what you’ve gotta do’ in order to stay true to what you know is right.  Last week I happened to tell three of my staff members a personal story about a time back during my days of teaching college that they really responded to.  All three of them urged me to tell the story on one of my video blog posts because it focuses on something we all struggle with from time to time . . . doing the right thing when it’s not so easy to do.

In business and in life, we’re all faced with dilemmas once in a while where it seems like the only option is to abandon doing what we know is the right thing because we feel (or are made to feel) like we don’t have a choice.  However, there’s always a choice; even though sometimes doing the right thing involves making yourself uncomfortable and being willing to put yourself in a position you don’t want to be in, it’s still the right thing and that’s important to remember because we each have to live with our own decisions.

Watch the video to hear about a predicament I found myself in where my higher ups were trying to force me to break my word and go back on a commitment I’d made.  I was in a very uncomfortable situation and it put me in a position where my job was on the line if I didn’t do what I felt was wrong.  I’m glad to say, however, that to this day, I have no regrets in how I handled it and I hope that sharing this story causes others to really think about the importance of doing the right thing even when it could mean losing something that means a lot to you or something that you really need.

If you have a story of your own about how you stood up and did the right thing for the sake of doing the right thing even though it was really hard for you, I’d really love to hear it.  Please share your story in the comment forum below and, as with some of my other more recent video blogs, this one also features my good friend Bob.  If you know where Bob is hiding in this video, be one of the first ten people to share your story and to also add  a note after your story correctly pinpointing where you see Bob and I’ll send you a surprise gift that will help build your networking skills.  (Note: To ensure you receive your gift, please e-mail your name and complete mailing address to Lransom@bni.com with the subject line “Bob.”)  I’m looking forward to hearing from you!