Code of Honour

• Papers on a man are worth nothing. A week beside him is worth everything.
• Don’t ask “Is he good?” Ask “Would you take him on again?”
• An exception to the hiring rules is a bet. Know what you’re betting on.
• You won’t remake a difficult man. Don’t take him on.
• A reference opens the door, but it doesn’t do the work.
• Posts to fit the business, not the textbook.
• It’s easy to turn your best soldier into a bad lieutenant.
• A consigliere is there to say what nobody wants to hear.
• The secretary and the bookkeeper know more than the Don. Pay them for their silence and never wrong them.
• A title is an advance. Money is the settlement.
• Not everyone wants a title. Find out what drives the man.
• “Next time you’ll be first” works only once.
• A raise for complaining teaches complaining.
• Judge the talker by what’s left after the speech.
• Ask the whiner what he suggests.
• What everyone should hear, send through the gossip.
• The bully is put in his place at once, and in private.
• The one who listens and promises nothing puts out more fires than the boss.
• Leave a quarrel to grow for a week, and you won’t recognise it.
• First each man alone, then everyone at one table.
• Being right is no licence to shout at the bosses.
• The man you brought in is yours to answer for.
• Fire fast, in person, and pay more than you owe.
• Forgiven theft becomes the rule.
• In a lean year, cut from the top, starting with yourself.