What Are My Values

I refuse to see a pimp in the mirror in the morning when I shave.

To be able to manage yourself, you finally have to ask, What are my values?  This is not a question of ethics.  With respect to ethics, the rules are the same for everybody, and the test is a simple one.  I call it the "mirror test."  

In the early years of this century, the most highly respected diplomat of all the great powers was the German ambassador in London.  He was clearly destined for great things--to become his country's foreign minster, at lest, if not its federal chancellor.  Yet in 1906 he abruptly resigned rather than preside over a dinner given by the diplomatic corps for Edward VII.  The king was a notorious womanizer and made it clear what kind of dinner he wanted.  The ambassador is reported to have said, "I refuse to see a pimp in the mirror in the morning when I shave."

That is the mirror test. 

ACTION POINT:  Ethics requires that you ask yourself, What kind of person do I want to see in the mirror in the morning?