348 - Your Word Is Your Bond - Integrity in Acquisitions and in Life!

0:00Your word is your bond. It's really important to have integrity in acquisitions and in life. So in business and in life, your word really is your bond. And in this podcast, I want to share a personal story that taught me what integrity really means and why it's absolutely critical in the world of business acquisitions. So a short story about my father. He served in World War II. He was a pretty talented athlete, had a bad knee, and was concerned about his ability in the military to hike and do all those things. So he pivoted to studying meteorology at MIT, and he was over in Africa where he forecasted the weather for the planes coming out of the U.S.

0:53manufacturing facilities up through Africa and then into Europe. And he was on a weather base. It was basically an assembly line of planes coming out of the U.S. and through Africa and up into Europe. And nobody wanted to stop that assembly line. So they would forecast what was going to be the weather and then decide if the planes could fly through that or not. And you had things like sandstorms in Africa, certainly. So my father had been there a long time. he submitted his forecast the commanding officer of the base said you're saying there's going to be a sandstorm the planes aren't going to be able to get up into Europe and aren't going to be able to come back and so we're going to have to stop this thing is what you're saying and my father said that's correct so the commanding officer of the base asked the other weather forecasters what do you think and they said we don't know Whipple's been here the longest but we don't know And so he said to my, the commanding officer said to my father, I tell you what, I'm going to let you put a degree of uncertainty on your forecast since nobody else knows, and I'm going to let those planes go.

2:03And my father said, I'm not going to do that because they are going to get more than halfway. They're not going to go forward. They're not going to be able to come back. So we're going to lose those planes. So I'm not doing it. And the commanding officer said, well, let me make it a little clearer for you. if you keep to this forecast and if you stop the planes and it doesn't happen the sandstorm I'm going to court-martial you. My father said I'm sticking with my forecast. So when my father said the forecast was going to come it didn't come and the commanding officer called him and said I told you I was going to court-martial so get ready I'm going to court-martial And so about 10 minutes later, it actually did come, the sandstorm, and those planes would have been lost.

2:54So my father went to the commanding officer and said that he couldn't be in his command anymore and that he was dangerous to the other pilots that were flying. And what did my father want? And my father said, I want to be out of your command. So he gave my father another weather base in Africa where the average mean temperature, I think, was 130 degrees. It was no air conditioning in those days. And when they had a tour of duty, it was typically six months, then they rotated out. But they were asked to stay another six months, and I think six people committed suicide rather than go through that heat again.

3:41But my father never lost a plane. He stuck to his word. He said it was one of the toughest times that he ever faced because he was so afraid of the court-martial that was being threatened on him. But he stuck to his guns. And so I think there's a lot of similarities to that story in business. To me, that kind of integrity, doing what's right, even when it's hard and unpopular, is everything in business acquisitions. Sellers often decide based on trust, especially if you're asking for things like seller financing. And if you say you're going to do something and you don't, your reputation is basically shot.

4:26One broken promise can destroy not only the deal, but your future credibility, because you will earn a reputation. And integrity isn't just for when it's convenient. It's truly tested, especially when you can't economically afford, at least you think, to have integrity. So there will be times you will be tested. You'll be tempted to change deal terms at the last moment. Advisors will tell you, well, come on, play hardball or walk back your previous promises. Sellers will be panicking and ask for reassurance. Will your word hold? And hopefully your answer to that is yes. But what builds trust? Following through, especially when it's not easy, under-promising and over-delivering is always a good strategy.

5:19And being the person the seller would want to hand their business legacy to. It's a very personal decision to sell. So your deals will come and go. Your reputation will stay. And in this business, integrity isn't just a value, it's an advantage. There are a lot of sleazeball. There's a lot of con men in this. And you're going to find that you run across those people. So a challenge to you. Ask yourself, if every seller you ever spoke to compared notes, what would they say you were, and what would they say with respect to what you said and then what you did? And I think that if you think about that, because in acquisitions, as in life, your word truly is your bond.

6:11And I have had people who have told me, yes, Bruce, you can count on this, but then they come up with excuses why they can't do it. And those excuses are just that. They're excuses. My mentor, I have said things that we had to follow through which cost us money, but it was the right thing to do. And again, remember, your word is your bond. So I hope that helps. I hope you know the steps in business acquisition. If you don't, go over to BruceWhipple.com. if you need help we've opened up June group coaching you'll see emails on that but integrity super important and it's one of the things that disappoints me the most is when I find someone tells me something they tell me I can count on their word and then they justify why they can't disappointing but that's reality and you'll experience the same thing I'm sure so hope that helps.

7:11I hope it's a lesson you take to heart and that you apply it to the way you conduct yourself in both life and business.