One of the businesses I consult for has had some problems with a person they hired to work with the financial side of their business. I have been the “cc” recipient on several emails between the business owner and the other consultant, and think I have a pretty good picture of what has been transpiring.
Recently, the business owner has determined that the consultant has not done what was promised. The owner is telling me things about this consultant that is none of my business and he would like me to warn others about using this person’s services.
At times, I think it is okay to warn someone about a bad experience or outcome we have had with a person or a business, but my encounters with this consultant have always been very good. This business owner did not want just tell me negative things about this person; they wanted me to take action against them by telling others what had been told to me.
I was a bit surprised by his insistence, which led me to believe that he really did not fully understand what he was asking me to do. On the other hand, maybe he did not care. He wanted me to take what he was telling me as truth and make his opinion my own.
I am not saying that what I was being told was not true, it is just that I personally did not know it, nor had I experienced it and I was being asked to make a judgment and take a particular action upon what I was told.
How dangerous could it be if I took the action he wanted me to?
Let’s take a look and see what might happen if I did what this business owner wanted me to do.
You are acting blindly as you have no real (true) reference to refer back to. If you are questioned about it, and you cannot give an actual accounting from a personal experience. How does that make you look to the one who is questioning you?
You are allowing someone else to control what you should think. (How dangerous is that?)
By acting on someone else’s opinion, you can damage another’s reputation and you personally are liable and accountable. Would you want to do that if you really did not know if what you are relaying is the truth?
You are placing your own personal and professional reputation on the line with every encounter that you have, are you willing to take the risk of damaging it by acting on hearsay?
When you take action on what someone else tells you about someone you leave out the most important ingredient “personal knowledge.”
Would you want to take the risk?
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