Ep 490 | There's No Wrong Way to do the Right Thing

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off Podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Just a couple days ago, we interviewed Mark Kotelik, CEO of 29029, here at the No Days Off Podcast. And, and if you listen to that interview Mark was spectacular. There were so many things that our No Days Off Nation learned from Mark during that interview. If you haven't listened to it yet, be sure to go back a couple days and listen to the entire thing. It's about an hour long, and I promise you it is well worth your time. One of the many things that Mark shared that I wrote down as they really, really resonated with me, and, and I think they'll, they they really resonated with, with you all listening here today. Mark talked about something he had learned from his father. When I asked him the question, was there anything in your upbringing, anything that you learned, be it from your parents or sports or whatever it may be, is there anything specifically that you think has led or contributed to the success that you've experienced in business and life today? And, and Mark had said, uh, that there were a few things, but the very first thing he said that he learned from his dad was that there's no wrong way to do the right thing. There's no wrong way to do the right thing. I think the sentiment behind this phrase emphasizes that ethical actions are inherently valuable regardless of, of how it's done, regardless of the method employed. One's intentions are aligned with integrity. When one's intentions are aligned with integrity and with righteousness, the specific approach they take becomes secondary. So let's talk about some things maybe in business that, that you may have heard of before, stories, uh, that, uh, certain companies experienced and how that played out for them, specifically around this concept that there's no wrong way to do the right thing. Many of you listening have probably heard about or even lived during the Johnson Johnson Tylenol crisis in 1982. In 1982, J&J faced this massive crisis. 7 people in Chicago died after taking Tylenol capsules that had been laced with cyanide. Now, Johnson Johnson could have downplayed the issue. They could have spun it up in the news. They could have, you know, had a crisis center. And while they may have had that, they certainly could have attempted to come up with some story. But instead of doing what so many other companies might have done, they took immediate and they took pretty extraordinary action. They recalled 31 million bottles of Tylenol. It was about $100 million worth of Tylenol. Now, granted, this was over 40 years ago, so that $100 million, I don't know, what's that worth today? At least a half billion. They recalled 31 million bottles of Tylenol, even though the tampering with the bottles appeared to be isolated. So they recalled it all. They stopped all production. They stopped all advertising. And what they did was prioritize consumer safety over profits. They ended up reintroducing Tylenol with tamper-proof packaging, and it set a new industry standard. Now, because of their actions, Johnson Johnson's reputation soared. It's because they prioritized ethics over profit. Their market share recovered within a year, and it proved that doing the right thing, even at great cost, is never wrong. Another story you may all be familiar with, different, different sort of setup, but Patagonia, the company, in 2016 they had this Black Friday giveback. So instead of profiting from the biggest shopping day of the year, Patagonia donated 100% of its Black Friday sales, which is about $10 million, to environmental causes. This was a very unconventional and bold move. A retail company using its peak sales day for activism instead of profits. Some would— might even say like, hey, that's the wrong way to run a business. But Patagonia proved otherwise. While they gave up their peak sales day for activism, Their customers responded by breaking sales records after that. They proved that ethical business can drive both impact and revenue. So Patagonia gained massive customer loyalty. It demonstrated that profits and purpose can in fact coexist. They felt it was the right thing, and there's no wrong way to do, to do the right thing. You know, one more business example that comes to mind for me was during COVID uh, right at this— right at the start, 2020, um, Airbnb. Millions of travelers canceled their Airbnb bookings, and the hosts lost significant income overnight because all of the guests, of course, expected refunds. Now, Airbnb, instead of taking the easy route, which would be, you know, uh, keeping all of the cancellation fees, they ended up refunding $250 million to hosts, and they allowed full refunds to guests. So again, while Airbnb was entitled to different fees as a result of cancellations, they did not keep any of it. Brian Chesky, the CEO, personally emailed hosts and explained the decision, and he offered them all support. Remember, this was right at the start of COVID When everything started getting canceled. They launched— Airbnb launched a $10 million relief fund for what they called their— for their Superhosts, and they gave grants to struggling hosts. Airbnb reinforced trust with their hosts and with their guests by making this move. The move was incredibly costly in the short term, let's be clear, but it protected their long-term reputation. And in, in 2020, later in 2020, they had a really successful IPO. I do believe that part of their success had to do with the reputation that they had built, and that by making the right decision was, was just the right play for them. Again, there's, there's never a bad time, right? There's no wrong way to do the right thing. I think this pertains outside business. It goes without saying. I mean, there's so many great stories we could point to. I'm looking as we're recording right now, I kind of catch a glimpse of a picture behind me. And that picture is Rosa Parks. Of course, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in December of 1955 in Alabama, in Montgomery, Alabama. She was required under segregation laws to give up her seat. She was arrested. She sparked a Montgomery bus boycott. It fueled the civil rights movement. The right thing for Rosa and for all of us was equality and justice, but society at that time dictated that she comply. But she took a stand, literally took a stand. She showed that even breaking a rule can be the right thing if the rule itself is unjust. So her courage played a significant role in the major civil rights advancements that were had shortly thereafter. Including the Supreme Court ruling that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. So she became a symbol of resistance, and she, she proved that there's no wrong way to do the right thing. There's lots and lots of stories like that, but going back to our buddy Mark from just the other day, this was something that his father taught him at a young age, and a story in a phrase that he, he recalled as something that set him up for success, that played a role in his success in business and life. I think there's a lot to take away from that. Number one, kind of go back to what we were talking about just yesterday around reputation and your reputation being the ultimate form of leverage. You can see that when you honor things like the phrase, "There's no wrong way to do the right thing," it only strengthens your reputation. You could see how that was advantageous for Mark as he's built his career. I also think that when you're saying, and when you're honoring, there's no wrong way to do the right thing, you're also doing what we talk about here at No Days Off, which is playing the long game, right? Shortcuts rarely ever pay off. They just don't. They may feel like they do in the moment. It may feel like a smart decision in the moment, but rarely does it pay off. And I see this happen when people compromise their integrity, when they compromise doing the right thing, even though it may be freaking hard to do. Remember, there's no wrong way to do the right thing. On that note, that's all I have for you today in the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day, brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.