SNAKES ARE SNEAKY: BAD PEOPLE

If you think bad things can’t happen to you…you’re naïve.

Anything that you read about happening, can happen to you. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter where you’re located. It doesn’t matter if it’s ever happened anywhere in your town or to anyone you know.

Your job is not to assume it won’t happen because it hasn’t happened before in your world.

It’s your job to make sure that you, your family or your company aren’t the first to be victimized. 

How do Leaders get in trouble?
They get lulled to sleep. They assume things will be done right all the time, because they’ve been done right the other 99 times. Warnings and red flags are ignored because they are so confident they are secure. 

Sometimes the “bad thing” is a person

In my last post, I urged you to give people a chance to show you who they really are, but remember, there is always the possibility that a person you trust, who you never would suspect, is just 'playing' you. They hang around, earning your respect and all the while looking for a way to steal what you have. They are deliberate, they are rotten and they will take what you have…IF YOU LET THEM. Of course, these people are cowards and prey upon the unsuspecting…so don’t be unsuspecting.

 

It’s your job not to give them a chance to steal

Hopefully you won’t deal with any fraud, embezzlement or theft from close employees or friends, but be aware that it happens. Keep up with your kids and who they associate with. Keep an eye on any adults who seem to get to big of a kick out of hanging around your kids. All you need to do is keep a close eye on things and not allow any loopholes for them to exploit. 

 

It’s simple…just make the decision that you are NOT going to ALLOW you and yours to be victims. 

There’s always going to be someone around who decides they would like to have some of your things. You don’t have an exemption that protects you from this. You don’t have to be paranoid and let it take over your life, but is it too much to at least take the “ounce of protection” to avoid the “pound of cure?” You are way ahead just by being aware.

There are no guarantees in the world. It’s up to you to keep a ring of protection around the people and the things that are important to you. 

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This is Part 2 of HOW TO PROTECT YOUR TEAM

Part 1: USE YOUR EAGLE EYE—SPOT DANGER

They Will Steal From You

THE POINT: You need to watch your money like a hawk, trust no one!

Yes, they will! 

If you put people in charge of your money without checks and balances to make sure nothing, no foul play can occur, sooner or later they will steal from you.  I learned this the hard way.

 For 16 years, my wife's personal assistant, let’s call her “Brenda,” came to work in our office. Since I needed help and she had done such an extraordinary job for my wife at our home, we decided this would be a great move. 

 For 16 years, Brenda worked with me.
She became invaluable. Everyone else noticed what a great job she did.

Every day I would hear three different comments.  1. I really am impressed with Brenda 2. I wish I had a Brenda.  3. What would you do without Brenda? So I trusted her.

Eventually there came a day where we got a call from IRS.
They wanted to do an audit. The next thing that happened was that my full time in house CPA, who was so well respected she was president of the local CPA Association, disappeared overnight.  She said she got a phone call from her father and she was going home to Yazoo City, Mississippi to take over his practice.  Hard to believe it was not related to the impending IRS audit.  During the interim, while we were looking for the replacement CPA, Barbara began overseeing the finances. 

She wound up being in total control of the money, deposits, checks etc.
I wasn't concerned except I was afraid she was overworked.  I pressured her to quickly get help. I encouraged her to step up the interview process and quickly get a replacement CPA since she didn't seem to be in any real hurry to get that job done.  When I would bring up the fact that she was working so hard, she just smiled and said no it's fine, it's not a problem. 

Eventually I found out why.
It came time to pay our taxes, and I noticed that our entire tax account which should have contained $345,000.00 was empty.  A junior bookkeeper we'd hired also asked to talk with me privately.  It turned out he discovered some discrepancy in the books and was able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Brenda had taken off with tons of money, had embezzled tons of other money.  

Best estimates were placed at something just below a million dollars.
And I won't get into the end of that story except that the tax accountant did tell me that it's never the greasy haired guy at the bank that embezzles, it's always the sweet grandmother who bakes cookies for everyone who later is found out to have embezzled $400,000.00 or more from the bank.  It's always the ones you don't suspect that get away with it.  

Although painful, I realize it was all my fault.
I had let it happen and it dawned on me that if you tempt someone long enough, eventually they'll give in. Here’s an example I thought of at the time. Suppose I have a nice big gallon container of ice cream. I rip the lid off and I'm about to dig in. I grab a spoon, then suddenly something happens where I've got to take a call or take care of an emergency. I hand the spoon and the ice cream to someone to hold for me until I get back.  Here’s the truth. It's just a matter of time before they take a bite.  Humans can only resist temptation for a limited period of time, then even the best of people will cave.  Maybe not everybody, but you've got to assume the ones around you will.  And it will be your fault because you created the temptation.

So how do you avoid it?
Don't give them an opportunity.  Stay in control. Keep your eyes on the money.  Have checks and balances.  Do whatever it takes to take the potential for theft out of the equation.

Especially when it comes to money, if you give people a chance to take some for themselves, they'll do it every time.

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Feedback: Are you one of the ones who think it could never happen to you? As long as you think that way it makes you a likely target. Do you see why? Or am I wrong?