WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.800 Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:03.759 of Vision Pros Live. I'm your host and coach, 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:06.540 Fletcher Ellington. So glad you're here. So glad 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:08.759 you're in this conversation because I believe 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:11.500 the conversations we hear on Vision Pros are 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:14.080 worth your time. You're gonna get something out 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:18.719 of them and it's gonna expand your view of the 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.559 world. This morning on our show, we have Arun 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:27.549 Mathur and he is the founder of Ulta... UltimQuest 00:00:27.549 --> 00:00:31.309 Knowledge. And welcome to the show, Arum. Thank 00:00:31.309 --> 00:00:33.149 you so much, Fletcher. It's a real pleasure to 00:00:33.149 --> 00:00:36.990 be here. Yeah. And go ahead. And I may have butchered 00:00:36.990 --> 00:00:39.590 the name of the company. So would you tell us 00:00:39.590 --> 00:00:41.149 the company you're representing today, please? 00:00:41.469 --> 00:00:44.530 Yes. I founded a training company by the name 00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:49.659 of UltimQuest Knowledge. We're mainly delivering 00:00:49.659 --> 00:00:52.840 training to professional accountants across the 00:00:52.840 --> 00:00:56.020 world, also expanding into business leaders. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:00.539 Into the which? Business leaders. Business leaders, 00:01:00.579 --> 00:01:03.560 okay. People who make decisions in businesses. 00:01:03.939 --> 00:01:06.299 Right on, right on. Okay, so important work, 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:10.000 right? You're talking about the accounting and 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.400 leadership, two very important things for business, 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:16.739 obviously, right? For sure. For sure. And it's 00:01:16.739 --> 00:01:19.400 important because a lot of people who get into 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:22.140 business, especially a lot of entrepreneurs, 00:01:22.500 --> 00:01:25.719 solopreneurs, they get in because they're passionate 00:01:25.719 --> 00:01:29.680 about a service or a product, but they're not 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:33.140 necessarily accountants. They're not necessarily 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:38.599 even. leaders. So both of those topics are important 00:01:38.599 --> 00:01:41.040 because we want those entrepreneurs, we want 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:44.560 those solopreneurs, we want those managers to 00:01:44.560 --> 00:01:49.219 be leaders in whatever capacity that they have 00:01:49.219 --> 00:01:52.900 to show up. Yeah? I agree 100%. Yes. Okay, cool. 00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:55.840 Hey, before we get into the good stuff, let's 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:57.980 start off with a win. I always like to do that 00:01:57.980 --> 00:02:00.700 because there is a lot of uncertainty and suffering 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:03.159 in our world today and we want to make remind 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:05.560 people that there is still plenty of good out 00:02:05.560 --> 00:02:08.800 there and it's all about really looking for even 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:13.080 when disappointing things happen we want to continue 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:15.680 to look for the good um so what's something that's 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.180 going well in your life either professionally 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:20.599 or personally So, you know, Fletcher, one of 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.439 the things I find really gratifying is when I 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:26.560 deliver a course, I speak in a conference, even 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:30.469 when we speak in a podcast. and then people email 00:02:30.469 --> 00:02:33.889 back or send a message through linkedin so some 00:02:33.889 --> 00:02:36.930 of the messages i've got recently someone wrote 00:02:36.930 --> 00:02:39.870 you know i entered your course expecting to be 00:02:39.870 --> 00:02:42.409 bored out of my mind i didn't think you could 00:02:42.409 --> 00:02:45.610 make ethics interesting somebody else wrote last 00:02:45.610 --> 00:02:47.530 year you know i took your course on internal 00:02:47.530 --> 00:02:50.590 control never thought that internal control could 00:02:50.590 --> 00:02:53.229 be made interesting so it's very very gratifying 00:02:53.229 --> 00:02:55.909 to get that kind of feedback when you know we 00:02:55.909 --> 00:02:59.069 do put a lot of effort in in being relevant and 00:02:59.069 --> 00:03:02.050 effective and so on so every one of these types 00:03:02.050 --> 00:03:04.990 of messages that comes back really makes my day 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:08.150 right it tells us that the effort we're putting 00:03:08.150 --> 00:03:12.030 is is worthwhile that there is a positive impact 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:15.270 of what we're trying to do right on yeah that's 00:03:15.270 --> 00:03:18.770 very gratifying and encouraging um i personally 00:03:18.770 --> 00:03:22.889 think ethics are fascinating So but I love that 00:03:22.889 --> 00:03:27.009 you're able to take us take that topic and and 00:03:27.009 --> 00:03:30.009 deliver it in a way where people who may not 00:03:30.009 --> 00:03:32.349 find it interesting are in fact finding it interesting 00:03:32.349 --> 00:03:35.909 and worth worthwhile. So nicely done. Sure. You 00:03:35.909 --> 00:03:37.770 know, one thing I've seen and I've seen this 00:03:37.770 --> 00:03:41.979 over and over. people have a perception that 00:03:41.979 --> 00:03:46.000 ethics is like theoretical ethics is something 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.759 your grandmother might have told you it's not 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:50.900 related to business right like a lot of people 00:03:50.900 --> 00:03:54.000 see things like you know you see a lot of media 00:03:54.000 --> 00:03:57.979 coverage of wrongdoing frauds failures scandals 00:03:58.569 --> 00:04:01.150 a lot of bad things are in the media i was speaking 00:04:01.150 --> 00:04:04.289 in a conference last summer and this is the kind 00:04:04.289 --> 00:04:08.210 of mindset that one of the q a things said a 00:04:08.210 --> 00:04:10.229 lady stood up and said you know there's so much 00:04:10.229 --> 00:04:12.530 going on out there like do you think ethics is 00:04:12.530 --> 00:04:16.610 relevant And I responded to her by saying that, 00:04:16.649 --> 00:04:19.069 you know, the media covers all the bad things. 00:04:19.069 --> 00:04:20.910 It's not really covering the good things because 00:04:20.910 --> 00:04:24.089 that's not really news, right? But in my experience, 00:04:24.089 --> 00:04:26.529 from the clients I serve, the businesses I've 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:29.050 been involved with, those who are succeeding 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:32.529 are actually very much focused on ethics. They're 00:04:32.529 --> 00:04:35.009 taking care of their customers. You know, they're 00:04:35.009 --> 00:04:38.290 dealing with integrity. They are not trying to 00:04:38.290 --> 00:04:43.189 cut corners, not trying to... uh work in the 00:04:43.189 --> 00:04:45.889 gray areas so this is my reality right having 00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:48.370 been in the business world for 40 some years 00:04:48.370 --> 00:04:51.689 uh i'm seeing the distinction between taking 00:04:51.689 --> 00:04:55.189 shortcuts and taking the the ethical kind of 00:04:55.189 --> 00:04:57.790 approach and long term i think it's pretty much 00:04:57.790 --> 00:05:01.910 um i would say it's essential for success it's 00:05:01.910 --> 00:05:07.740 not optional yeah i love that um extra hold on 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:10.839 i'm just taking some notes uh i really want i 00:05:10.839 --> 00:05:12.360 really want to highlight some things that you're 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.519 saying for our our listeners you talked about 00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.899 integrity this is um a word that we throw around 00:05:18.899 --> 00:05:23.579 a lot and i'm not sure that people really understand 00:05:23.579 --> 00:05:29.800 the concept of integrity so i'm gonna offer a 00:05:29.800 --> 00:05:32.199 suggestion and then you tell me if i'm on track 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:36.110 okay but i i believe at the core There are two 00:05:36.110 --> 00:05:38.329 things at the core of integrity. Number one is 00:05:38.329 --> 00:05:43.029 being your word. Right. Doing what you say you're 00:05:43.029 --> 00:05:47.350 going to do. Right. Showing up. If it is at eight 00:05:47.350 --> 00:05:51.389 o 'clock, then then you're there by eight. Like 00:05:51.389 --> 00:05:55.689 being your word. It's like, you know, one of 00:05:55.689 --> 00:05:58.129 the most powerful examples I can give is if you 00:05:58.129 --> 00:06:01.269 drop your car off to an auto shop and you say, 00:06:01.310 --> 00:06:03.709 you know, I really need this fixed by Tuesday 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:08.120 at noon. And the auto mechanic says, consider 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:12.000 it done. What he's saying is that while your 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.279 car right now is in a state of disrepair, I am 00:06:17.279 --> 00:06:22.040 so practiced at being my word that you can consider 00:06:22.040 --> 00:06:27.800 the work has already been completed. That's such 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.899 a good example, eh? Right? Yeah, yeah. When we 00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:35.110 say consider it done, we're saying... i am my 00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:39.750 word exactly yeah would you agree with that 100 00:06:39.750 --> 00:06:42.709 so you know this is how things used to be you 00:06:42.709 --> 00:06:45.709 know like this idea of honor that there was a 00:06:45.709 --> 00:06:48.230 value in the word right the promise that you 00:06:48.230 --> 00:06:50.910 made the commitment that you made it was like 00:06:50.910 --> 00:06:54.029 irrefutable there was no doubt right and i would 00:06:54.029 --> 00:06:56.990 say even in today's world where it is such a 00:06:56.990 --> 00:07:00.529 integrated world the internet it's a global world 00:07:01.339 --> 00:07:04.959 i think that integrity is still very very essential 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.079 for business you know we say something we do 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:10.040 it on a personal level i'll tell you like it's 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:13.279 also your own self -respect right if you make 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:16.579 a commitment and you keep it it in it increases 00:07:16.579 --> 00:07:18.980 your own self -respect that you say okay i am 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:22.420 a person with character i'm a person with honor 00:07:23.399 --> 00:07:26.019 what I say matters, right? I'm not just saying 00:07:26.019 --> 00:07:28.779 just to get a sale or just to get a deal or something. 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:32.459 Your own self -respect will increase. I'll tell 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:35.620 you, like when we talk about ethics and we define 00:07:35.620 --> 00:07:38.720 ethics, we talk about the word integrity. It's 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:41.819 a very, very simple concept. It's this idea of 00:07:41.819 --> 00:07:45.139 not to deceive other people, the idea to commit 00:07:45.139 --> 00:07:49.430 to speaking the truth. And I say that if you 00:07:49.430 --> 00:07:52.790 were to ask a nine year old or 10 year old, what 00:07:52.790 --> 00:07:56.250 is integrity? What is honesty? They would understand 00:07:56.250 --> 00:07:58.970 you don't need to have a higher education and 00:07:58.970 --> 00:08:01.050 all of that. Right. It's a very human kind of 00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:04.290 thing that, you know, we interact with each other 00:08:04.290 --> 00:08:06.769 in an honest manner. We don't try to deceive 00:08:06.769 --> 00:08:11.009 someone. We don't try to manipulate people in 00:08:11.009 --> 00:08:13.870 business. It's very interesting. I mean, what 00:08:13.870 --> 00:08:17.459 I see. uh you know business can be complicated 00:08:17.459 --> 00:08:20.779 but ultimately i'll give you one quick example 00:08:20.779 --> 00:08:26.120 uh you might um receive incorrect invoicing from 00:08:26.120 --> 00:08:29.879 your suppliers right yeah you might you might 00:08:29.879 --> 00:08:32.340 receive a duplicate payment from your customers 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:35.500 so these are like your ethical tests like do 00:08:35.500 --> 00:08:37.980 you correct it do you take that money like what 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:41.399 do you do with it right i think integrity is 00:08:41.399 --> 00:08:44.460 very fundamental one thing fletcher you probably 00:08:44.460 --> 00:08:48.340 don't know but i actually went back to the founders 00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:52.860 of the system of capitalism to research whether 00:08:52.860 --> 00:08:55.740 the people who created our system our system 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:59.320 of a capitalistic democracy whether they talked 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:02.080 about ethics they thought about ethics so what 00:09:02.080 --> 00:09:04.500 i found very interesting they didn't use the 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:08.000 term ethics but the word integrity was there 00:09:08.409 --> 00:09:11.370 right and what the founders of capitalism said 00:09:11.370 --> 00:09:17.850 they said that integrity is an underlying principle 00:09:17.850 --> 00:09:21.429 of the system of capitalism so they were not 00:09:21.429 --> 00:09:23.490 saying get out there make as much money as you 00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:26.389 can do whatever it takes they were saying get 00:09:26.389 --> 00:09:28.710 out there make as much money as you can while 00:09:28.710 --> 00:09:32.590 remaining in integrity right nice and honesty 00:09:32.590 --> 00:09:36.370 and and really long term that would be the foundation 00:09:36.370 --> 00:09:40.370 i think for success yeah you know uh i yeah i 00:09:40.370 --> 00:09:43.830 i'm glad you you uh pointed that out that's that's 00:09:43.830 --> 00:09:46.509 really um probably a bit of knowledge that many 00:09:46.509 --> 00:09:49.549 of us don't know about our founding fathers the 00:09:49.549 --> 00:09:52.649 other thing you mentioned was foundation so we 00:09:52.649 --> 00:09:54.909 want to talk about this in relation to integrity 00:09:54.909 --> 00:09:57.970 too because we talked about integrity being your 00:09:57.970 --> 00:10:03.009 word um you know uh communicating honestly right 00:10:03.009 --> 00:10:05.250 without the intent to deceive like being honest 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:10.289 no no intention to manipulate um and by the way 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:15.039 When we find businesses that operate this way, 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:20.559 don't we love doing business with them? That 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:23.759 is such an interesting observation. You know, 00:10:23.799 --> 00:10:27.639 I say this, that in any interaction, whether 00:10:27.639 --> 00:10:31.659 it's a supplier, a customer interaction, a landlord 00:10:31.659 --> 00:10:35.879 -tenant interaction, a regulator, a regulatee, 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:38.950 like a lender. borrower, whichever interaction, 00:10:39.250 --> 00:10:43.090 when we interact with ethical people, it's refreshing. 00:10:43.370 --> 00:10:48.649 It's exciting. I think we naturally are drawn 00:10:48.649 --> 00:10:52.269 to those people. And what that does is it creates 00:10:52.269 --> 00:10:56.169 high trust. It creates a long, long -term relationship. 00:10:56.509 --> 00:10:59.230 For example, if you look at my work, like we 00:10:59.230 --> 00:11:02.919 do accounting work, we have clients. on one hand 00:11:02.919 --> 00:11:05.139 that can be transactional you can say we'll come 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:07.399 in once a year we'll do your stuff we leave right 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:10.460 here's your fee and we're done right on the other 00:11:10.460 --> 00:11:12.720 hand if you care about the client you put your 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:15.440 intellect in helping them to succeed and all 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:19.649 of that that relationship is very very fundamental 00:11:19.649 --> 00:11:23.970 it becomes their secret of success yes when it 00:11:23.970 --> 00:11:27.129 comes to fees and things like that the the client 00:11:27.129 --> 00:11:29.850 does not care right like i went to a client a 00:11:29.850 --> 00:11:31.710 couple of years ago about three years ago i said 00:11:31.710 --> 00:11:34.210 you know we have not increased your fees we would 00:11:34.210 --> 00:11:36.730 like to sit and discuss and you know we ended 00:11:36.730 --> 00:11:40.470 up doing like a 10 increase so i actually asked 00:11:40.470 --> 00:11:43.399 him i didn't tell him i asked him are you okay 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:45.980 if we do like a five percent this year five percent 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:48.720 next year and the client turned to me and said 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:51.320 no problem go ahead right because we're delivering 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:55.419 value we care about them and so on so uh in any 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:58.580 relationship i think you hit it you hit the nail 00:11:58.580 --> 00:12:01.220 right on the head right yes you have that kind 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:05.360 of trust if you and people recognize right so 00:12:05.360 --> 00:12:08.399 when we deal with suppliers we deal with customers 00:12:08.399 --> 00:12:13.000 we deal with government we recognize when someone 00:12:13.000 --> 00:12:15.679 is delivering value, we recognize when someone 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:17.840 is being honest, when someone is being helpful, 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.120 right? So this is not wasted. This is very, very 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.879 important point that you made. Yeah, absolutely. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:28.860 Great. Thanks for elaborating on that. And then 00:12:28.860 --> 00:12:32.200 let's return one last time to this concept of 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:34.620 integrity, because I love that you have brought 00:12:34.620 --> 00:12:36.620 this up because I just think it's fundamental. 00:12:38.539 --> 00:12:43.320 to the workability of a business of a marriage 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:47.580 of a country so what do i mean by that so i want 00:12:47.580 --> 00:12:49.159 to give you an example that i frequently give 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:51.899 to my um clients and and i'm not so much giving 00:12:51.899 --> 00:12:56.299 this to you um um around because i know you uh 00:12:56.299 --> 00:12:59.480 get this but i do want if if people are listening 00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:01.360 and they're interested in this concept of integrity 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:07.370 i want to uh give this as well there's Being 00:13:07.370 --> 00:13:10.809 our word, there's also the idea that integrity 00:13:10.809 --> 00:13:15.990 is a sense of workability. So when integrity 00:13:15.990 --> 00:13:19.009 is present at a high level, that means there's 00:13:19.009 --> 00:13:22.190 a high level of workability. For instance, if 00:13:22.190 --> 00:13:26.250 you think of a wheel on a bicycle and it has 00:13:26.250 --> 00:13:30.830 all the spokes. Right. Those spokes are not for 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:35.600 looks. Those spokes are. The number of spokes 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:39.820 are exact. The spacing is exact. The tension 00:13:39.820 --> 00:13:44.460 on each of those spokes is exact. And the reason 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:50.440 is because those spokes are creating structural 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:55.519 integrity for the bicycle, right? That's a good 00:13:55.519 --> 00:14:00.360 example. Amazing. Yeah, yeah. And if we pluck 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:06.919 out one or two of those spokes, Is it still going 00:14:06.919 --> 00:14:10.320 to be rideable? Yes. But the structural integrity 00:14:10.320 --> 00:14:15.100 has now been compromised. There's less workability. 00:14:15.399 --> 00:14:18.940 And if you take out a couple more spokes, then 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:21.019 you're going to feel it when you're riding. You're 00:14:21.019 --> 00:14:24.100 going to feel like, ooh, it's shaky. It doesn't 00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:27.340 feel like it could give out, right? You pluck 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:29.899 out a few more. Now you've really compromised 00:14:29.899 --> 00:14:34.250 the structural integrity and it fails. And so 00:14:34.250 --> 00:14:36.850 I want to give it so that the workability has 00:14:36.850 --> 00:14:40.029 been compromised. So I really want to invite 00:14:40.029 --> 00:14:42.850 the listeners into this conversation to think 00:14:42.850 --> 00:14:46.789 about integrity as a sense of workability. If 00:14:46.789 --> 00:14:51.029 your marriage is not working. Right. What's probably 00:14:51.029 --> 00:14:56.919 present is there is a lack of integrity. there's 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:00.200 a lack of workability there that the integrity 00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:03.679 somehow has been compromised um in your business 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:06.840 all right in our in our in a country when there 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:12.759 is low integrity right the workability is compromised 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:16.500 and we begin to see that and and hear it and 00:15:16.500 --> 00:15:20.500 and and recognize it That's an amazing, amazing 00:15:20.500 --> 00:15:23.259 example, Fletcher. Can I take a minute and just 00:15:23.259 --> 00:15:26.159 add my two cents to that? Please, yes. So when 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.399 you started describing the wheel and the spokes, 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:30.600 like I connected to that thought immediately. 00:15:30.659 --> 00:15:33.139 So that's such an intuitive kind of interpretation. 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.039 I think that's fantastic. The thought that came 00:15:36.039 --> 00:15:38.860 in my mind is if you think of any organization, 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:42.200 any business unit, government, not -for -profit, 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:45.919 any kind of... organizational unit even a family 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:49.179 for example we have interactions right in our 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:51.919 ecosystem we have suppliers customers government 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.669 we have other people around us that impact our 00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:58.070 success right like for example if you are in 00:15:58.070 --> 00:16:00.830 violation of regulations the government is going 00:16:00.830 --> 00:16:02.370 to make it very difficult right they're going 00:16:02.370 --> 00:16:03.929 to come they're going to audit they're going 00:16:03.929 --> 00:16:07.250 to be all over your place right if you have a 00:16:07.250 --> 00:16:10.289 bad relationship with your lender there always 00:16:10.289 --> 00:16:12.330 is a threat they're going to call their loan 00:16:12.330 --> 00:16:14.090 and you're going to be screwed you're going to 00:16:14.090 --> 00:16:17.019 be scrambling for financing and all that similarly 00:16:17.019 --> 00:16:20.740 if you have let's say a weak relationship just 00:16:20.740 --> 00:16:22.940 like you were mentioning about the spokes if 00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:25.860 you have a weak relationship uh with your customer 00:16:25.860 --> 00:16:29.159 in the sense that they see you as a like a unit 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:31.720 right so i pay so much for this if somebody else 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:34.559 gives me a cheaper deal i'll go there then you're 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:37.659 at risk right so applying that same integrity 00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:42.840 idea in recognizing that a business or an organization 00:16:42.840 --> 00:16:47.350 operates in an ecosystem And if those relationships 00:16:47.350 --> 00:16:50.470 are strong, it strengthens you, right? So if 00:16:50.470 --> 00:16:52.490 you have high trust with the regulator, high 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:55.370 trust with your employees, high trust relationship 00:16:55.370 --> 00:16:58.029 with your suppliers and your customers. So, you 00:16:58.029 --> 00:16:59.990 know, in COVID, we saw this, right? In COVID, 00:17:00.110 --> 00:17:04.009 we saw a dramatic disruption, restriction of 00:17:04.009 --> 00:17:07.809 business, people being shut down, retail being 00:17:07.809 --> 00:17:10.049 shut down, factories being shut down and all 00:17:10.049 --> 00:17:13.660 that. and it tested it tested your relationships 00:17:13.660 --> 00:17:16.700 right yeah which under normal circumstances perhaps 00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:18.940 you were chugging along and you were happy but 00:17:18.940 --> 00:17:20.759 then suddenly this thing comes in everything 00:17:20.759 --> 00:17:24.480 stops and we saw both good and bad behavior right 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:26.720 so it goes back to integrity it goes back to 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.380 your ethics like how strong is your relationship 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:32.079 with the supplier how strong is your relationship 00:17:32.079 --> 00:17:35.359 with your employees like i i was sitting in a 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.210 flight next to a a CFO of a manufacturing company. 00:17:39.529 --> 00:17:42.109 He shared a very interesting example I'll share 00:17:42.109 --> 00:17:45.450 with you. So I asked him, you know, how did your 00:17:45.450 --> 00:17:48.390 company respond in COVID, the shutdown, all of 00:17:48.390 --> 00:17:52.369 that. He said to me they hired a new salesperson 00:17:52.369 --> 00:17:55.430 one week before the shutdown. So in other words, 00:17:55.450 --> 00:17:59.609 brand new employee. gets on board within a week 00:17:59.609 --> 00:18:01.809 the company's operations shut down the customers 00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:04.549 are not there the company is not operating he 00:18:04.549 --> 00:18:07.890 said to me this salesman called him twice and 00:18:07.890 --> 00:18:10.230 said can you fire me because i'm not doing any 00:18:10.230 --> 00:18:12.890 work right i feel really guilty taking the salary 00:18:12.890 --> 00:18:15.789 because the company shut down here's how the 00:18:15.789 --> 00:18:21.250 ceo responded he said i run a company that is 00:18:21.250 --> 00:18:24.109 very successful we've had eight or nine years 00:18:24.109 --> 00:18:27.609 of tremendous profits we're in the dish right 00:18:27.609 --> 00:18:30.650 now like things are not normal you're part of 00:18:30.650 --> 00:18:33.609 our team we're going to support you hang in there 00:18:33.609 --> 00:18:36.890 make whatever phone calls you can make you are 00:18:36.890 --> 00:18:39.509 part of our team and we will not abandon you 00:18:39.509 --> 00:18:42.670 right so that shows the integrity the ethics 00:18:42.670 --> 00:18:45.549 of that leader you can imagine like covet came 00:18:45.549 --> 00:18:49.230 and went you know, they probably got back on 00:18:49.230 --> 00:18:51.990 their feet within maybe six months, eight months, 00:18:51.990 --> 00:18:54.910 whatever. But you can see the effect of that 00:18:54.910 --> 00:18:57.690 kind of ethics, that kind of integrity, right? 00:18:57.750 --> 00:19:01.970 Yeah. And when you have the privilege of working 00:19:01.970 --> 00:19:05.950 with someone that embodies that level of integrity, 00:19:06.329 --> 00:19:12.630 you want to be on that team. You suddenly are... 00:19:12.859 --> 00:19:15.200 happy to give your loyalty that to that exactly 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:19.019 right yeah that's a powerful leader amazing leader 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:20.900 and and i've run across three or four people 00:19:20.900 --> 00:19:22.660 like that because i asked this question from 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:25.740 many people i was talking to one gentleman in 00:19:25.740 --> 00:19:28.400 toronto about how they responded to covet he 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:31.619 was also the chief operating officer of the company 00:19:31.619 --> 00:19:36.390 uh he articulated a very similar ethics he said 00:19:36.390 --> 00:19:39.250 that we did not fire anyone because we had long 00:19:39.250 --> 00:19:41.730 -term employees we wanted to support them and 00:19:41.730 --> 00:19:45.809 so on and i asked him so did they all stay with 00:19:45.809 --> 00:19:49.309 you you didn't fire how did it go the funny story 00:19:49.309 --> 00:19:51.890 he told me was they had like an office manager 00:19:51.890 --> 00:19:56.029 type of a role so during covid some of the employees 00:19:56.029 --> 00:19:59.029 were not there so they moved her into the company's 00:19:59.029 --> 00:20:02.630 boardroom And over two or three months, she settled 00:20:02.630 --> 00:20:05.109 into the boardroom. That became her office. She 00:20:05.109 --> 00:20:07.130 was very happy because it was a very grand kind 00:20:07.130 --> 00:20:09.990 of an office. But when COVID finished, they asked 00:20:09.990 --> 00:20:12.069 her to go back, and she found that very sad, 00:20:12.210 --> 00:20:15.170 right? So she left the company because they were 00:20:15.170 --> 00:20:17.509 moving her back into her own little office, right? 00:20:18.250 --> 00:20:21.690 So I'm so delighted to hear these kinds of stories 00:20:21.690 --> 00:20:24.990 that leaders did the right thing, supported their 00:20:24.990 --> 00:20:27.869 people, didn't abandon their people. Yeah, yeah, 00:20:27.930 --> 00:20:32.680 yeah. That's refreshing. um so quick question 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:37.079 for you right we uh the the show that we're on 00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:41.099 here is called vision pros yes and we love to 00:20:41.099 --> 00:20:45.019 ask people what their vision is and what i mean 00:20:45.019 --> 00:20:47.960 by that is we all have a clarified story or many 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:51.579 of us have a clarified story that lives up here 00:20:51.579 --> 00:20:54.180 and we're working to bring that into the physical 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:59.539 realm so question for you arun is What is your 00:20:59.539 --> 00:21:05.220 vision? So the short answer is that my vision 00:21:05.220 --> 00:21:10.279 is to communicate the return on investment from 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.059 ethical business practices to as many business 00:21:14.059 --> 00:21:17.039 leaders in every sector across the globe. So 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.539 basically, I want to demonstrate to them that 00:21:19.539 --> 00:21:22.759 this is not something which is theory. This is 00:21:22.759 --> 00:21:27.549 not something which... It's nice to have, not 00:21:27.549 --> 00:21:30.170 like a code of conduct you stick on a shelf or 00:21:30.170 --> 00:21:32.369 something you put on your wall, but this is something 00:21:32.369 --> 00:21:34.869 you want to live and make your decisions accordingly, 00:21:35.210 --> 00:21:41.569 right? So my vision is to explain in detail, 00:21:41.750 --> 00:21:49.750 to persuade them to give ethics a chair at the 00:21:49.750 --> 00:21:52.359 table. right so you're making a business decision 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:54.960 you're under pressure you have a lot of moving 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:58.220 parts not to abandon ethics but to think about 00:21:58.220 --> 00:22:01.420 ethics right and this is because you will see 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:04.579 a long -term benefit you will see increase in 00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:08.200 trust you will see a lot of very specific returns 00:22:08.200 --> 00:22:10.779 they're not quantifiable it's not like a tit 00:22:10.779 --> 00:22:14.579 for tat kind of a calculation but that's my personal 00:22:14.579 --> 00:22:18.819 vision for my life My life purpose is exactly 00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:22.920 that. On a personal level, what I would love 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:26.599 to do is to address very large crowds. So, you 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:29.460 know, for example, I've spoken to 300, 400 people. 00:22:29.539 --> 00:22:32.019 I would love to get into a much larger audience 00:22:32.019 --> 00:22:35.539 where in that same time you're impacting more 00:22:35.539 --> 00:22:39.589 people. That's my personal kind of goal. Of course, 00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:41.930 we have a number of courses. We have a number 00:22:41.930 --> 00:22:46.069 of on -demand courses. I talk about how to improve 00:22:46.069 --> 00:22:48.470 governance. I talk about different aspects of 00:22:48.470 --> 00:22:51.789 ethics. I have courses on key performance indicators, 00:22:52.289 --> 00:22:55.029 internal control. So these are all the things 00:22:55.029 --> 00:22:59.289 that... I have gathered in about 40, 45 years 00:22:59.289 --> 00:23:02.890 worth of work. Like in small business, big business, 00:23:03.089 --> 00:23:06.130 I've seen governments, I've served on a number 00:23:06.130 --> 00:23:08.470 of boards. So I see the governance from that 00:23:08.470 --> 00:23:12.990 side. So that would be an amazing life purpose 00:23:12.990 --> 00:23:18.650 to be able to have people think about ethics, 00:23:19.009 --> 00:23:23.099 make their decisions based on ethics. strive 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:25.920 for the best possible decision, not just to make 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:30.259 a quick decision. Yes, this is inspiring. And 00:23:30.259 --> 00:23:34.099 I hope y 'all who are out there listening are 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:37.700 really hearing this because this is not necessarily 00:23:37.700 --> 00:23:44.599 a popular stance. We frequently look for the 00:23:44.599 --> 00:23:48.180 shortcut. We frequently look for the loophole. 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:53.259 We frequently look to see. who's looking who's 00:23:53.259 --> 00:23:56.880 not looking right um what can i get away with 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:02.740 and and this is um a wonderful challenge and 00:24:02.740 --> 00:24:06.700 to i encourage you all to like really hear what 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:10.119 he's saying and ask yourself what is my standard 00:24:10.119 --> 00:24:14.380 what is my personal standard when it comes to 00:24:14.380 --> 00:24:19.680 living ethically is it do i do it when it's convenient 00:24:20.829 --> 00:24:25.130 Because that's easy. The challenge is, am I willing 00:24:25.130 --> 00:24:29.869 to do it when it's not convenient, when it is 00:24:29.869 --> 00:24:34.190 inconvenient? Am I willing to do it when it's 00:24:34.190 --> 00:24:37.769 going to cost me? Am I willing to do it when 00:24:37.769 --> 00:24:42.490 it hurts? Right. For sure. So, you know, Fletcher, 00:24:42.529 --> 00:24:44.410 it's so interesting you're putting it across 00:24:44.410 --> 00:24:47.509 like this. It's such a nice way to explain, you 00:24:47.509 --> 00:24:49.859 know, one of the thoughts that. came into my 00:24:49.859 --> 00:24:53.700 mind when you think about warren buffett for 00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:57.720 example like he has outdone the entire financial 00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:01.920 sector the stock market the investment area consistently 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:05.119 over like decades right yes so the question arises 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:08.400 when buffett looks at an opportunity acquisition 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:11.539 opportunity to buy shares in a company to control 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:15.289 a company uh you know We asked like, you know, 00:25:15.309 --> 00:25:18.509 what is the first criteria for Mr. Buffett in 00:25:18.509 --> 00:25:21.210 evaluating or looking? So now, you know, in my 00:25:21.210 --> 00:25:23.829 field in finance and accounting, you know, the 00:25:23.829 --> 00:25:27.170 obvious answers would be like earnings, cash 00:25:27.170 --> 00:25:31.109 flow, financial strength, synergy, projected 00:25:31.109 --> 00:25:34.109 earnings, strength of the company and marketplace. 00:25:34.230 --> 00:25:36.470 All of these are kind of the normal things we've 00:25:36.470 --> 00:25:39.569 been taught in accounting, in MBA and all of 00:25:39.569 --> 00:25:42.509 that. But with Mr. Buffett, it's none of that 00:25:42.509 --> 00:25:45.029 stuff. He doesn't jump into looking at the financials 00:25:45.029 --> 00:25:47.690 and all of that. He looks at the integrity of 00:25:47.690 --> 00:25:51.490 the leaders of that company. He looks at evaluating 00:25:51.490 --> 00:25:55.289 their level of honesty. And going back to your 00:25:55.289 --> 00:25:58.089 point, he looks at when times are tough, not 00:25:58.089 --> 00:26:00.049 when times are good, right? Because when times 00:26:00.049 --> 00:26:02.089 are good, everybody's successful, everybody's 00:26:02.089 --> 00:26:05.650 good, right? So what he does is he looks at whether 00:26:05.650 --> 00:26:10.309 they explain bad news. In a transparent and wholesome 00:26:10.309 --> 00:26:12.630 manner, the good and bad and the ugly, they put 00:26:12.630 --> 00:26:15.029 it out there for their investors, for their employees, 00:26:15.250 --> 00:26:18.190 for the public. Or do they sugarcoat and they 00:26:18.190 --> 00:26:19.930 make it look like, you know, things are better 00:26:19.930 --> 00:26:23.009 than they are. So if Buffett has doubts about 00:26:23.009 --> 00:26:26.309 that matter in terms of the company's founders, 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:29.710 the company's executives, he doesn't bother getting 00:26:29.710 --> 00:26:32.049 into the financial. He just walks away. Right. 00:26:32.089 --> 00:26:34.970 And look at the success he's achieved by applying 00:26:34.970 --> 00:26:38.000 that first kind of principle. Yeah. So there's 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:40.039 something to this, you know. Yeah, that's remarkable. 00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:44.880 You know, we're coming up against our time. So 00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:47.839 I want to encourage the listeners. Look, if you 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.819 are interested in having a conversation with 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:54.480 Arun, if you're interested in learning more about 00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:58.299 what he's offering, if you're if you need his 00:26:58.299 --> 00:27:01.460 services, if you find you're in a position where 00:27:01.460 --> 00:27:04.619 you need his services and you want somebody that 00:27:04.619 --> 00:27:08.579 you can trust. This man is all about ethics. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:12.660 So if you want somebody that's trustworthy on 00:27:12.660 --> 00:27:16.019 your team, I invite you to reach him. And how 00:27:16.019 --> 00:27:19.059 do we get in touch with you? So my company is 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:21.740 called UltimQuest Knowledge Inc. So that's where 00:27:21.740 --> 00:27:26.099 the courses are. I'm very, very happy to speak 00:27:26.099 --> 00:27:29.559 to corporations, to speak to associations, to 00:27:29.559 --> 00:27:33.710 speak to any kind of a group. uh where my message 00:27:33.710 --> 00:27:37.509 would resonate would be of value um interestingly 00:27:37.509 --> 00:27:40.390 i'm able to customize my message for different 00:27:40.390 --> 00:27:43.730 industrial sectors for different types of situations 00:27:43.730 --> 00:27:47.670 we do that all the time uh very very happy to 00:27:47.670 --> 00:27:50.069 speak so ultimate quest knowledge is is is the 00:27:50.069 --> 00:27:52.309 thing i also have a personal website which is 00:27:52.309 --> 00:27:56.789 arun mathur .ca so you can also look me up there 00:27:56.789 --> 00:28:03.230 i have a linkedin presence i have uh i think 00:28:03.230 --> 00:28:06.170 we we are on instagram we have a number of things 00:28:06.170 --> 00:28:09.849 like that on the go so you know this idea of 00:28:09.849 --> 00:28:12.710 return on investment from ethical business practices 00:28:12.710 --> 00:28:17.289 be very very happy to talk to that we can we 00:28:17.289 --> 00:28:22.970 can talk about how like what can you do in your 00:28:22.970 --> 00:28:25.029 organization right what are some of the ideas 00:28:25.029 --> 00:28:27.190 that you could implement one of the other things 00:28:27.190 --> 00:28:30.950 i've done is i've created a very very simple 00:28:31.529 --> 00:28:34.589 four -step formula on how to confront an ethical 00:28:34.589 --> 00:28:37.809 dilemma. So when you feel uncomfortable about 00:28:37.809 --> 00:28:39.890 a business situation, you're being asked to do 00:28:39.890 --> 00:28:42.529 something you're not comfortable in doing, you 00:28:42.529 --> 00:28:44.569 think it might be hurting someone, it might have 00:28:44.569 --> 00:28:47.390 negative consequences. So this kind of four -step 00:28:47.390 --> 00:28:49.450 approach is like boom, boom, boom, you go through. 00:28:49.529 --> 00:28:52.410 So I explain how to do that. We're actually talking 00:28:52.410 --> 00:28:55.109 about creating like an app. I haven't done it 00:28:55.109 --> 00:28:58.809 yet, but creating an app where we harness the 00:28:58.809 --> 00:29:01.789 power of ai and my knowledge of all the types 00:29:01.789 --> 00:29:04.750 of ethical dilemmas so that we would provide 00:29:04.750 --> 00:29:07.930 like a step -by -step guidance on which would 00:29:07.930 --> 00:29:11.150 give you courage which give you confidence help 00:29:11.150 --> 00:29:14.170 you to come to a better decision than just succumbing 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:18.740 to pressure or perhaps you know maybe not doing 00:29:18.740 --> 00:29:20.440 anything right that's the other thing when you're 00:29:20.440 --> 00:29:22.599 under a lot of pressure we just kind of do nothing 00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:26.099 right yes so to avoid this kind of pitfall to 00:29:26.099 --> 00:29:30.000 avoid getting into a mess right because the scandals 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:32.099 are out there every day right every day you see 00:29:32.099 --> 00:29:36.880 in the papers right failures you know huge failures 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:39.480 so we want to prevent all of that by being proactive 00:29:40.970 --> 00:29:44.849 Yeah, right on. So much good stuff here. I hope 00:29:44.849 --> 00:29:48.529 you all have gotten something to take away from 00:29:48.529 --> 00:29:51.250 this conversation. I know I have. It's inspiring 00:29:51.250 --> 00:29:56.529 to meet people who are striving to live by their 00:29:56.529 --> 00:30:01.549 ethics, who are striving to live from a place 00:30:01.549 --> 00:30:05.250 of integrity. So Arun, thank you so much for 00:30:05.250 --> 00:30:06.970 being on the show today. It's been a pleasure. 00:30:07.230 --> 00:30:11.079 And again, if you... have been moved by this 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:13.900 conversation and want more information, check 00:30:13.900 --> 00:30:16.539 out his website, connect with him on LinkedIn. 00:30:16.980 --> 00:30:20.140 And thank you for being a part of the show. Thank 00:30:20.140 --> 00:30:22.460 you so much, Fletcher. I had a great time speaking 00:30:22.460 --> 00:30:24.720 with you and I would love to talk to you further. 00:30:24.859 --> 00:30:27.640 It's such a pleasure. We'll have you back. And 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:30.559 now it's time for you all to get out there, be 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:32.660 a source of kindness, be a source of contribution. 00:30:33.000 --> 00:30:35.940 You do have something to offer this world. And 00:30:35.940 --> 00:30:37.839 I believe in you. Thank you for being here today. 00:30:38.019 --> 00:30:39.779 I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision 00:30:39.779 --> 00:30:42.400 Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your 00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:45.200 reactions as these episodes continue to move 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:47.140 forward. This is going to get more and more fun. 00:30:47.180 --> 00:30:49.039 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 00:30:49.059 --> 00:30:50.980 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 00:30:51.099 --> 00:30:53.160 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:56.079 Have an excellent time building out your vision 00:30:56.079 --> 00:30:57.440 and becoming a vision pro yourself.