Ties That Bind Us: Winners Never Cheat

Just inspiring. After wanting to read Winners Never Cheat for several years, I finally got around to it. I highly recommend it to anyone in business (or life for that matter). A truly inspiring person, Jon Huntsman Sr., built an enterprise on honesty and ethics. His actions mirror his words throughout his business and personal life. He has been extensively involved in charity throughout his life, giving millions upon millions away. His goal is to die broke and with the amount of money he gives to charitable organizations, he’s well on his way.

From an interview in 2007, Jon indicated:

"...we have cancer institutes... centers for abused women and children... scholarships... programs for the homeless."

Back in 2001, his company was on very rocky ground. Mr. Huntsman showed an amazing sense of integrity during this adversity. Others might have gone back on their word, because some promises were just for charities:

"If all of a sudden we withdrew our money, our commitments, and these commitments are made over three, four, five, six, seven years, if we withdrew those commitments, thousands of people, millions of people would either go homeless, would not have scholarships. So those become vital parts of our link to integrity and honesty and keeping our word."

He went to Morgan Chase and Citibank to take out a loan, putting his home and what’s left of the business up for collateral. And they said:

"Well, Jon, your business, it looks like it might make it. It looks like it might make it." He said, "No, it isn`t for the business; this is for charity."

How many business owners, executives or anyone else do you know who would display such integrity? He found out at one point, that in order to continue doing business in Singapore, he would have to pay kick-backs. When Mr. Huntsman refused, he found out that another company had been paying Jon’s share of the bribes. At this point, Mr. Huntsman sold their interest in the dealings and extricated himself from the situation. THAT’S integrity.

This is a great interview with Jon from back in 2008:

Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People said of Jon Huntsman:

“Primary greatness is character and contribution. Secondary greatness is how most people define success—wealth, fame, position, etc. Few have both. Jon’s one of them."

I encourage you to go check out the other reviews on Amazon and get Winners Never Cheat for yourself.