The Golden Rule

“The teachings of Confucius, who advocated the Golden Rule many centuries ago, if adopted, will secure good results in business, and will be of pecuniary benefit.” Elbert Gary, President & CEO of United States Steel, 1922 Speech ‘Ethics in Business.’

“A truly customer-centric company is one that lives up to the Golden Rule. Employees treat customers the way they would want to be treated if they were customers. That means avoiding bad profits entirely.” Fred Reichheld, ‘The Loyalty Effect’

“Benfold’s crew lived and worked by the Golden Rule. We trusted that everyone would be treated with dignity and respect, and we expected no less [from anyone].” Captain Abrashoff, ‘It’s Your Ship’

“We do believe in high wages rather than low. We believe we get better men, a larger production and in every way better results. We believe in no place can the Golden Rule be applied to better advantage than in dealing with our workmen.” Willian Baldwin, Otis Elevator Co. 1910

“In regard to the personal relation in industry, I should say, apply the Golden Rule. Every human being responds more quickly to love and sympathy than to the exercise of authority and the display of distrust.” John D Rokcefeller Jr. 1916

“I believe that to ‘do unto others as you would that they should do unto you’ is as sound business as it is good religion.” John D Rockefeller Jr. 1916

“It is a matter of the heart as much as it is of the head. You won’t do it unless you have it in your heart, and if you have, you will easily find the way. It is as simple as the Golden Rule. It is putting yourself in the worker’s place, and doing by him as you would have him do by you. There is a good deal of talk about the machinery of industrial democracy, but it is the spirit that counts. It is the human factor that makes the machinery worth while.” George F Johnson, Endicott Johnson

“Life and business are rather simple after all - to make a success of either, you’ve got to hang on to the knack of putting yourself into the other person’s place.” William Wrigley, Jr.

“Never have I known [George Merchele] to take a position in regard to company affairs without first applying the proposition to himself to make sure that, if he were the insured, he was being treated fairly.” State Farm, ‘The Farmer from Merna’

“There is nobody on this earth who understands their customer base better than USAA. That’s because, in almost everything it does, the financial-services outfit puts itself in the spit-shined shoes of its often highly mobile customers, many of whom face unique financial challenges.” Bill Taylor, ‘Simply Brilliant’

“Treat the other fellow the same way you’d like him to treat you.” S Cathy Truett, Chick-fil-A

“Treat people the way you want to be treated. From the janitor and cook to the Board members, everyone matters and has an important role to play.” Alan McKim, Clean Harbors

“Work hard. Share. Be lucky. Then couple that with absolute honesty. And never forget the biblical admonition, ‘Do unto others as ….’” Michael Bloomberg

“You can’t beat the Golden Rule as a business philosophy: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” S Truett Cathy, Chick-fil-A

“Our culture is our most important asset. It’s based on doing the right thing. Put yourself in the member’s shoes. Be fair.” Jim Sinegal, Costco

“The Golden Rule, ‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you’ is deeply ingrained in both of us - so much so it became a core value at KKR.” Henry Kravis, KKR

“How can you fail if you treat other people with what you’d like if you did it to yourself? It’s the Golden Rule. Of course, it works.” Charlie Munger

“As we’ve gotten bigger, we’ve used this sort of Golden Rule that we want to treat the subsidiaries the way we would want to be treated if we were in the subsidiaries.” Charlie Munger

“I think that concept of treating the other fellow the way you’d like to be treated if the roles were reversed — it’s so simple, when you stop to think about it.” Charlie Munger

“We work all the time at trying to behave with other people as if our positions were reversed. That’s what Charlie’s always advised in all our activities, and we’ve tried to follow it. And we’re certainly far from perfect at it, but if you keep working at it, it does get results.” Warren Buffett

“Nucor is founded on principles so basic, they sound corny. We believe in treating people the way you’d want to be treated.” Ken Iverson, Nucor

“Treat people as you want to be treated.” Bennett Helzberg, Helzberg Diamonds

“Mr. Jenkins taught me a long time ago to practice the Golden Rule – to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you follow that basic principle, you’re going to achieve what you want. I apply it and teach it to the people who work with me.” Pat Watters, Publix

“Enshrining the Golden Rule as our primary working guide was the most fundamental decision in shaping our future.” Isadore Sharp, Four Seasons

“The Golden Rule – ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’ is a tried and true principle that serves as the foundation upon which our company was built.” Mary Kay

“My faith in trust goes back to the Golden Rule. Vanguard, our patron Saint the great British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson, captain of the HMS Vanguard and an unparalleled molder of men, reaffirms this Golden Rule.” John C Bogle, Vanguard

“‘Equity’ was one of my father’s favorite words. He conceived that equity must be practiced with all who did business with Neiman-Marcus - employees, customers, vendors alike. This was another way of saying, ‘Let’s practice the Golden Rule in all of our dealings.’ To this day we carry this message to all new employees as the one inviolable rule of operation. No one has ever had the temerity to disagree with it, but on occasion we have to issue a reminder to a backslider.” Stanley Marcus, Neiman Marcus

“Bill Child built a business from sales of $250,000 to a level of $257m in the year of our purchase. He didn’t do this by inventing something new. He just applied the oldest and soundest principle ever set forth: Treat the other fellow as you would like to be treated yourself. By consistently following this principle Bill Child transformed a hole-in-the-wall operation in the tiny town of Syracuse into a business that enjoys the trust of millions of his fellow citizens in Utah.” Warren Buffett, ‘The RC Willey Story’

“With any deal, you want to treat folks right, like you’d like to be treated.” Willis Johnson, Copart

“You must treat people as you would want to be treated.” Arthur Blank, Home Depot

“We speak to each customer as we want to be treated, as an engaged, intelligent, trusted individual.” Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia

“All I ever set out to do was build a firm that serves the customer the way I’d want to be served myself.” Charles Schwab

“Always treat your employees the way you want to be treated.” Chester Cadieux, Quiktrip

“By treating our employees the way we would want to be treated, we hope the QuikTrip family will continue to work towards making great things happen time and time again.” Chester Cadieux, Quiktrip

“Treat your customers as you want to be treated.” Chester Cadiex, Quiktrip

“Bruce Halle’s philosophy is to treat people like you want to be treated.” Michael Rosenbaum, Discount Tire Company

“Think like a customer and treat them as you would like to be treated. Remember: we are agents for our customers and they can fire us at any time and take their business elsewhere.” Bill Child, RC Willey

“Retailers should treat their suppliers as they wished to be treated themselves.” Dieter Brandes, Aldi

“We strive to treat our guests the way we would want to be treated. The Golden Rule remains as fresh and meaningful as ever; and beyond how well it serves people in their lives, it may also be the most potent business strategy ever devised.” Danny Meyer, Union Hospitality

“We want a keen price, of course, but we also want to treat our suppliers in the same decent way that we would expect them to treat us, and we want them to stay in business so that they can keep supplying us. They won’t do that if we push their prices down so low that they stop making profits.” Ian Gregg, Greggs

“Many would say there is no place for graciousness and the Golden Rule in business, politics, athletics, or other highly competitive settings. Only results count. I would say hogwash!. Only one rule is necessary in governing ethical decision making: the Golden Rule. Treating competitors, the community, employees, and fellow humans with the same courtesies we would like shown to us works for me. There is a practical side to decent behavior, too. Customers, employers, and suppliers are people who understand and appreciate kindness and decency. They normally react in kind, and that can be good for profits. Bottom lines would be better served if we put this philosophy into practice.” Jon Huntsman, Huntsman Corporation

“When I write the report and Charlie looks at it, we say to ourselves, ‘Are we telling you what we would want to know about if our positions were reversed, if we were on the receiving end?’ And we really try to put in the report everything that’s germane to evaluation.” Warren Buffett

“Through this letter, we provide you with the information required to understand this process. We try to be transparent and comprehensive in our discussion. The reason for this is very simple: we treat you the way we would want to be treated if our roles were reversed.” Francois Rochon, Giverny Capital