I just said no to an excellent business opportunity because I didn’t trust the person in charge, even after he doubled the salary to keep me from walking. I’m still having pangs of regret because I was passionately in love with the product. Did I do the right thing?
Double the money is very nice, we’ll give you that. But the facts are you just cannot work long with people you don’t trust, because trust is the foundation for everything good that happens in organizations, like candor, collaboration, feedback, debate, and creativity.
Now, there certainly are times when you will join a company not because you particularly like the people but because you love the product so passionately, to use your phrase, or because it just offers so much career opportunity. But trust is different from like, and the boss is different from people in general. You saw a red flag and you heeded it. Stop feeling those pangs and feel good about your call.
This question and answer originally appeared in Business Week magazine on March 05, 2007.
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