Issue Date: November 15, 2006

Ethically Speaking...What's a Professional?

By Jody Zink
Licensed Realtor in Ohio & Michigan

What a relief the political ad season has ended. All the mud and negativity was making me cranky. Candidates accusing their opponents of voting against body armor for the troops. Or sleeping on the job. Or saying the other guy is actually FOR the terrorists.

Politicians whose names could somehow be associated with Tom Noe were at a disadvantage at the polls November 7th.

The ethical thing to do? Don't say anything bad about anyone. Books on job interviewing discourage bad-mouthing previous employers and co-workers at all costs. Taking the high road promotes credibility. It's good for business. It helps us sleep better at night. But alas, the world is far from perfect.

When it comes to honesty and integrity, how would you rate your local rare coin dealer? Your favorite teacher in high school? Your friendly, neighborhood Realtor?

According to the most recent Gallup poll on the ethics of people in different professions, nurses are at the very top, followed by pharmacists, doctors and high school teachers. Telemarketers rank the worst, and car salesmen are one notch above them. Real estate agents ranked 11th out of the 21 different professions. Just one notch below journalists. Builders and real estate agents did fare better than lawyers, senators and congressmen.

Yikes! With a background in both journalism and real estate, I must share with you my disappointment in the results of this poll. It's clear that real estate agents aren't perceived to be as honest as I thought. This makes me more determined to do the right thing.

An element in achieving professional status as a real estate agent is agreed-upon education, including ethics training, certification by examination and continuing education. Ohio licensees are bound by the Canons of Ethics put forth by the Ohio Real Estate Commission. Agents who take the extra step to become Realtors further agree voluntarily to be bound by an additional Code of Ethics. I am proud to be part of this.

Laws state what we must or must not do. Ethics is what we should do. Much of them we learned in elementary school: Treat everyone equally. Don't take unfair advantage of people. Be loyal. Stuff we really just know, don't we? Truth and fairness are basic human values many of us are brought up with. I'd like to think the drive to carry them out is a natural instinct. There I go being optimistic again.

Professionals who consistently behave in an ethical way build trust. They definitely want someone they can trust and they deserve it. In all business, take good care of the client and everything else takes care of itself. It's good for business. It promotes better sleep. I wish more people got it.

Jody Zink is a licensed REALTOR in Ohio and Michigan with the Loss Realty Group. Her column appears every other week in the Toledo Free Press. She can be reached at jody@jodyzinkrealtor.com or 419-725-1881.