One of Seinfeld’s many great contributions to society is their creation of sayings. What sayings you ask? For starters, did we have a formal name for someone who dips a chip, takes a bite and dips again? We do now! How about someone who quietly sides up right next to you, thus taking credit for work they didn’t help with? That would be a “sidler.”

“She’s a two-face.”
-George Costanza

So comes my thought for today: Don’t be a two-face.

I was recently attending a corporate meeting on something amazing happened that I am still shaking my head over. In an eight hour meeting, over 1,000 pieces of crisp, fresh white copy paper was used to make copies of reports and year-end data. If the team had been 500 people, that wouldn’t sound so bad. But sadly, the team was less than 20 people. While this is a disappointingly large use (waste) of paper, I probably wouldn’t be writing this is three of the pages in each person’s packet was explaining all the “green” initiatives of the company.

Once that was handed out, I started keep track of all the paper. I was beyond disappointed. You are either green or you’re not. But either way, own it.

Sans from a few major character issues, saying you are one thing and showing you are another is a terrible trait. Not only is it misleading, it is dishonest. Put simply, it can and will hurt you and your business.

I can’t believe I’m saying it, but Costanza had the concept right: Don’t be a two-face.