What Are Your Standards ? - May 8, 2026

What Is Non-Negotiable For You?

I recently read a book by former NHL player Chris Pronger, entitled “Earned”.  Pronger had an accomplished career, having played 1,167 regular season games and 173 playoff games over 18 seasons in the NHL.  He won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007; he was a four-time Olympian, having twice won a Gold Medal with Canada’s Men’s Hockey Team, in 2002 (Salt Lake City) and 2010 (Vancouver). In terms of individual honours, in the 2000 season he won both the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP and the James Norris Trophy as the league’s Best Defenseman. And, in 2015, Pronger was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.  

Needless to say, Pronger had a great career as a hockey player.  Along with several business interests, Chris is now a member of the NHL media, appearing on both Sportsnet and ESPN telecasts of NHL games.  Seeing him on those TV broadcasts, I find his analysis to be insightful, articulate  and well-thought out. Given his pedigree, his comments come from a place of credibility.  It was his performance and thoughts as a hockey analyst that got me interested in reading his book.  

Reading books by former pro athletes can be hit and miss; sometimes they are poorly written, or tellingly ghost-written; often the story told in these pro-athlete books don’t offer much by way of unique insight and are full of cliches. Pronger’s book is different and got me thinking.  Early in his pro career he was challenged by someone to identify what his personal standards were.  His book describes going through this process, his efforts to adhere to these personal standards throughout his life, and the importance these standards played in his hockey career and personal life.   Reading his story in this regard  got me thinking about what my personal standards are.  

Over the course of my life and business career, I’ve spent time thinking and writing down what my guiding principles should be.  Coming up with my standards wasn’t triggered by reading Pronger’s book, but it did cause me to revisit these and document them again.  Putting something down in writing forces you to gain clarity, and ensure you truly understand the principles being thought about and discussed.  With this in mind, here are my personal standards:

1. Always do the right thing, at the right time.

2. Always do what you said you’d do.

3. Always do your best; don’t cut corners.  

4. Be present - focus on the task or the conversation at hand.  

1. Always do the right thing, at the right time.

Whether in our personal lives, or in our professional or business dealings, we come across challenging situations that require us to take actions we otherwise wouldn’t want to do, or have difficult and unpleasant conversations.  Facing these situations head-on, addressing them or having the difficult conversations promptly, is the right thing to do for everyone involved.  Some people will procrastinate in these situations, and delay or avoid taking action.  For example, if you’re dating someone and the relationship has come to an end from your perspective, and it’s time to break-up, the right thing to do is to have that break-up conversation in-person, and promptly after you’ve come to the conclusion that breaking-up is the right thing to do. They deserve to hear the news face-to-face.  Breaking up with someone over the phone, or by text, is weak and disrespectful. Delaying that conversation is disingenuous towards the other person, and painful for you to carry around in your head.    Bad news should always be delivered in-person and while looking the other person in the eyes…and delivered promptly. 

A professional example of doing the right thing is if you’re a manager and have reached the conclusion that the employment of one of your staff members has to be terminated; ie - they are no longer adding value to your team or organization, or are disruptive to the team’s mission…they have to go.  The right thing to do is to have that difficult conversation in-person, with a third person joining in that meeting to witness what has been said by all parties, and delivering the news face-to-face.  Some people will try to have this conversation over the phone, by email, text, or via Slack.  None of these approaches are the right thing to do.  When someone is being terminated from their job, they deserve to receive that news  face-to-face, with an opportunity to respond.  

In my career I’ve managed people for over 30 years. During that time, I’ve had to carry out  an estimated 50 employment terminations.  Every one of those I’ve delivered the news in-person. I always sat down across from them and told them their services were no longer needed, and explained why they were being terminated. These were difficult conversations to have, and occasionally they were accompanied by emotional outbursts.   On one occasion I flew from Ottawa to San Francisco to terminate two sales people I had hired, to ensure the conversation occurred in-person.  It was the right thing to do. 

In another situation I terminated the employment of one of our engineers, which I did face-to-face.  A few days later she emailed me and asked for a follow-up meeting.  There was nothing for us to talk about but I agreed to the meeting nonetheless, as it was the right thing to do, to give her the opportunity to speak her mind.  She came to the meeting accompanied by her husband, who wore his best suit, and likely his only suit, and they brought with them their infant child in a stroller.  The four of us crammed into my small office.  She proceeded to tell me that terminating her job was going to cause them financial hardship, especially with their newborn child, who looked very cute in this meeting but did nothing to soften our position.  Their purpose in having this meeting was to convince me that the severance pay we were offering her was woefully inadequate given their circumstances.  I replied that while I was sympathetic to their personal situation, that our severance package was based on Ontario employment law and the relevant case law for employment separations, also in Ontario.  As a business, we could not take people’s individual financial situations into consideration; That is what the employment laws and precedent case laws were for, which we had already consulted in arriving at her separation package. So, even though the conversation was unusual, awkward, and not something I'd ever do personally, giving her the opportunity to plead her case, with her family present, was the right thing to do. 

The notion of “always do the right thing” has been a personal standard for me for a long time, and I’ve tried my best to follow it.  The addendum of “at the right time” is something I recently came across. Always doing the right thing is a very important personal standard to have, but doing the right thing on a timely basis is just as important.  Doing the right thing, but doing it several months later because it’s less painful for you, is not the right thing to do.  Do the right thing when it's needed.  Doing the right thing, at the right time, is something I recently picked up from author Ryan Holiday’s book of the same name.  This addendum is important. 

2. Always do what you said you’d do.

If you’ve committed to someone that you’ll complete a task, have a conversation with someone, pay for something, or run an errand, and that person is now expecting and counting on you to complete that task…do it.  There’s nothing more annoying than finding out the other person didn’t do what they said they would do.   Plans have likely been made  based on this expectation, and the other party had not planned on taking on this action themselves.  With things now not being done, they’re stuck having to fix a potential problem.  No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes, and forgetting to fulfil your commitments once in a while is understandable and forgivable.  But if not doing what you said you’d do becomes a regular habit, your credibility comes into question and people will stop trusting you.  All relationships, personal and professional, are built on trust. If you regularly fail to deliver on your promises, trust is lost and that relationship is damaged.

3. Always do your best; don’t cut corners.

After you’ve committed to taking on a task, use your best efforts and energy to complete it, and complete it on a timely basis.  This standard is related to doing what you said you’d do, but completing that undertaking to the best of your ability. Not expending your best effort after you’ve made a commitment impacts your credibility. You owe this level of commitment for every promise you make, but also to yourself.  For example, if you committed to speaking to a staff member about their inappropriate office attire, then do it, even if it’s an awkward conversation to have, especially when this conversation has to take place across genders.  Don't sugar-coat the message or minimize the transgression; if the conversation is warranted then deliver the message clearly and professionally. 

4. Be present - focus on the task or conversation at hand.

The expression “be present” is something I’ve recently come across.  Once I understood the intent of this saying, I realized that it’s not a new concept, but rather a current way of conveying, “give your full attention to a conversation or situation that is unfolding in front of you”.  Electronic devices, social media and digital apps on our devices are notorious for drawing our attention away from a task at hand, or a conversation we were already engaged in…the distractions are now endless.  This is not good, and it’s one of the many downsides to hardware technology advances (smart phone devices), and software applications (social media and apps) that have inundated our daily lives.  We aren’t mentally present even if we’re physically in close proximity to someone or a group of people.  We’re often thinking of something else.  How often do you check your phone when you’re having a one-on-one conversation with someone?  The answer should be zero! When you’re working out, how often are you actually thinking about the exercise and your form in doing that exercise. The answer should be always.  By holding yourself to a standard of “always being present” you're doing proper justice to the  task at hand, or paying proper respect to the person who took time to have a conversation with.  You owe it to the task or the person, to be present. 

As my business colleagues, family and friends read this article, I'm sure they will recall an incident where I wasn't following these personal standards I’m claiming to have. “Hey Shail, what about the time…?”  I’m sure they are right, and that I have violated my own standards on more than one occasion.  I never claimed to be perfect; I’ve made plenty of mistakes.  Regardless, we should all have standards that we try our best to adhere to, at all times, that are non-negotiable, and that we always try to get better at.  These are mine…what are yours?