The 7 sins of business  - 4.  Greed 

" Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain, ignoring the realm of the spiritual. It is also called Avarice or Covetousness."

Its the word COVET that gets my attention here.

When I was 8 I went to a very strict catholic school. I was the new kid - worst of all my Dad was the new Top Cop in town - great new gungho Melbourne Cop in a small country town with 4 daughters - we were whispered about before we even got there.

But I digress - I started at the school and it was time for Friday Mass - and the usual pre mass confession - now I was new to this - I had barely dealt with my first confession at my previous school and here I was - confronted with the whole thing again.

My previous school was modern - we had alter girls, we sang rock songs in church and had face to face reconciliation (confession was a negative word invoking a very negative connotation).

So I went and knelt in the dark in the very musty confessional box. As a child I dont think I had ever felt quite so scared and alone. Suddenly this sliding door whips open and I deep voice says “Bless you child”

I nearly jumped out of my skin - I started reciting the words the Nun had instilled into me not 5 minutes earlier - “Bless me father for I have sinned….” lucky I have a great memory !

I dutifully thought of a few sins - hey I couldn’t go in there with nothing ? And as i left to kneel by the alter to ‘say my penance’ - I looked up I saw the 10 Commandments in the pictures spread above the alter.

Now - numbers 1 to 8 I could understand but 9 and 10 always got me - they were all about coveting - coveting others' wives and goods - as an 8 year old I barely understood the word covet - I didn’t understand why wives were ‘coveted’ and husbands were not !

So it got me thinking about what we covet and what we are greedy about.

In business (and in life) sometimes we need to channel Gordon Gecko “Greed is good” mentality. We need to take time for ourselves and protect that with care.

This is where the fundamental difference between coveting what someone else has and greed differ.

If I covet what you have - I want it - i want it with great desire and longing. Almost to a sense of jealousy. If I am greedy - i keep to myself.

A balanced sense of greed in business is not a bad trait if kept in moderation.

I am incredibly giving of my time - yes I charge by the hour but often i do not charge for my time and expertise. I give freely knowing that the favour will be returned.

Recently in business I have been lucky enough to have met some incredible people who have been able to put greed aside and give me their time. They have not jealousy coveted the spoils of what this has produced - rather celebrated with me the victories.

It takes a lot of guts to know when to be greedy in business and when to be giving - the temptation is always to look to covet what others have - but the key strength is knowing that sometimes greed is indeed good.