Both weekly and monthly, I receive a large number of publications that deal with business and technology. Ever since the whole Enron scandal became news, these magazines have and are featuring more and more articles dealing with business ethics, honesty and trust. I suggest that there are ethics and principles that we, as entrepreneurs should embrace and follow. These are the beliefs that have worked for me over the years and have worked for those entrepreneurs who are at the top of their professions.

A professional is up front and honest about what he or she does for a living and is willing to do for a client. First of all, we must be honest with ourselves. We must know our own strengths and weaknesses, our likes and dislikes. When meeting with potential clients, I feel that it is of utmost importance to be genuine and sincere. It is also important to work ethically and with integrity -- never performing a task that challenges our principles, no matter how much money we are offered. Even bending the rules a "tiny bit" will eat away at us and undermine our attitude and career.

Being a fitness instructor, I was involved in an all day Yoga workshop given by a Yoga Master. She told us that Yoga was not only a physical discipline but also a whole way of life. Our instructor shared an example of what she as a Yoga Master did when driving up to an ATM machine and finding cash left accidentally by the previous user. She said that she knew right away to get out of her car and to take the money into the bank to be returned to its rightful owner. I have the sinking feeling that a good number of people might grab that money and drive away.

A professional honestly and accurately communicates his or her qualifications. This follows directly from the previous paragraph. We must never create qualifications -- like college degrees we didn't earn or clients we never had or work we've never performed -- to make ourselves look more experienced than we are. I know successful entrepreneurs who are in demand, yet don't have that coveted degree, wealthy backgrounds or clients from Fortune 500 companies.

It is more important to be able to professionally fill people's wants and needs - to discover and solve their problems. It boggles my mind when I read about all of the falsification in resumes, let alone small businesses' brochures and websites. Who would ever hire you for a job if they found out that you were lying in your written communications?

A professional can be trusted completely by his or her clients to do the best job possible. When we are hired for a job no matter how big or small, we must be willing "to give it our all." That means proper preparation (the unethical entrepreneur just "wings it"), excellent research, hours of getting it "right" and sufficient contact and communication with the client. This also includes minute attention to details, never assuming, always confirming. It means always "going the extra mile" to please one's client.

In what ways are you living and working with your ethics? I know that I have just scratched the surface here.