This is a line from the pre-chorus of the song "Black Sheep" by the New Zealand rock artist Gin Wigmore. I wish everyone would sing this little line anytime they are tempted to be encouraged to repeat or emulate some of the awful behaviors we see to avoid what appears to be a growing trend.

Just because others are doing something awful and succeeding at it, being rewarded, enriching themselves at the expense of others, should not encourage the rest of us to follow suit. Sadly, the more recent rewarding of rotten behaviors around the globe seems to be more mainstream. In the old days bank robbers' crimes were detailed after they were caught and jailed. Today, some 'bank robbers' blatantly describe or record their activities before or during the actual crime, with great pride. Worse, some are applauded by the masses. Often they are rewarded with accolades, outstanding careers, power, etc.

I was reminded of this again this weekend, reading a story about the "Fake Heiress", the con artist who swindled some of the most sophisticated, wealthy people on earth. She almost swindled a colleague many years ago by attempting to buy a very costly property they were marketing. A falsified line on a financial document was identified and luckily a financial mess was avoided. She wasted tons of time and energy. She was later caught and jailed, and while I'm all for forgiveness, today, not only has she built a career but worse, she has built a career based on her crimes, sporting an ankle bracelet in fashion shoots and influencer roles. She is now working on a reality TV show and this quote of hers is an eyebrow-raiser:

“In the end, people can look at what you did and say, ‘Oh, this is a result of a crime,’ right? It’s like Skims with [Kim] Kardashian and the sex tape, right? It’s impossible to cater to everyone. I don’t think there’s a person who is universally liked.”

In my profession, two of the worst players are sitting in jail right now but almost all of their vile professional behaviors continue to go unpunished. When we make heroes of those who breach the basics of ethics, morality and honesty, we are certainly headed for bigger problems. Many long, outstanding careers are not built on emulating the lousy behaviors of others.