What do you do when someone asks for a reference or a
referral and you are not totally comfortable providing one?
I get asked a lot for references from speakers, suppliers
and people I don’t really know and with this new endorsement program on
LinkedIn, you start to feel obliged to reciprocate when people have endorsed
you.
But I have actually decided with the endorsements that I am
just not going to go there … for anyone.
No, the tougher ones are those who have done a so-so job or the dilemma
I face right now, where the person actually owes you money and you question
their ethics.
Without sounding vain, well maybe a tad, my recommendation
can carry some weight and so I am reluctant to sully my own reputation by
ringing the praises of someone I have reservations about or who I feel I will be condoning their bad
behaviour.
I know when I worked in Human Resources and we were taking
up references, it was often what was not
said that was a clue to the true character of the individual being researched.
So I am keeping quiet.
