Realtors® from around the country recently had an opportunity to view an excellent video dealing with the not-always-common courtesies and behaviors that make up so much of what is called "professionalism." The video was screened at the Professional Standards Forum, held during the annual meetings and convention of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), in New Orleans.

Produced by the Realtor Association of West/South Suburban Chicagoland (RWSSC), the video presents the various tenets of "Pathways to Professionalism," a document updated just two years ago by NAR.

The preamble to that document reads as follows:

"While the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the National Association establishes objective, enforceable ethical standards governing the professional conduct of Realtors, it does not address issues of courtesy or etiquette. Based on input from many sources, the Professional Conduct Working Group of the Professional Standards Committee developed the following list of professional courtesies for use by Realtors on a voluntary basis. This list is not all-inclusive, and may be supplemented by local custom and practice."

Pathways to Professionalism covers three areas: (i) Respect for the Public, (ii) Respect for Property, and (iii) Respect for Peers. The respective areas contain 21, 8, and 12 principles. None of this is good behavior rocket science. Part I, for example, contains injunctions such as "Respond promptly to inquiries and requests for information"; "Schedule appointments and showings as far in advance as possible"; "Call if you are delayed or must cancel an appointment or showing."

Part II advises, among other things, that agents should never allow buyers to access a property unaccompanied, and agents should always leave a property the way they found it (doors locked, lights out, etc.).

Now some might think: "Why waste time and effort on little things like courtesy and etiquette when -- as we all know -- there are bigger problems such as seriously unethical, sometimes even unlawful, behavior that need to be addressed."

Certainly one can have some sympathy for such an objection; but it is mistaken. It is mistaken because (so-called) little things do matter. They matter a lot. Indeed, it might even be correct to say that there are no little things.

Matters of taste, manners, and morals fall on a continuum, and there are no clear dividing lines between them. There is a great deal of overlap in the areas of manners and morals (or, if you like, courtesy and right action), where both are informed by the principle of the Golden Rule. The principle behind "return your phone calls" and "let people know if you’re running late" is the same as that which undergirds injunctions to tell the truth and to treat others fairly. It is the Golden Rule, the principle of treating others as we would want to be treated.

Not only do manners and morals share underlying principles, but also the teaching and reinforcement of manners greatly enhances efforts to teach and encourage ethical behavior. People who get into the habit of being courteous get into the habit of taking others into account. Paying attention to manners instills in us a disposition to do Golden Rule thinking -- to consider others and to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes.

Columnist Dave Barry once wrote, "A person who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person." He is correct. If a real estate office is a place where "little acts of kindness" are practiced routinely, where friendliness and cheerfulness are the norm -- and where rudeness and mean-spiritedness are out of place -- then the moral dimension of its agents will be nurtured, and they can be expected to do what is right in the "big" situations.

"Pathways to Professionalism" doesn’t tackle the big issues. It focuses on the little ones, and in doing so, it performs an important function. Brokers who want to foster an ethical climate in their offices would do well to start here.

Published: December 20, 2006

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Bob Hunt is a former director of the National Association of Realtors and is author of the recently published book, "Real Estate the Ethical Way." A graduate of Princeton with a master's degree from UCLA in philosophy, Hunt has served as a U.S. Marine, Realtor association president in South Orange County, and director of the California Association of Realtors, and is an award-winning Realtor. Contact Bob at .