Victor Wright's code of ethics as a consultant

5. Quality and results

1. 5.1I do not guarantee results, but I take responsibility for them, provided the client implements the recommendations I give. I do not disown my responsibility for the problems the client and I are solving, even though in a consulting format I have neither the authority nor the means to manage the result directly.#
2. 5.2I take on projects and clients where I clearly see how I can add value, and I say plainly where I cannot. I name my strengths and weaknesses openly. Tasks beyond my competence I hand over to those who will do them better, or I bring such people in myself.#
3. 5.3When I fall short of my quality standard. If I fail to meet my quality standard, for internal or external reasons, I tell the client openly and propose a solution — up to pausing the work or handing it over — keeping things agreed and the value balanced with the client.#
4. 5.4When our collaboration is not delivering results for the client. If I judge that our collaboration is not effective or productive enough for the client, I am the one who proposes to discuss it and rework the priorities, the format of work, or to pause it, with the intention of finding the best solution for the client. I raise this before the next prepayment, not after.#

6. Before we start

1. 6.1We agree in advance on the goal, the picture of the result, the format, payment, and how pausing and ending work. We formulate and approve the picture of the result together.#
2. 6.2I choose the format by its value to the client, not by the size of the bill. If I see that the size of the client's business, or the development plan I have drawn up for it, does not allow my work to pay off properly in the short term at a high price, I steer the client towards a cheaper format. And the other way round: if I believe that a more expensive and intensive format will be more effective for them from where they are now, I persuade them to choose it — in business, time can be very expensive.#
3. 6.3Realistic expectations. I do not promise results I have no authority over: a consultant has no authority to make significant changes in a business, so the responsibility has to be shared.#
4. 6.4No more than four projects at a time, so that each one gets enough energy and attention for thinking about it between our meetings and for proposing unconventional, deeper solutions — not just performing a function.#
5. 6.5I disclose my roles and interests before we start if there is even the appearance of a conflict: partnerships, stakes, ties to contractors I might recommend.#
6. 6.6In promoting myself, I do not say anything untrue about myself or my work.#
7. 6.7I do not work with direct competitors. Direct competitors are companies that compete in the same market and the same niche, or whose development plans clearly overlap within the next 12 months. If I learn of plans to work in the same market, I openly tell both clients that such an overlap exists, discuss it and put in writing the agreement and the point at which it becomes a constraint on continuing our work. When reporting an overlap, I do not name the other client or their plans unless they agree to the disclosure.#

7. While we work

1. 7.1Payment is made in advance, and before each new payment the decision is made afresh. Consulting — 100% in advance every four weeks. Project work — in advance for each stage, with part of the payment after the project's result is achieved. Partnership — terms agreed separately, before work begins. The audit is free; I conduct it only for those I consider target clients (I am interested, and I see how I can be of value). At the audit I say straight away that it may become the first step towards paid work, and that its conclusions do not depend on that. If, after the audit, working with me is not needed, I say so plainly.#
2. 7.2A guarantee on the first stage of our collaboration. It is valid until the first of three events: four weeks from the start, four consulting sessions, or signing the acceptance certificate for the first period. If within this time the client sees no value and asks for a refund, I refund the payment for the first paid period. If no such request was made within this time, the guarantee is considered unused.#
3. 7.3At the end of each cycle we take stock. At the end of every four-week cycle we briefly discuss the results and the focus for the next cycle, and, if I see mutual value in continuing, I ask: “Shall we continue?” The decision to continue is made together.#
4. 7.4A signed acceptance certificate closes the period. For periods completed before the latest prepayment and covered by signed certificates, we consider that sufficient value has been delivered and that the client can have no claims. The statement that there are no claims is recorded in each certificate.#
5. 7.5I voice disagreement directly, including to the client (the owner, the CEO), and including when it does not benefit me.#
6. 7.6I do not punish honesty. I name what I observe rather than “who is to blame”. I begin feedback with my own responsibility and with what is valuable in the other person's work.#
7. 7.7I do not strike at weakness. I never use a client's vulnerability that I learned of in our work — neither in negotiations nor to keep them as a client.#
8. 7.8Confidentiality. A client's information is not passed to third parties — during our work or after it — and is not used for my benefit or another client's. The exception is where disclosure is required by law; the client knows this before we start. Client data goes into AI tools only with the client's consent. Meetings are recorded only with the client's consent; where recordings are stored, for how long and how they are processed is agreed before we start.#
9. 7.9I do not hold one person's position behind another's back. If a project has several owners or executives, before we start we agree on what of the things said to me in private I may pass on to the others. I ask that personal disagreement between them be brought to a joint meeting.#
10. 7.10The law. Between me and the client, the laws of the countries we are in apply. Where they differ, the stricter one applies. In a client's project I am not a legal adviser: if I see that a decision or practice contradicts the law, I say so plainly and take no part in it.#

8. When we part ways

1. 8.1If recommendations are not being implemented, I first seek dialogue to understand the reality better, and if I am still confident my recommendations are right but the client is still not ready to implement them, I propose pausing our collaboration.#
2. 8.2The client can end the work at any time within a paid cycle or stage. I refund payment for sessions of the cycle that have not taken place, provided the decision to end is communicated at least 24 hours before the meeting; with later notice, the session counts as held. Pausing and ending happen without blame on either side.#
3. 8.3We tell each other the reasons for pausing or ending. If I am the one ending it, I give the client feedback on my reasons; if the client is, I ask them to do the same.#
4. 8.4If another specialist or another format would help the client more, I say so myself.#
5. 8.5If my objectivity is at risk, I say so openly and propose a solution — up to withdrawing from the work if there is no other. For example, when I develop a personal interest in a client's decision.#
6. 8.6If I receive a stake or become a partner in a client's project, my role changes: we move to working as partners, based on the principles of partnership collaboration.#
7. 8.7If I lose interest in the project. It matters to me to be engaged in our collaboration and interested in the project's growth. If for any reason my interest drops significantly, I discuss it, and if we cannot find a way to continue working together with interest, we end the collaboration in a proper and mutually beneficial way.#
8. 8.8At the end of our work I ask the client whether they have come to trust consultants more or less. It matters to me to create value and trust — including trust in consulting.#

9. After we finish

1. 9.1I do not invite members of the client's team to other projects without discussing it with the client.#
2. 9.2I do not name the client or their results publicly without their consent.#

10. What I don't do

1. 10.1I do not accept rewards from third parties for recommendations — or, at the moment of recommending, I disclose my gain directly and openly.#
2. 10.2I do not sell through fear or artificial urgency.#

11. What I expect from the client

Formats of collaboration like these are possible within a certain culture of working together, and they require, among other things, a responsible approach from clients — with the understanding that a high level of responsibility is possible only among highly responsible people. In practice this means four things: honesty about the real state of the business, timely decisions on recommendations (yes or no), direct feedback to me, and responsibility for the result of our collaboration — without disowning it and trying to shift it onto the other side.

1. 11.1If a member of the client's team is responsible for a particular area of the project, it matters to me that they acknowledge that responsibility. If they disown it, I cannot treat them as the legitimate leader of that area. I say so openly — to them and to whoever appointed them; the decision about the role remains the client's.#

12. If I break the code

1. 12.1If a client sees that I have broken the code, the best way is to tell me so directly. I will reply in writing within 5 days.#
2. 12.2If the breach is confirmed, I examine it and put it right. In certain cases, by mutual agreement, I refund the last paid stage of our collaboration.#
3. 12.3The code is dated and versioned; changes are published with their date.#