Like many people, my views regarding the world are complicated. I sometimes do business with people whom have lied to me. It’s hard for me to make hard-and-fast rules about what other people can or can’t do. But one rule I always honor: if I make a deal, I keep the deal.

This is part of my own moral code. Maybe it has something to do with my upbringing, or the fact that I entered the business world at a very young age. Whatever the reason, I don’t do well with guilt. It’s something that’s hardwired into me.

Trust me, there are plenty of times when it is tempting to reconsider. A quick, poorly considered deal may mean that I have to travel halfway around the world instead of spending time on something more appealing. It may mean that my company loses money. It may require me to ask others to make tough sacrifices. But so be it.

All the time, companies take on orders they can’t deliver. Even as they make a deal, the key people involved know they will never honor its terms. I’m a realist, and know such things happen… I just can’t do them myself.

Last week, my team and I talked about personal values. One said they valued honesty above all else, and we got into a bit of a discussion. I told them I might employ someone who had lied on their resume. This is partially because the world has become so competitive in a brutally impersonal way, they won’t even get a shot unless their resume has the right keywords.

I struggled with this discussion all that night. You have to have trust and integrity on a team; did I set the right tone, or simply confuse everyone with my confession?

I left school without any qualifications; the first test I passed was to become a helicopter pilot. Since then, I’ve created thousands of jobs. From this experience, I’ve learned two things:

1. Give others the benefit of the doubt
2. Always keep my word

Not long ago, I saw a homeless person with a sign, “62, cold and wet, need help.” I gave the person some money, and my colleague asked me how I knew whether the “ask” was for real. To me, the risk of letting that person go without food was less of a risk than that he would go off and buy some whiskey and cigarettes.

There are times that other people shock me - for the better - with their own moral code. At work we are coming to the end of an Agile development “sprint”, during which our IT team has worked incredibly long and hard. I offered to give the team two months for the next project, but the team leader objected, and suggested two weeks. “It’s supposed to be a sprint,” he said, essentially agreeing to go four times as fast as I requested.

By the way, from past experience, I know this leader and his team will keep their word.

Martin Varley has been an entrepreneur since age 15, and has built a steady succession of successful and profitable companies.