Are you your own boss? "Of course," you reply. But even independents have bosses — those who attempt to lead you to success. These include your IMOs, your carrier reps and even your professional mentors. All of these bosses either wear white hats (play totally by the book), black hats (burn the book if it impedes sales) or gray hats (read only those pages that fit their purposes).
If you have a white-hat boss, consider yourself fortunate. You'll probably never be asked to compromise your ethics. But if your bosses wear black or gray hats, watch out; they will be more focused on the ends, not the means. And "blackhatters" especially will have no qualms asking others to lie for them or to break the law as long as it advances their interests.
How do you "manage" a black-hat boss?
Consider the case of Tom, an advisor who just signed on with a large senior market IMO. After providing him with some initial training, the IMO sends out hundreds of direct mailers for a hot new insurance product. Problem is, the response rate is weak. So the IMO rep suggests the advisor simply call each person instead.
