I have always been a fan of comics, or what I call the funny pages. Recently I was looking at "The Family Circus,” by Bil and Jeff Keane. The littlest boy has a cupboard open and is looking at various boxes of food when his older brother sees him and says, “Conscience is like Mommy tellin’ you not to do somethin’, but she isn’t there.”

Or as I like to say, act like your mother is watching. All the time.

Conscience is that little voice inside that tells us what we already know is right or wrong. Unfortunately for some, when it is talking, they aren’t listening. And that’s when the trouble begins. Whether in our personal or business life, it’s important to heed that little voice.

Perhaps you remember the lesson that Jiminy Cricket taught to Pinocchio: “Always let your conscience be your guide.” It may seem elementary, but our consciences are actually formed when we're children, long before many other personality traits are developed.

Investor’s Business Daily identified 10 traits for getting ahead in business and turning your dreams into reality. They included many things you would expect: a positive attitude, a definitive goal, a courageous spirit, an inquisitive mind, a strong heart, an analytical brain, a focused eye, a fearless approach and a disciplined tongue. No. 10 on the list was a clear conscience.

Like “The Family Circus” cartoon, these traits harkened back to the lessons of childhood. Don’t forget the rules you learned in kindergarten. Play nice. Be dependable. Tell the truth. If you can’t get to the top by being true to yourself and straight with everyone around you, your success will be hollow -- and probably short-lived.

As businesspeople, we need to be critically aware of our role in keeping things honest. People are watching, and given the 24-hour news cycle and the reach of social media, we need to understand that taking chances with the truth is never worth the risk.

Consider these lessons from two highly principled leaders.

Once, when President Harry Truman was asked what principles guided his career, he said that he let his conscience be his guide. He elaborated: "What more can a man do? Do the best you can. Sometimes you come out successfully, sometimes you don’t. You have to have luck and ability and be ready to meet the situation as it comes. All this happened to me. I never thought I would go to the United States Senate, but then, I never thought I would go to the White House either.”

Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi said he had a formula for achieving balance. His prescription called for recognizing and avoiding the seven big sins of life: wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.

Do you detect a theme here? Most of them relate to having a clear conscience.

Make no mistake: Customers are watching how businesses perform through an ethical lens. Businesses cannot hide their questionable practices for long -- they will be exposed. Trying to mend a bad reputation is a lot harder than maintaining a good one.

Just ask the big bank that’s in the news for questionable sales practices. Or the airbag maker whose defective products are hurting people instead of protecting them. Or the movie mogul who went from the top of the heap to the bottom of the barrel after multiple accusations of inappropriate behavior surfaced.

But you don’t have to make national headlines for your true colors to be exposed. Doing business with the shopkeeper in this following anecdote might be a challenge.

An eager-beaver salesperson was trying to have a country storekeeper carry his product, and finally tried to bribe the fellow with a bottle of champagne.

“Oh, my conscience wouldn’t let me take a gift,” the storekeeper protested.

“What if I sell it to you for one dollar?” asked the salesperson.

“In that case,” replied the man, “I’ll take two.”

Mackay’s Moral: Putting profit before principle is always bad business.

Baseball season is in full swing, but it might be a very different game if Pete Browning had not broken his bat in 1884.

The story of how the iconic Louisville Slugger baseball bat came to be is fascinating. According to the famous bat company’s history, it all began when the 17-year-old son of J.F. Hillerich skipped out of work one day to watch a local baseball game. Browning, the star of the hometown team, broke his bat during the game. Young Bud Hillerich, a woodworking apprentice, invited him to his father’s woodshop, offering to make a new bat for him.

Browning, who was known as the “Louisville Slugger,” used the new bat and had three hits in his next game. Pretty soon, more players started to visit the shop for bats.

Bud’s father was not pleased by this development, until it became quite apparent that the growing demand for bats and the ensuing profits could not be denied. And the Louisville Slugger became more than one hitter’s nickname.

Currently, more than 3,000 Louisville Sluggers are manufactured each day, and that number swells to 5,000 during spring training. Young Bud Hillerich saw an opportunity to help one person and changed the face of the sport.

Baseball teaches many lessons and offers plenty of inspiration, even from decades-old stories. So many examples of innovation and perseverance come from the sport. And they often relate to business.

We’re often told in business that we should work on our weaknesses instead of our strengths, but let me tell you about Jim Kaat, who pitched many years for my hometown Minnesota Twins. Kaat went to talk to his new pitching coach, Johnny Sain, during spring training before the 1966 season. Sain asked Kaat to name his top four pitches and what pitches he felt he should work on the most.

Kaat said his best pitch was his fastball, followed by his curve, slider and changeup. He thought if he improved on his slider and changeup, he would have a good season.

His coach disagreed. Sain told him: “I want you to take a different approach. Work on your fastball. I know it’s your favorite pitch, so go out there in practice, warm-ups and during games and concentrate on your fastball. Throw your fastball 80 to 90 percent of the time all year, and you’ll win a lot of ball games.”

That season, Kaat threw fastball after fastball and won 25 games to become the American League’s pitcher of the year.

I’m a big believer in continuous improvement. We all can use extra practice and work to get better. I have a saying: "Good, better, best; never rest until good be better and better, best."

Then there’s the value of encouragement.

When Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play major league baseball, was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, he became a target for racial hate mail and even death threats. Before one game, Robinson received a threatening phone call that left him so shaken that he was unable to concentrate on the game.

Robinson struck out in one inning with bases loaded. In another inning, he committed a fielding error. The crowd screamed obscenities at him. A time-out was called and the Dodger shortstop, Pee Wee Reese, walked up to the shaken Robinson, put his arm around him, and said: “Jackie, you are the greatest ballplayer I have ever seen. You can do it. And I know something else. One of these days you are going into the Hall of Fame. So, hold your head up high and play ball like only you can do it.”

Robinson went on to deliver a game-winning hit for his team.

Many years later, Robinson recalled the incident when he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He said of Pee Wee Reese: “He saved my life and my career that day. I had lost my confidence, and Pee Wee picked me up with his words of encouragement. He gave me hope when all hope was gone.”

Mackay’s Moral: You’ll knock it out of the park if you learn these baseball lessons.

When Pat Riley was coaching the New York Knicks in the early 1990s, he wanted to motivate his team. The team kept the usual stats on scoring, assists, rebounds and the like, but one year Riley decided to begin measuring hustle -- how many rebounds players went for even if they didn’t succeed; how many times a player would make an extra effort to snatch a loose ball; how often someone would make a steal attempt. Riley posted his “Hustle Stats” in the Knicks’ locker room after every game, without any additional comment on his part. Riley’s players took notice and soon became a top-level team.

Today’s sports landscape is filled with analytics that chart all these stats. Focus on results, yes, but keep an eye on your level of effort to reach the top.

It’s really no different in business. It’s just that the stats are reflected in the bottom line.

I recently saw two T-shirts that grabbed my attention. One said “Hustle or go broke.” The other read “Hustle now/relax later.” If there was ever a shirt for an entrepreneur, this would be the one.

That’s what I did when I started my envelope manufacturing company many moons ago. I basically kissed my wife and told her, “I’ll see you in five years.” It takes that kind of hustle to get a business off the ground.

There are a number of attributes a person needs to succeed in life. Two of them are outside our control – talent and luck. Hustle is a third component, and it can definitely be developed and cultivated. Hustling is important for anyone who wants to be successful.

Good things may come to those who wait, but only the things that are left by those who hustle. I’ve always felt that it doesn’t take any special ability to hustle, just a deep-down burning desire to get ahead. Anything you lack in talent can be made up with desire.

President Thomas Jefferson said: “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.”

Hustlers know they need to develop two skills. First is learning to network. Often it’s not what you know, but whom you know. You need to know as many people as possible before you might need their help. And knowing the right people can save time.

Second, you must reject reacting negatively to rejection. Rejection is part of life. You can’t avoid it. Handling rejection is a necessary skill for success, especially in my line of work -- sales. You can’t take rejection personally.

I like to analyze every failure. I always want to know why people say no to my sales proposals, and I’m not afraid to ask. Was it me? Was it my product? Price? Think about what you could have done differently. Then record it in your post-call notes. The next time, you’ll be better prepared.

Forbes magazine once did a story on the nine habits of productive people. One of them was focus, specifically using your morning to focus on yourself and what you need to accomplish that day.

It’s easy to have focus when everything is going well, but successful people keep their focus when they are staring at defeat. A sure way to fail is to lose focus.

Hustlers have intense, laser-like focus. They focus on one thing. Trying to get everything will get you nothing. Hustlers eliminate distractions.

Hustlers don’t do things because they have to. They do things because they choose to. They have self-determination. They don’t blame others; they keep moving forward.

Most of us are scared stiff at the prospect of taking risks. Not hustlers. They embrace risk-taking. They think taking no risks is the biggest risk.

Hustlers love what they do. Imran Asghar, founder of the internet auto parts retailer 24/7 Spares, said: “If you don’t truly love what you do it becomes very difficult to excel and experience success. It is much easier to dedicate the majority of your time to something when you are passionate about it.”

Finally, hustlers never quit. They have grit. They love to practice and get better each day.

Mackay’s Moral: Rustle up your hustle to build your business muscle.