Loyalty. A simple word. And yet one of the most complicated concepts in our world…

What is loyalty? It is having your partner’s back. Always.

It is going into battle knowing that the man on your right and the man on your left are with you. You can move forward without fear of being stabbed from behind.

How do you earn loyalty? Not through talking. Words are wind. Action is what counts. Who would you call if your wife was in a car accident and you are out of the country? I bet it’s not the person you speak to most during the day.

Loyalty is important not in its everyday presence. It is important in its absence. That one dark day when your back is against the wall and you need a friend.

In business, loyalty is the key. Especially between the boss-man and the worker-bees. If the boss can’t be trusted, the bees will not look out for him. And vice-versa. Same in politics.

Now, if life were a walk in a rose garden, loyalty would not be an issue. “Every man for himself” is a winning motto when things are easy.

However, life for most people is not a rose garden. It’s a war. A war for recognition. A war for success. A war for survival. And when you’re at war, loyalty is the most important thing there is. Without it you’ll find yourself standing in the middle of a big green field with ten thousand bullets and missiles and drones racing at you.

And you’ll be alone.

Don’t kid yourself that loyalty overcomes everything. Self-preservation generally wins the day in a head-to-head fight. And, of course, given a choice between truth and loyalty, truth must always win.

At the end of the day your family is the core. Your parents, your kids, and most importantly, your wife. These are the only people in the whole world who give you unconditional love.

There will be a day when you wake up to find the world is out to get you. It will spew lies and filth and you will be defenceless.

You will want to kill for the injustice. You will want to crawl under a rock for the embarrassment.

And you will want to cry. And, I promise you, the only person in the world whose shoulder you can cry on is your wife. That’s why she comes first.