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What Does Integrity Have To Do With Your Company?

Guest post by: Susan Bagyura

Article Overview: Integrity is the hallmark of a person with high morale character. Each day we all have opportunities to show our integrity by the choices that we make – both personally and professionally. Sadly many times what we hear and read are examples of people with little or no integrity. It’s the people that make the business. The dictionary defines integrity as steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code, being unimpaired, sound, whole and undivided; completeness. As a leader, where do you see integrity or lack of integrity in your team or organization? What steps can be taken right now to raise your organization’s level of integrity? It takes 21 consecutive days of committed actions to change a behavior. Take the time to make an honest appraisal of the rules, morals or principles that are guiding your business.

What Does Integrity Have To Do With Your Company?

Integrity is the hallmark of a person with high morale character. The beauty of integrity is that no one can take it from you and it stands boldly to say who you are. Each day we all have opportunities to show our integrity by the choices that we make – both personally and professionally. Your choices are your own and no one can force you to make a choice that you believe is wrong.

With the speed of communications and the openness of the media, we can readily learn about behavior and actions of people in the highest offices within governments and large corporations. Sadly many times what we hear and read are examples of people with little or no integrity.

The importance of integrity is something that should be taught to children at a very young age, but even if this didn’t happen, it is no excuse later on for any person. It goes back to the choices that we make and what we use as our measuring stick in making those choices.

As defined in the dictionary, integrity is steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code, being unimpaired, sound, whole and undivided; completeness. To sum it up, integrity is simply doing the right thing for the right reason even when no one is watching.

There’s a slippery slope that starts with the little white lies; such as telling a child or a secretary to say to a caller that you are on another phone and can’t take their call when actually you just don’t want to speak to the person. Not only does this put the other person who is told to say or do something in a compromising position, but it teaches them to use such behavior.

Companies may be more concerned with the integrity of their computer data, their security systems and other business tools than they are with the behaviors of the people. It’s the people that make the business. Without the people, a company is simply bricks and mortar. Have you ever spoken to someone representing a company expressing dissatisfaction because you didn’t receive what was promised? In that circumstance, were you treated with respect and gratefulness for pointing out the mistake or were you treated like you were the problem for pointing this out? Most likely you have experienced both situations.

As a leader, where do you see integrity or lack of integrity in your team or organization? Have bad habits slipped in unnoticed where you or others are taking the easy way out rather than the ethical way? What steps can be taken right now to raise your organization's level of integrity?

1. Choose a set of rules, morals, or principles that you believe should be an expression of your organization. It should be obvious to your employees, customers and anyone that comes into contact with your company that you hold these rules, morals and principles to be sacred. For example, if telling the truth in all circumstances is important to you as a leader, then there should be no tolerance for little, white lies or deceit of any nature.

2. Look at the choices you've made in your past, and observe how much you have or haven't lived by those principles. Don't waste time feeling regretful or guilty. As Stephen R. Covey put it "...until a person can say deeply and honestly, I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday, that person cannot say, I choose otherwise." The past is the past, but the future is yours. Vow to adhere to a new set of principles and make it known to your followers through your actions and words. It takes 21 consecutive days of committed actions to change a behavior.

3. Decide what you must change in your behavior to align your life more closely to what you believe. Everything starts with a decision. We have to know where we are before we can decide where we are going. Take the time to make an honest appraisal of the rules, morals or principles that are guiding your business.

4. Be conscious every day of the decisions you make, however big or small, and how close they bring you to being the person you really want to and if they fit with the corporate image you wish to portray. Act like there is a video above you recording every move and decision you make. Would you behave different if that was the case?

5. When you observe other people using unethical behaviors or ducking from their commitments, make a deeper commitment to your integrity. Wish them well while releasing any excuses or responses of doing the same thing because “…they did it so you can too.”

6. Beware of people who might try convincing you to give up your integrity with excuses of nobody's perfect and making fun of you for being an idealist. The fact that nobody's perfect doesn't mean it’s okay to do something that you know is wrong. Learning from our mistakes is good, but we don't always need to make mistakes in order to learn. Remember that striving to be perfect and being perfect are two different ideas; the former is integrity, the latter is futility.

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Article Tags: ethical code, honest appraisal, integrity, organization values, steadfast adherence



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