Integrity Matters

You know all those initiatives where you “pick your favorite word” to define yourself, a thing, or a general focus? I choose INTEGRITY. Do the right thing all the time…even if no one is watching.

It seems so simple, right?

As an employer and business owner, I’ll choose integrity ALL. DAY. LONG. It’s a key ingredient to an employee’s success and the overall success of any company. Yes, potential employee experience matters, previous success matters, being likable matters and being a hard worker matters too. But, in the end, if all these traits are present without integrity, you have a questionable relationship at best. Properly vetting a potential employee or vendor, not hiring someone who already has questionable integrity and/or allowing someone who lacks the trait to continue to work with or for you will deteriorate your overall culture and lower your company standards. What you accept and condone becomes the general accepted practice for your business, so expect integrity and take swift action if you see a gap.

So, how do you know if someone acts with integrity? Integrity is easy to identify. You watch them, you collaborate with them, and you analyze their decision making and actions. Given the right tasks or opportunities, people will quickly expose themselves as either someone who will always act with integrity or someone who will lack it. Here are some of the quick ways you can identify this characteristic:

I’d encourage every coach, every business owner and every leader to stop and evaluate your team, your partners, your vendors and yes, even your customers. Do they act with integrity?

Is what you were “sold” or what you see truly what you get? If not, it’s time to make some changes. Associate with people and groups with the utmost integrity and your path to success with be so much smoother. Your brand, your team and your personal identity are worth it!

Integrity ALWAYS matters.