The Massive Power of Integrity!
A few days ago I was speaking with a friend of mine. He’s the owner of a good size company that employs around two dozen people and grosses maybe a million a year in revenue. He told me about two workers that had been caught steeling from petty cash. A thousand bucks it was. He found this out with video surveillance then afterwards continued having the workers work so he could get reimbursed for the theft. When it came time for them to get their paychecks he showed them the video. Their jaws dropped. He said he was on the verge of filing a police report. Instead he gave these fired foolish young men grace.
My friend is a good and kind man… What these guys lacked was INTEGRITY.
They also didn’t realize that they could have ended up making much much more than what they stole AND learned from my successful businessman friend how to operate a successful business. Almost priceless information that could have led to them making tens of thousands or more a year if they ever took that information and began their own businesses. Information is power and my friend is the kind of guy that will go out of his way to help others grow in their career path or any other way that he can. Opportunity lost…
Integrity and honesty seem to have fallen in importance with some in our culture today. “Take what you can get” with little or no regard for how it’s gotten has become more and more common in some quarters. Bend the rules, don’t own any of your mistakes, blame others for your own failures and make things up if that can bolster your own image and increase your chances of advancement. If anyone gets in the way simply find ways of pointing out their failings and failures real or imagined to others… But where did this come from? This lack of integrity? It comes from attitudes of thinking or beliefs.
These days too many people have ended up thinking that those who are successful and prosperous only got there by taking advantage of or stepping on others. That they somehow cheated or lied to get where they are. This is something that has been called Class Warfare and it’s used to try and manipulate people into following certain political paths or agendas like “tax the rich” to coin a phrase. Millions of people end up making decisions based on these kinds of negative miss-characterization of others during elections.
For years I’ve met people of great wealth. Even when I was young I crossed paths with people who had money. My dad was a doctor so I was blessed to be able to go skiing in Aspen Colorado and Banff Canada to name a few places. And there I got a chance to speak with the “wealthy”. We weren’t rich ourselves. Upper middle class one could say. But i did get multiple chances to meet folks in the high end of income earners. What I found was that they generally were just like everyone else. As I got older and began my career as a sand sculptor I was able to meet more wealthy AND famous people. The vast majority were kind and helpful people.
The truth is people of great wealth, in general, only got there by treating other people well. Why? Because it’s very hard to become wealthy by treating people poorly. Are there some who do achieve financial success by being ruthless, mean, and selfish. Of course. But I believe that the vast majority of successful people are successful because they have helped others during their journey. Whether customers, vendors, or employees. Happy people perform better and will work harder than unhappy people. It’s common sense.
What else is interesting is that these successful people have integrity. Their word means something. They do what they say and constantly strive to think about how they can help others.. Not just for and about themselves. When you read biographies of the “Haves” you find that along their journey they went above and beyond for their bosses, customers or clients. Especially those who started out, for example, as a waiter to then one day become the CEO.
People with integrity rise to the top of the heap. Get recognized. They advance. Not by cheating others but by helping others. Especially when no one is watching…
Even if you are starting out at the very bottom of the barrel you will be much more likely to get new opportunities and wage increases if you live and work with integrity. In fact I have gotten jobs that paid thousand because I was someone that people trusted and believed in. In know this because they told me so saying they felt they could trust me. I also get referrals even now because I have built a reputation for quality and trust with people in the San Diego area They know I have integrity. Of course I’m not perfect. But I do strive to treat others with respect, honesty and integrity. I even got a lifetime achievement award from my sand sculpture peers in 2018. Was a great honor…
Living and working with integrity opens doors and increases your personal worth and value in the marketplace AND in your personal relationships. This is so obvious! And yet it needs to be restated due to the diminishment of our basic American values by some in our culture.
Without question the best people to have on your team are those with integrity.
So grab hold of all that you can grab by harnessing the power of INTEGRITY! You will achieve more success, be an awesome example to others, and enjoy tons more joy and happiness if you do. And that is totally awesome cuz “it’s way more fun being happy”!
- Dave :)