Food for thought. It is easy to tell warm and fuzzy stories of those who act with integrity, but I tend to think that it is the small things that often go unnoticed which indicate whether a person, or an entity, acts with integrity. While I cannot ascribe to be being perfect in this vein, I think these are the top ten ways we can demonstrate whether or not we are acting with integrity:
- Show up on time, every time.
- Write down things you have been asked to do. Create an expectation of realistic completion and then do them. Let the person know the task has been completed.
- Keep all promises or explain the difficulty as soon as you are aware of your inability to keep the promise.
- Focus on performance at all times. In other words, keep your eye on the ball and concentrate on the end game.
- Communicate frequently and be transparent.
- Do not cover up bad news, rather provide a solution to the problem.
- Fix processes rather than blame people.
- Be disciplined. And, most importantly, create your own discipline and stick with it. This is called consistency – and I believe consistency is a subset of integrity.
- Maintain an open-door policy.
- Stick with people over the long haul as integrity is built over time.
AND A FREE BONUS #11………
- Admit mistakes and use mistakes as an opportunity for improvement. For example, I am a day late on my JW Way message and I am admitting my tardiness to my co-workers. The good news is that I was two days late last year, so through my mistakes I have improved year over year.
Putting humor aside, am I acting with integrity is a question you must frequently ask yourself. There is a limited amount of people who will see how you act each day. You need to self-check whether or not these Top Ten practices are ones that you consistently practice.
Luckily, #11 allows for an opportunity to regroup, reassess, and rethink your approach to the Top Ten. Acting with integrity is a myriad of small things – and when aggregated they can make you, and your business, exceptionally successful.
