Integrity is something you hear a lot about but many today are swayed by an epidemic of situational ethics driven by a world of misplaced faith in fallen (or yet to fall) heroes.  The past few decades of abundance has also created an attitude of “who will notice if a little is missing?” or “I’ll just fudge this expense a little on my company expenses or taxes”, who hasn’t done that or thought about it?  Possibly the current economic climate and great equalizer of the internet and web 2.0 or social marketing could have a very positive effect on our integrity.  The threat of actual consequences for our actions as a business person being revealed to the world combined with the budget trimming we all have had to do make our actions more visible.

Webster defines integrity as:
1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : incorruptibility
2 : an unimpaired condition : soundness
3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided : completeness
synonyms see honesty

I’m not sure where I heard it but my favorite definition of integrity is “what we do when no one else is looking”.

In business it just makes sense in the long run to maintain a high standard of integrity. In the long run our reputation as a business person for the products we sell or the advice we give as consultants will be far more valuable than any short term gains. Our reputation in business once tarnished is nearly impossible to repair. Isn’t that many times how we weigh our decisions, by asking is the consequence of getting caught worse than what we want in the short term when we make a decision of poor integrity?

Customers want to do business with someone they can trust, in many ways the internet has made this trust, integrity and reputation very transparent. It doesn’t take long for word about your personal or business reputation to spread on the internet, even if you don’t do business on the internet, and once word is out you can’t cover it up or take it back. Because of the reach of the internet is it very easy for a prospect or customer to find a replacement for you, competition if fierce.

Here’s a great story about the type of hero we should be following, have you ever heard of J.P. Hayes professional golfer? He is a man who could have gotten away with an inadvertent error that cost him his job but even when no one was looking he did the right thing. http://www.jsonline.com/sports/golf/34717824.html

Thanks for a great presentation this morning at www.OlatheKiwanis.org by Attorney Ray Birkinsha “The Economy of Integrity” and the food for thought.