And there are some players that, while not outright cheating, are self-serving, making it about themselves winning and others losing.
Finding that area where they can cut corners, deliver a little less than expected and get away with it, or deceive the customer by using marketing words like “legendary” and “guarantee” without them really meaning anything.
But what our nations, companies, communities, and families need today is unrelenting integrity–the daily demonstration of kindly honoring one’s service commitments to others, of holding ourselves accountable for our promises, of not compromising our values.
We cannot wait for “someone else” or “everyone else” to embrace integrity as a core value, as a way of living and interacting each day. It starts with us as individuals. In the book Simply Tuesday, the author shares about the approach a group of lifeguards took at a waterpark: “Watch your 8-square feet.” Focus on living out your integrity in your own sphere of influence every day just like those lifeguards watch their eight square feet of a large pool.
The good news is that it isn’t that difficult to practice unrelenting integrity. You don’t have to join a club, pay dues, or attend meetings. It’s just YOU making a commitment to yourself to keep your own promises every day.
It would probably involve behaviors like these: Every day, you:
- Hold yourself accountable for your commitments and actions.
- Attack problems and processes instead of people.
- Promptly apologize if you jeopardize trust or respect.
- Align your daily plans, decisions, and actions with your purpose and values, in service to others.
That “in service to others” piece is important. You could have strong integrity to your own, selfish gains! That’s not what the world needs.
If we live in unrelenting integrity, we might create a trend in our family, our neighborhood, our town and our workplace. We can’t make people live in unrelenting integrity, but we can model it and influence them, one small promise kept at a time.
