Unrelenting Integrity – Built with Every Promise Kept
- Time
- Energy
- Investment
A recent TinyPulse Employee Engagement Report found that the single largest productivity killer in the workplace is co-workers’ lack of follow-through and communication, with 35 percent of respondents reporting this issue!
Our integrity is maintained with every kept promise. If we live with unrelenting integrity, we might create a trend – in our work team, among our friends, in our neighborhoods – where others embrace unrelenting integrity in their lives. While getting others to embrace unrelenting integrity is beyond our control, if we can move the needle a bit that direction, greater trust, respect, and dignity might occur.
Just take a look at the news headlines for a few days and you will likely see examples – there are cheaters all around us. Why do people cheat?
- To win.
- To gain an unfair advantage.
- To make more money.
- To look good.
And so on.
All the time.
What our nations, companies, communities, and families need today is unrelenting integrity. I define unrelenting integrity as the daily demonstration of kindly honoring one’s service commitments to others. It’s about holding oneself accountable for one’s actions and promises and not compromising on their values or promises.
And it starts with each of us. 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. We can’t be casual about keeping our commitments or we’ll miss an important deadline. If we miss a deadline, our integrity will take a big hit.
The good news is demonstrating unrelenting integrity isn’t complex. There is no club to join. There are no monthly dues required. There are no meetings to attend.
There is simply you, making a bold commitment to make your promises clearly and keep your promises daily.
How might it work? It would probably involve behaviors like these:
- Every day, you hold yourself accountable for your commitments and actions.
- You attack problems and processes – not people.
- You accept responsibility and promptly apologize if you jeopardize trust or respect.
- You align your:
- daily plans
- decisions
- 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! I don’t think that’s what this world needs of us inhabitants right now. The world needs a strong network of trusted players who work with – not against – others.
How do we eat this “integrity” elephant? One bite, one kept promise, at a time.
All the time.
CAREER ADVICE
GOV TALK
