Integrity
If you open a door, close it.
If you drop something, pick it up.
If your borrow something, return it.
If you make a promise, keep it.
… and on it goes.
This is a list of things my ex-husband used to tell our boys on a regular basis. I don’t know what its origin is because I’ve never seen it in writing. We all got tired of hearing it, but it has a great deal of depth to it and, added up, it amounts to personal integrity. The two articles below define and discuss integrity both in business and in your personal life. In this article I want to bring integrity to the place where the rubber meets the road.
The posts to this blog over the past week have dealt primarily with my new house and the mortgage. It was all set. I had the word to go forward that we would close escrow on August 17th or 20th. I went about my business scheduling locksmiths, movers, a handyman, cable, telephone, gas and an internet connection at the new location. And I scheduled a painter, carpet/tile installers, countertop installer and a cleaning crew to get the condo ready to go on the market.
Yesterday (August 15) I learned that the company who made a commitment to the mortgage broker – a long time customer – said they would not approve it. They decided, again, that they did not like the appraisal. They violated their commitment. (I am, in the meantime, working with my own energy again to see if I blocked receiving and I’m doing what I need to do to stay in joy). In my opinion and that of the mortgage broker, they acted outsie of integrity and failed to honor the verbal commitment they had made.
I also observed my son in the process of hiring an employee. She said she would call him back. She did not. She scheduled time with him for orientation and she didn’t show up and she didn’t call. She had all the skills he was looking for and he knew she could do a good job but she didn’t follow through with her commitments. He has started looking for someone else. It seemed like a breach of integrity.
In searching for carpet, I had one vendor who asked what my budget was, and without measuring the whole condo, gave me an estimate that used the entire budget for the upgrading. His bid was twice that of the vendor who will get the job. Lack of integrity?
I like the phrases, Walk your talk; Put your money where your mouth is, etc. Easier said than done.
Granted, things happen and circumstances change. Most people can deal with that if they are kept informed. But to breach a promise deliberately, to inflate an estimate or not to follow through on commitments are generally acts out of integrity. They not only hurt your business but they impair you at a soul level. Without integrity self-improvement comes to a standstill.
And so:
If you open a door, close it.
If you drop something, pick it up.
If your borrow something, return it.
If you make a promise, keep it.
