When I think of integrity, I immediately think of trust. Having integrity means that you are honest and trustworthy in all aspects of life. My personal goal is to show my integrity in my business AND in my daily life. Think about it this way, would you do business with someone who is not trustworthy? Would you value their opinion? Probably not. Here are a few tips that I found to help you build AND keep your integrity:
Remember that your reputation and relationships are all you really have. So nurture them and care about how you treat people from housekeeping to the most senior person. The proprietor is the best spokesperson for the brand as he/she has put his/her blood sweat and tears into their business. And as the face of the brand, the reputation of the owner of the company is as and sometimes more important that the products or services offered.
Be likable. You don’t have to be buddies, but you should be respected for the person you are – again it comes back to how you treat people. If you set the example and treat your employees well, you minimize the conflicts involving HR. There’s no issues with anything. When you feel you are cared about and you have a voice and an identity in the workplace, it’s easy to put integrity into practice. No matter what type of work you are involved in.
Keep a positive online presence. With consumer driven content and social networking dominating the Internet, there’s nowhere to hide. So it’s imperative to keep that integrity through and through. The Internet seems to reveal those who aren’t trustworthy. It’s no longer the case of asking for a recommendation for a plumber from your neighbor. It’s pages upon pages of comments and reviews on various sites; some more trust worthy than others that will really give insight into the experience the customers of the brand had.
Take the defensive out of the equation. You can feel the energy of a dysfunctional and therefore integrity-lacking business by just listening to how people communicate. The tone sets the stage. When integrity is in place and people respect one another details like being on time fall into place. It’s about you watching over yourself. The power is in the businessman/woman. That’s what you get to have control over; how you conduct yourself. It’s behavior modification in the workplace.
Ronne B
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