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Keep an Eye on the Small Things

JW Way Fundamental #8: Act with Integrity 
“Demonstrate an unwavering commitment to doing the right thing in every action you take and in every decision you make. Own up to your own mistakes and apologize. If you make a mistake, clean it up.” 


Food for thought.  It is easy to tell warm and fuzzy stories of those who act with integrity, but I tend to think that it is the small things that often go unnoticed which indicate whether a person, or an entity, acts with integrity.  While I cannot ascribe to be being perfect in this vein, I think these are the top ten ways we can demonstrate whether or not we are acting with integrity: 

  1. Show up on time, every time.
  2. Write down things you have been asked to do.  Create an expectation of realistic completion and then do them.  Let the person know the task has been completed.  
  3. Keep all promises or explain the difficulty as soon as you are aware of your inability to keep the promise.
  4. Focus on performance at all times.  In other words, keep your eye on the ball and concentrate on the end game. 
  5. Communicate frequently and be transparent.
  6. Do not cover up bad news, rather provide a solution to the problem.
  7. Fix processes rather than blame people.
  8. Be disciplined.  And, most importantly, create your own discipline and stick with it.  This is called consistency – and I believe consistency is a subset of integrity.    
  9. Maintain an open-door policy. 
  10. Stick with people over the long haul as integrity is built over time.

AND A FREE BONUS #11………

  1. Admit mistakes and use mistakes as an opportunity for improvement.  For example, I am a day late on my JW Way message and I am admitting my tardiness to my co-workers.  The good news is that I was two days late last year, so through my mistakes I have improved year over year. 

Putting humor aside, am I acting with integrity is a question you must frequently ask yourself.  There is a limited amount of people who will see how you act each day.  You need to self-check whether or not these Top Ten practices are ones that you consistently practice. 

Luckily, #11 allows for an opportunity to regroup, reassess, and rethink your approach to the Top Ten.  Acting with integrity is a myriad of small things – and when aggregated they can make you, and your business, exceptionally successful.

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