Integrity is not a character
Continuing on the “being you” theme that I started last month. Here’s another perspective.
I’ve been an actress since I was 8 years old. In fact, I’m currently in rehearsals for the show “9 to 5” The Musical. It’s fun and exciting to be someone else for a few hours every day. I’ve always enjoyed exploring what life must be like from the perspective of a new character. However, I have to remind myself that I’m not a character in my business. I’m me! And I must ALWAYS be me, when it comes to my business.
That’s the thing with integrity. We want to appear as if we have integrity. So, sometimes we go out of our way to make that happen. It’s easy to say “that would look like I have integrity” and then go do it. It’s easy to know what integrity looks like and make sure we’re wearing that hat everywhere.
The problem with making sure we look like we are in integrity is that we can easily come across as a fake. Integrity isn’t something that you can pretend to be, mimic or even present to other people. You can’t manufacture integrity. You either have it or you don’t.
If you want to be in integrity, all you have to do is be YOU. At the heart of it, integrity is really just matching who you are on the outside with who you are on the inside. People will trust you and buy from you when you are genuine.
So, the next time you want to make sure you are in integrity, take a look at who you are being. Are you trying to be someone you’re not? Or are you being you? If your customers really want what you have to offer they will jump in if you are in integrity with who you are.
