“What does integrity mean to you?”
I ask every candidate this question when I conduct interviews.
But shouldn’t your personal life be separate from your professional life? No. Why? Because who you are affects how you’ll represent my company or my clients’ companies when nobody else is watching.
My husband reminds me frequently that “there are moments in a man’s life that define you.” In all transparency, we just went through one of those defining moments as a business. It was a moment when a non-client of ours made a negative remark, misunderstanding how we conduct our business.
We had to make a decision. And we decided to leave it alone. We know that we operate our business at the highest level of integrity, and provide transparency--open communication, monthly reports with quantitative data explaining costs & deliverables, and quarterly strategies so clients know what we are doing for them behind the scenes--to all of our clients. So in response to this moment, we reached out to all of our clients (whether they realized why we were contacting them or not), and clarified again, how we conduct our business, and who we are as a company.
That negative remark hasn’t cost us a client. In fact, we’ve gained business since then.
I don’t believe in karma. But I do believe that you reap what you sow. And when you’re sowing years of hard work, do what you say you’re going to do, and be who you say you are, people will see it.
I know that this blog post doesn’t follow suit to our typical blog posts. My desire is to call you to action, and to remind you to take the high road. Don’t let those defining moments negatively impact your standard of integrity. Be the business person you say you are. The world needs people in business who are willing to do what’s right, regardless of who you think is watching, because the reality is someone always is.
Niki Kukla, Managing Partner
Eden Resources, LLC