Integrity Leads All Word Searches for Online Dictionary

When Merriam-Webster assembled their 2005 list of most searched definitions, they could easily reason why certain words would make the list. Levee, tsunami, filibuster, and refugee were tied to events during the year. Even "insipid" was explainable due to the timing of the hits and comments made by Simon Cowell of wannabe singers during American Idol. Yet one word, the top word, seemed to be more wide-spread than caused by a single event. The word: Integrity.

Integrity has slipped away quietly. Customers complaints silenced by uncaring frontline employees or deaf managers. Leaders isolated from the front-lines of operations. Employees seeing owners buying new cars while payroll and benefits are reducing discretionary income.

Failed integrity is often good intentions derailed by business needs. In the mid-1990s Kmart investors were complaining about slumping market share empty store shelves. Solution: a vendor report card showing manufacturers late shipments so supply chain impediments could be identified and eliminated. Red ink began to grow and making the scorecard a way to generate revenue through penalties. Before long the program was assigned huge income goals, destroying longtime vendor relationships.

As revenue pressures built, management wanted to use the scorecard to levy fines. I resisted and soon upper management spun off the program leaving the training program under my responsibility while a different team automated and expanded the compliance program to a nine figure income stream. My continued training duties kept me the face of the compliance program..

In hindsight, integrity would have taken me down a different road. So it is with integrity. People do not judge your integrity by motives or intentions, only by outcomes.

I developed Trust Ball™. As in baseball, you go straight to the batter's box when first encountering a new individual/team. If your initial impression conveys integrity, you move to first base. Specific attitudes and actions allow you to move around the bases, one at a time, eventually scoring a homerun. If you break one of the tenets of trust, it constitutes an out and you must return to the dugout. No longer can you simply go to the batter's box, from this point on you must pause in the on-deck circle before getting back into the game.

When you are faced with a new situation, policy, procedure, or opportunity ask yourself these questions:
1. How does it apply to my personal belief system?
2. How will others view it in hindsight when the event is over?
3. If something goes wrong or is changed/expanded/shifted in mid-stream, how will it look in hindsight?
4. What advanced actions will prevent negative impressions during event?
5. Is the price worth it?

Integrity is an essential leadership quality. What are you doing to destroy trust? Are words consistent with actions? Do you catch others off-guard or do they know what to expect from you? Master integrity and you will build relationships stronger and faster than you ever imagined possible.

For more information about building Trust or Trust Ball™ visit www.getmaximpact.com.

This release was published on openPR.