#15 PROTECT YOUR INTEGRITY

Protect Your Integrity – Be truthful, even when the message is hard for your client to hear.  Be reliable, if you are unable to meet a commitment, communicate that quickly.

It has been said that integrity is really all we have.  It is the one characteristic we have control over.  It is ours to protect and it is ours to give up.  While others may question our integrity or even lie about us, those who really matter will be witnesses to our true self.

Many times we are in the position to observe from afar, and yet have influence with our customers.  We hear about their challenges, listen to their perception of the issues and then observe the reality.  Often it is not easy to convince others of what is really happening, let alone what changes need to be made to correct the situation.  However, we must be honest with our diagnoses and our prescriptions. Softening the message to the point of smoothing over the problem only leads our customers down the path of failure. We bring no value to this equation.

Likewise, when we commit, people rely on us to achieve.  They base their decisions and their future progress on our promised achievement.  There will be times when we cannot accomplish 100%, everyone makes mistakes.  When we do, we need to own our mistakes and do everything we can to rectify them.  We first communicate the shortcoming so the customer can plan accordingly.  In addition, we should attempt to find alternatives for reaching comparable results.

Generally, the customer looks to us for assistance in accomplishing their vision.  If we can provide honest advice and meet our commitments, and the customer sees their vision come to fruition, our value will be evident.