Fundamental of the Week #1: Act with Integrity

Demonstrate doing the right thing in all your actions and all your decisions, especially when no one is looking. Always tell the truth. Acknowledge and own your mistakes, clean them up and make appropriate corrections.Integrity is the foundation of everything and what makes things work. From a business perspective, Integrity is the basis for workability, which creates opportunities for performance. Performance in an organization becomes a measure of the level of integrity in the business.In business, like in personal life, the tighter we maintain integrity,  the greater the  opportunities to perform well. So, when I act inconsistent with what I said I would do, my attention is unnecessarily drawn to explaining it, hiding it, or saying nothing and hoping no one notices. This is wasted energy that could have gone to more productive effort.It’s important to recognize this especially applies to commitments I make to myself. If I tell myself I am going to commit to a regular exercise regimen and then don’t do it, my thoughts are preoccupied with why not, my explanations, the creeping guilt, and the loss of confidence in myself. This is energy that could be easily applied to the exercise or other productive matters….which could include relaxing!This is true for the things I tell myself and it’s the same principle for organizations. There is a cleanliness, a freedom and a self-satisfaction to honoring my word which not only impacts me, it impacts how others see me. Most importantly it impacts how I feel about myself and 
how I perform.Craig ClarkFounder and CEO,Momentum Consulting, Inc