Today’s post is by Jamie Crosbie, CEO and founder of ProActivate. Jamie is a certified peak performance mindset trainer. Contact her at jcrosbie@proactivate.net or 214/720-9922 to learn more about how her training can help your sales team reach peak performance levels.
This blog post is one of a series that features insights from certified Peak Performance Mindset experts. Peak Performance Mindset is one pillar of success for Sales 3.0-driven sales teams. To learn more, visit http://www.mindsetscience.com/. -- Selling Power Editors
Webster’s dictionary defines “integrity” as a state of being in which something is whole and undivided. I like that. To me, integrity means taking the high road, even when it is not easy. It means we do not pass the buck, cut corners, or simply ignore something we know to be wrong in the pursuit of the almighty dollar.
Character Really Does Count
In a world filled with examples of corporate scandal and selling out, standing up for ethical conduct can seem laughably naïve. But here is the deal – not only does having a moral compass matter, it really is critical to our long-term success.
According to the Harvard Business Review, integrity is essential at all levels – even more so at a management level. Patterns of ethical failure begin and end within the operating culture of a given company. Simply put, managers must lead the way by creating a climate of integrity from the get-go.
Dishonesty Costs
A lot of companies seem to learn this the hard way. Several years ago, for instance, Sears Auto Centers management failed to clarify the fuzzy line between legitimate preventive maintenance and selling unnecessary services. In the end, the company lost an estimated $60 million in a lawsuit settlement. More recently, a Goldman Sachs employee used confidential regulatory information to benefit a client. They were fined $50 million by the Federal Reserve for not properly monitoring their people.
How to Build Integrity into the Gears of Your Business Machine
Seth Goldman and Barry Nalebuff know something about building a company from the inside out. They started a company called Honest Tea that grew into a $100 million enterprise. They did it by doing business differently through a focus on – you guessed it – integrity first. They literally designed their company around the concepts of honesty and genuine value: two essential hallmarks of what it means to have integrity.
Small Missteps Can Lead to Massive Failure
Compromising on little things – cutting corners, if you will – leads to a breakdown on big things, too. In other words, stick to your core values and protect your integrity every step of the way if you want to achieve success.
In the end, it is the big mistakes that take a business down. It is often a pattern – a willingness to give in when the pressure is on, to bend at just the wrong moment, because management feels the overall goal is more important.
What people may not realize is that is precisely when real values shine through like a lighthouse cutting beam through the fog. In business and sales, as in life, everything we do advertises who we are. Our success in both is driven by our values, our motives, and our internal compass of right and wrong. That is the message that needs to ring out no matter what the circumstances. Because that is the audacity of integrity and the sum total of being truly whole.
Contact Jamie at jcrosbie@proactivate.net or 214/720-9922 to find out more about peak performance, developing a superior mindset, and improving your top line.
People buy from sales people they trust ... integrity is a big part of that.
I remember what Stephen Covey wrote in, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", Trustworthiness is made up of CHARACTER and COMPETENCE. And people have antenna to sense both of them.
Posted by: AussieSalesGuy | 03/22/2017 at 04:14 PM