Daily Mood Quote
Day 196 – November 16, 2011
Actions speak louder than words but not nearly as often.
~Mark Twain
Mark Twain had such deep insight into human nature that it is astonishing. Here is a man who took the time to really pay attention to the way people act and had the ability to articulate it in a way anybody could grasp. He brought a lot of very lofty ideas down to a straight-forward, candid level that most philosophers and statesmen completely miss in their effort to sound important. He did so with just enough humor to get people to pay attention. That is a rare, rare quality and one I greatly admire.
Today's quote was chosen because of the catastrophic failure of responsible leadership that has been in the news lately. It comes down to a simple point, “when you sacrifice personal integrity and responsibility to further the needs and/or wants of any organization, ultimately you pay a far higher price in the long run, than you could have ever imaged by simply saying “no, I won't do that.” Organizations stress the need to “fit in” all over the globe and to be a part of any organization, people do need to make some accommodation; but it should never, ever be their integrity. History is filled with example, after example, of people in leadership positions who for whatever reason, usually something along the line of “for the good of the company, the church, or the university (pick one or more)” have supplanted their integrity with silence and cover-up. The end result is almost always a far higher cost in both organizational and personal loss, than if they would have simply stepped-up to their leadership role, stepped-in and said, “This will not happen here.” The worse part of it is, that in most cases those whom they sought to “protect” by sacrificing their integrity, end up being the first in line to hang them out-to-dry, fire (euphemistically - “term”), or crush them, in an effort to bury the truth further if they can.
I understand there is a risk to standing firm on integrity, I've had to step away from a job myself. But, like Uncle Ben (played by Cliff Robertson) said to Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) in Spiderman, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Our greatest sense of responsibility should be focused on doing the right thing. When you know “beyond a shadow of a doubt” something is going on and it is wrong, it is your responsibility to those around you, your spirit and your community to step up and do the right thing. These are things beyond rationalization. Because the things of true value can all too easily be rationalized away, if we let pursuit of money, prestige, position or tradition, cause us to make a decision that goes against personal integrity. Sooner or later, it comes back at you, a hundred times worse than the initial cost would have been. If you don't believe me, read any history book. The old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” It's that simple... really.
Mark Twain also said, “Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” I am all for a free market economy, but I have seen and read far too many instances where money made decisions that a good man (or woman) wouldn't. Money is merely a tool of trade and was never meant to rule on it's own. I believe that people in leadership positions need to start to think past the buck and not pass the buck, where integrity is concerned.
My husband says, “We haven't changed in 3,000 years, because we keep making the same mistakes over and over again. It doesn't matter what our ethnicity, or culture we are from, the fundamental lesson of when we put personal integrity aside for gain, it is inevitable that the price to be paid will be the eventual loss of that gain, perhaps more. But even more importantly, we have dealt a crushing blow to our own spirits.” Why do we do that? You can't cheat the dynamic, eventually we pay one way or the other. And you can't lie your way out of it. You know the truth and truth always has a way of coming to the surface. Far faster now than ever before in history. I don't see that trend ever reversing.
Recent scandals involving the European economy, Penn State pedophiles, Church cover-ups and Presidential candidates have all brought these issues to the surface for open examination. When we sell our integrity today, we and those we care about wind up paying for it, for the rest of our lives and some say beyond; but that's up to you.
How will you stand firm on integrity today?
Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote
Thank you for reading
