The I in our AUTHENTIC acronym stands for Integrity, and this is the eighth characteristic of our Authentic Selling model.
Again, it’s all connected. Especially Undisputed Results and Integrity. One simply doesn’t happen without the other! So let’s focus on the importance of Integrity in Authentic Selling.
In business and in life, we all want to deal with honest people. We look for people who keep their word. We want to be around people we can trust. We look for people we can depend on not only in the big stuff, but for the little things, too.
I’ve found that one of the biggest compliments you can give to someone is to say they are “a person of integrity.” And in my 20-plus years of coaching, some of the most contentious conflicts I’ve encountered happened when someone’s integrity was questioned. Therefore, Integrity absolutely had to have a place in our Authentic Selling model.
I have a simple, yet very effective, way to make sure you remain a person of integrity. It comes from my first Do What You Do Better book.
In any difficult situation, ask yourself these three questions:
- Would my parents be proud of me?
- Would my spouse respect me?
- Would my children look up to me?
If the answer is no, you need another course of action!
If you want to know how important integrity is, just ask anyone who has lost theirs. They can tell you just how precious and priceless integrity really is. Case in point: Consider Arnold Schwarzenegger. He had it all—fame as an actor and a former bodybuilder, power as governor of California, and a beautiful wife and family to boot. These accomplishments and good fortune were badly damaged when he squandered his integrity because of an extramarital affair, which resulted in his fathering a child with the family’s nanny. His good name—and all he worked for his entire life—was gone when one terribly bad decision compromised his integrity.
Compare Arnold to Mother Teresa, Billy Graham or Colin Powell. Consider the considerable integrity of these three people. Each of their lives has been quite different, but they all are lives of absolute integrity. And incidentally, each has enjoyed Undisputed Results—another of our Authentic Selling characteristics.
From time to time, we all face tests of our integrity. I’ll share one of mine. I happen to love nice cars—especially those made by Mercedes-Benz. Years ago, I bought a used Mercedes, and it was my dream car. Over time though, I came to realize that while I could afford a used Mercedes, I could not afford the maintenance. So I decided to sell it. I had paid $12K for the car, spent about $12K in repairs and the car was worth about $7.5K by the time I decided to sell it. After three long months dealing with lots of lookers, I finally got an offer.
I quickly accepted that offer; I was a motivated seller! We closed the deal, and the new owner asked me to drive the car to her office. On the way, the check-engine light came on. Now the woman knew the car was “as is” when she bought it, but I was faced with an integrity question. How should I handle this? It had taken me so long to sell the car, and I certainly didn’t want it back. So I ran my decisions through my integrity test. After realizing that only one course of action would make my parents, wife and children proud, I very sadly told the buyer I’d return her money and take back the car or we could take it to the repair shop and I’d pay to fix whatever was making that light go on.
This story did have a happy ending. The buyer still wanted the car, and it didn’t cost me much to fix what was wrong. And I kept my integrity intact.
Our integrity capital is added to or subtracted from with every important decision we make. Make sure you are adding to yours. Remember the French proverb, “There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.”