Integrity, a Bedrock for Success

by Veronica Okugbeni, an Assistant Director, Pharmacy Department of the Federal Neuro Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba

“In looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” – Warren Buffet.

Integrity simply means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances whether or not anyone is watching. In this present time where employees have complaints about human resources,  integrity will make you stand out. It is so important in every area of life because people will only trust you and commit things to your care when they can see you are a person of integrity, as it is a trait that cannot be hidden.

Zig Ziglar said “Honesty and integrity are absolutely essential for success in life.” The real good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity.You can actually be a man of integrity if you see it as a value that is important for success in your life and live by it everyday. A friend and classmate of mine, who is also a pharmacist, shared her personal experience on integrity with us. She is into cake making and she said on this particular day she was baking at night as she had a delivery to make the next day. Along the line, she dozed off and by the time she recovered from her nap the cake had passed the heating time and got slightly burnt. She said she could have iced the cake like that, as it was already late at night and the thought of starting all over was not appealing to her at all, but then, she remembered one of her values in life which is integrity. She started all over again and made a supply for the event. A commissioner of a ministry came for that event, tasted her cake and loved it. When the ministry had an event she was called upon to make their cake. She made us understand that even when there is a little error in her baking process and her staff tells her to ignore it as the customer will not know, she tells them that she is out to build a business known for integrity and doing the right thing. Her business has grown in that state and that’s because of her core value – INTEGRITY.

You may be tempted to think that honesty does not pay. I can boldly tell you it does. People will keep recommending you because they know you will not cut corners or cheat them.

Building a reputation of integrity takes years but it takes only a second to lose. So never allow yourself to do something that would damage your integrity.  As young professionals you cannot reach the peak of greatness if you are not known for honesty. Stand for the truth even if others are cutting corners to make gain. Let your boss and associates be able to speak good of you and recommend you when an honest person is  being sought.

Let your clients be able to say of your business  – “I always prefer to do business with AB company because they don’t cheat their clients.” Don’t make promises you cannot deliver. Keep to time and don’t compromise because of money. SEE YOU AT THE TOP!