Want To Get Lucky?
Do you know what happens when preparation meets opportunity?
What many early entrepreneurs and new business owners don’t know is that a company’s integrity can make or break its success. The integrity of your business can lead to flourishing sales or crippling failure.
If you want to get lucky, you must have integrity.
Do you have the grit to tell the truth even if the truth is ugly?
Do you know where you stand on important topics?
Do you have the confidence to stand in your value?
The Meaning of Business Integrity
What does having “business integrity” mean to you?
I encourage you to think from an engineering or business perspective. As in, integrity of the system. You are a system. Your mindset is a system. Your body is a system. Your business is a system. When all the parts and pieces are logical, sound and in top working order, you’re completely set for success. That’s systems integrity. It’s where preparation meets opportunity.
Individuals and businesses with integrity have unwavering leadership principles. They have shared values and morals. These foundational components dictate the actions of all personnel.
These are examples of systems integrity.
From the top down to the bottom up, from the smallest company decisions to the highest level boardroom discussion, successful companies such as Apple, Google or Amazon have an impenetrable decision-making framework for any plan and project. You should too.
The Importance of Business Integrity
Unseasoned business owners downplay the need for professional integrity training. Many “assume” automaticity and only discover the need for training after their profits begin to suffer.
Degrees of Integrity are directly proportional to statistics of success or failure.
To grow your customer base and generate new sales, it’s critical to earn the trust of not only your employees but also your customers and any messaging to your audience.
Putting your business’s integrity on the backburner is going to lead to poor customer and client service, low-quality products and no loyalty from your team members and employees.
What Business Integrity Looks Like in Action
If you haven’t trained your team on leadership principles and company values you are missing the mark. Business integrity is important, it’s not automatic. It’s an inclusive conversation that should take place with a business coach or with a trained executive team.
At minimum, sit down with your team and discuss.
Here’s an example of a strong business leadership principle:
BIAS FOR ACTION
Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
As a leader or manager:
Makes sound, timely decisions and removes barriers for direct reports.
Quickly identify how work will be done and communicated to the team.
Make timely, sound decisions for the business even when all the info isn’t available.
Empower employees rather than become a bottleneck.
Remove barriers to help the team act on new ideas immediately.
As an individual contributor:
Quickly identify what’s needed before taking action. Request info if needed, then move forward.
Be ready, willing and able to roll up sleeves and assist with customer facing tasks.
Ask for help in a timely manner.
Respond promptly to requests for information.
Follow up, deliver high quality and on time as promised.
Make certain to create an “action item list” to identify ownership and target dates.
After identifying your leadership principles, decide what they actually look like in action. Think of primary ways you and your business can showcase integrity. Look for examples and existing models. As a best practice, create descriptions for each of the chosen principles so that you and team leaders can help make them part of your culture.
Consider crafting short stories. As you read through the following, ask, “What does that look like to me?”:
Making good on commitments.
Being transparent and honest with customers.
Being accountable for actions.
Sticking to a strong, consistent moral code.
Treating the team and customers with respect.
Bottom line, when you operate clearly, honestly, consistently, and transparently, through unwavering systems, you set yourself, your business, employees, and clients for success.
Don’t wait on luck or chance.
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
This is what it means to be lucky! And brilliant, of course. 🙂
If you are an entrepreneur or business owner and want to learn more about business integrity, individualized leadership training programs, strength-based training, or our team building charter programs, reach out on our contact page to set up a call today.