I have a tendency to forget things when I don’t write it down. Today I forgot to bring my headphones at work and I sent a few emails away to ask people if they had a pair to spare. A guy from the Tech department said that he had some available but it was only for work purposes.
I was faced with a choice, I could either lie to him and get the headphones or tell the truth and not have any. Nobody would have known except for me.
Integrity is doing what’s morally right. Every time you don’t, you’re giving your integrity away. I believe that the more you give it away, the more it will trouble you.
Would you have given your integrity for a pair of headphones?
[Update December 2, 2019]
This blog post consistently make it on my most viewed list so I've decided to expand on it a bit.
I remember clearly the event that made me write this post. It was at an old office and I was about to listen to leadership CDs called "Integrity" only to realize that I had forgotten my headphones. When I asked our IT guy if we had any to spare he said that he can only lend them to me if it's for work purposes.
I could of lied to get the headphones but that would of made me kind of an hypocrite wouldn't it? I mean there's got to be a special place in hell for people that lie to get headphones in order to listen to a leadership cd about Integrity?
I chose to wait but sometimes I wonder if I would of took them if the leadership CD would of been about another subject. Every day, we're faced with thousands of decisions that ultimately define who we are.
Do we choose to be a person of integrity or lie just to get the headphones?