Integrity is forever!

Today was the big event as both Elder Bowen and Elder Haynie and their wives said goodbye. all the employees were invited and a luncheon was served in the MTC multi-purpose room. The two departing General Authorities were given a special bound book with all their messages from the Liahona, a quilt and a plaque. The most important thing these couples left us was their faith and integrity. This article came to mind when I think of people like them.

Success will come and go but integrity is forever!

By Amy Anderson

Forbes

If I could teach only one value to live by, it would be this: Success will come and go, but integrity is forever. Integrity means doing the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching. It takes having the courage to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences will be. Building a reputation of integrity takes years, but it takes only a second to lose, so never allow yourself to ever do anything that would damage your integrity.

We live in a world where integrity isn’t talked about nearly enough. We live in a world where “the end justifies the means” has become an acceptable school of thought for far too many. Sales people overpromise and under deliver, all in the name of making their quota for the month. Applicants exaggerate in job interviews because they desperately need a job. CEOs overstate their projected earnings because they don’t want the board of directors to replace them.  Entrepreneurs overstate their pro formas because they want the highest valuation possible from an investor. Investors understate a company’s value in order to negotiate a lower valuation in a deal. Customer service representatives cover up a mistake they made because they are afraid the client will leave them. Employees call in “sick” because they don’t have any more paid time off when they actually just need to get their Christmas shopping done. The list could go on and on, and in each case the person committing the act of dishonesty told themselves they had a perfectly valid reason why the end result justified their lack of integrity.

It may seem like people can gain power quickly and easily if they are willing to cut corners and act without the constraints of morality. Dishonesty may provide instant gratification in the moment but it will never last. I can think of several examples of people without integrity who are successful and who win without ever getting caught, which creates a false perception of the path to success that one should follow. After all, each person in the examples above could have gained the result they wanted in the moment, but unfortunately, that momentary result comes at an incredibly high price with far reaching consequences.  That person has lost their ability to be trusted as a person of integrity, which is the most valuable quality anyone can have in their life. Profit in dollars or power is temporary, but profit in a network of people who trust you as a person of integrity is forever.  

Elder Rasband gave a talk about this very subject at a BTU devotional explaining to the students to be moral, ethical and honest. He told them how Jon Hunstman had offered him a job not because of his credentials which were not stellar but because he had seen Elder Rasband's strengths of leadership, character and work ethics that were good for his business. He added: " Jon was a man of his word, and his handshake was no casual commitment...Many of you will be asked in years ahead to bend the rules, grease wheels, to look the other way, to compromise. It may not be a million dollar deal, and some may assume that is the way things are done. But your integrity will be on the line, and the price will never be worth it... Integrity in business and in spiritual matters all draw the same well of strength-- our Lord Jesus Christ...Everyone is vulnerable unless the decision is made in advance to never compromise principles, come what may." He closed by quoting President Nelson: "Our precious identity deserves our precious integrity! We must guard it as the priceless prize it is." 

Con amor,

Vero