Of course, by honesty, it means that our behaviour is perceived to be predictably devoid of LYING. The universal fact here is that, lying breaks down trust and damages or destroys relationships. On the long run, it is demeaning to self, hurts and damages personal esteem. Another important co-efficient of HONESTY, as the central issue in integrity at both personal and institutional level, is the reality that our behaviour should be perceived by others, as being predictably devoid of CHEATING. It is incontrovertible to state that cheating destroys trust and ruins individual or group cooperation and cohesion. Hence, it is always good to be honest at all times. Before I proceed further, I will like to share one of my write-ups that was widely published in both the print and online media, on July 29, 2016. It was titled: ‘WHO CHEATS’? The headline was taken from an Anti-Corruption International Blog – the FCPA.
The writer of the article, Caveni Wong, discussed something so intriguing that would normally pass for our behavioural traits, but never taken seriously, as this is why cheating is taken as an integral part of corruption. Caveni, in the piece wrote: It is an uncomfortable thought, but given certain circumstances, most of us would cheat. He said his colleague; Ron Carrucci, once wrote about how easily one can ‘cross the line’. Various studies have repeatedly shown that most people cheat when asked to self-report their performance on a task, if it means a higher pay out. But they only cheat, a little enough to gain extra benefit, but not so much that they would feel bad about themselves for the act. The truth is that it does not pay to cheat others.
Carrucci further remarked that this attitude was consistent with what he observed in his earlier career, when he would go out with few of his colleagues for what they would classify as a ‘client’ meal in which actual client names would be scribbled on a receipt and submitted for re-imbursement. A colleague, he said, once told him that, he often embellished expenses. Oftentimes, employees do not know they had crossed the line. They only saw their actions as part of the informal culture. And that is the insidious nature of minor cheating that goes on continually and unchecked. Cheating slowly builds up a culture that can eventually lead to the stage whereby more serious violations could lead to mega corruption. This is the crux of the matter in our society today! Thus, question is: As adults, have we not crossed the borderline in the past? Thank God that some of us, after accepting Jesus Christ, confessed and restituted by battling against flesh in order to make eternity.
In the Gospel according to John Chapter 8, we read daily how Jesus exonerated and rescued a woman allegedly caught in an adulterous act from accusers, who were ready to stone her to death. Jesus simply stooped down and scribbled something on the ground and asked a thunderbolt of a question, saying ‘he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her’. That question pricked their consciences one-by-one and they all moved away. What a timeless lesson for all us here! Today, many of us are looking for ‘Mr. Integrity’ and discussing corruption at every forum, but in our subconscious minds and at our closets, are we not guilty in one way or another? Do we not cheat? Just looking around this country today and tell me whether corruption is not starring at us. The holier than thou attitudes among our so called leaders remain the order of the day.
A perfect example of personal integrity is presented Biblically in Daniel Chapter 3, verses 17 to 18. We remember how Daniel renamed Shadrach and two of his friends – Meshach and Abednego – stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar as they were to being thrown into a flaming furnace for refusing to deny the living Almighty God, and they bowed down, saying: Your Majesty, we do not need to defend ourselves. The God that we worship can save us from you and your flaming furnace. But if He does not, we will not worship your gods and the gold statue you have set up. These three men have taught us a great lesson. It is better to lose everything else, even our lives than to lose our integrity. When everything else is gone – money, family, friends and shelter – what remains is our integrity. My point here, therefore, is that we should not compromise integrity to gain money, power or prestige. You may not know how things will turn out to be when you stand up for the truth and integrity in the face of worldly pressures to do wrong. But I can assure you that it would not be dull – it will be bright and right at the end of the day.
There is no doubting the fact that integrity is a fundamental value sought by employers in their employees – private, corporate or public life. It is the trait of a person who exhumes sound moral and ethical principles at work and in life generally. Integrity is the foundation on which workers build trust and effective interpersonal relationships. And, it should be the underpinning principle behind both public and private workers in their official relationships with the larger society. It is universally upheld and appreciated accordingly that people who exhibit integrity draw others to them because they are trustworthy and dependable. They are regarded as principled and they can be counted upon to behave in honourable ways, even when no one is watching or even knows about their private or official assignments. There is no doubting the fact that this is what should be the norm and culture in all our private and official undertakings, as patriotic Nigerians.
(Continues tomorrow)
- Being a paper delivered by Sir Folu Olamiti ( FGNE) at the Kingdom Men Mega Summit 2018, held in Lagos on May 17,2018.
and then