How Much Is Your Character Worth?

"You see someone put their coat on and out of their pocket falls what looks like money. As you approach you clearly see that they dropped a $1 bill." What do you think most people would do? What would you do? What if you saw that it was a $50 dollar bill? What if it was a $100 bill? Do you think most people would change their answer as the denomination changed? Would your answer change as the denomination changed?

Now that you’ve read this, can you see that this “pop quizz” is the real test of good character? So what does it say about “your character” when it comes down to how you answered the above hypothetical situation? How does your answer determine what kind of employee you might become? How does your answer match up with how you want to be remembered after you’re gone? What if the person reciting your eulogy at your funeral let the members in attendance know what your answer was to this situation? Would it hurt or enhance your reputation? Would it make your mother, father, brother, sister, boss, colleagues, co-workers, husband, wife, boy or girlfriend proud? Would you want people to teach your answer to others? Would you want others to read the decision you made on the front page of the newspaper? Now let me ask you this, does your answer match up with being trustworthy, respectful, responsible, fair, caring, a good citizen, honest, as well as a person that had the courage to do the right thing?

Can you see that character is not really just words on the wall, words in a policy and procedure manual, on a mission statement, attending workshops, reading information about character, listening to lectures, motivational speakers or even watching videos? Good character is about words in action. It is what “we do” that matters in these situations. We are not innocent bystanders in life waiting for others to make the first move. Being a person of good character means that “you” are willing to make the first move and “take action.” It means that “you are willing to do the right thing” regardless of the risk. It also means, “doing the right thing” even if everyone else is not.

Comments

[Shel Horowitz, Ethical Marketing Expert]

Dong the right thing can be scary sometimes, but it's still right. Recently one evening, we discovered a $7000 error on our bank statement--in our favor. We reported it to the bank the next day--and it turned out that an insurance policy we had bought was not in force because of the error, so it's very good that we did. But even if it hadn't been, I would never want to cheat someone out of $7000.

In fact, I started the Business Ethics Pledge campaign, at http://www.business-ethics-pledge.org - to help create a business climate that rewards good behavior. this is also why I wrote my book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First

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