Are you willing to trade your integrity for a minute of glory?

You can feel it without seeing it, just like the air you breathe. Most importantly, you will always require it.

Long before I got my current job, I was in charge of a multimillion-dollar marketing budget. My boss had faith in me, and my coworkers appreciated my professional advice. I was happily working. Then, I got a phone call.

“All you have to do is spend a few hundred thousand dollars of your marketing budget on us, and we'll give you a 25% stake in this new online ad network company. No one needs to know about this transaction,” said the founder of a new media tech startup who previously ran a market-leading media company.

“Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking.”.

“Come, again?” Not my most astute retort. It was difficult to believe that the well-known ex-pat would make such an indecent offer.

“Others from large corporations, such as AAA, BBB, and CCC, have already agreed with me; they will all be our partners. As a result, we can keep a steady flow of media spending from their companies,” explained the “startup founder” turned “ringleader.”

All I said before hanging up the phone was, “I need to go.”

By the way, how far would you go to beat your competition by 0.13 seconds? FYI, a blink lasts 0.33 seconds. Even so, if you're an Olympian, you might put in a lot of effort for that 0.13 second.

Ben Johnson was idolized for three days after setting the world record for the 100 m male sprint at 9.79 seconds at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in 1988 (2nd place finished at 9.92 seconds, 0.13 seconds behind), and his potential seemed limitless.

Then he was discovered to be cheating with steroids. His next few decades’ futures ended there.

Nguồn: CNN

Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos), Adam Neumann (WeWork), and Markus Braun (Wirecard) are just a few of the names to look up to learn (what not to do). Nonetheless, it appears that some people are willing to exchange “0.13 second” for “decades of upward potential.”

C.S. Lewis once said, “Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking.”

Returning to my story, the person I called next proved me right, my (then) boss. I told him about the indecent proposal and my intention to steer clear of “the 25 percent share offering media company.” My boss, who is a model of integrity (which is why I trusted him to share the incident with him so quickly), appreciated my call. After which we talked about what comes next. I called the CFO and my team, while my boss supported in contacting the CHRO and our regional business unit head. The situation was resolved in less than 15 minutes.

My organization and I both came out on top in this case.

I hope that if any cases arise that require your integrity, you will resolve them successfully as well.