We toss around a lot of important concepts, values and buzzwords in our business in attempts to refocus and motivate each other. Things like “quality before quantity” and “we need to build relationships” and “integrity first”. We certainly can use the encouragement, especially during a particularly grueling work week. I was doing a bit of reading for the blog this week and found two articles that resonated with me – and serve as humorous reminders of why responsibility and integrity should be at the top of our business – and personal – values list.
About a year old now, the story-turned-music-video of David Carroll and his destroyed guitar fiasco with United Airlines is quite a hit on YouTube – to the tune of nearly 5 million views. David decided that the only course of action he had left when United refused to compensate him for the $3500 guitar they broke, was to make a video about it and post it on YouTube. As United refused to show a little integrity and take responsibility for their negligence, they were kindly reminded by 5 million viewers that you should treat one customer as you would 5 million customers. The best part is that a second and third video by David Carroll and his band are part of the saga, and the second video released yesterday on YouTube is up to 60,000 views. Tough lesson, United.
Another friendly reminder of the importance of integrity is the story of Canadian-born model Liskula Cohen and her suit against a blogger. Liskula claims a blogger “defamed her character” on their Google blog with non-too-pleasant remarks about her appearance and behavior. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joan Madden has decided that Liskula is entitled to sue the blogger for defamation which will force Google to reveal the identity of the blogger, setting a tremendous precedent for future cases. Aside from the “freedom of speech” debates and legal issues tied up in the conversation, there is still a lesson to be learned – don’t say anything you are afraid to associate your name with. Or better yet, don’t expect to say anything you want without facing the consequences.
True integrity means we own up to our actions, whether that’s online or offline, with one client or ten clients. By valuing and exercising responsibility and integrity from the start we build a reputation that we are proud of, and save ourselves from these painfully embarrassing lessons.
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