Towards
Personal and Organizational Effectiveness and Integrity
Dr. Hubert Rampersad
and Ahmad Sanusi Husain
Personal
Integrity
It has become dramatically clear that the
foundation of corporate integrity is personal integrity. There is such a need for a complete rebirth of trust in our business
leaders. Somewhere along the line leaders lost their humility and in doing so
they have lost their compassion and empathy, and their conscience.
In the
next articles we will introduce a framework for learning yourself and based on
this formulating of your identity, so called your personal
balanced scorecard. By implementing this personal bsc
and finding the proper balance between
your personal ambition and your behavior you will get
inner peace and the ability to be guided by your inner voice. All of which
develops personal charisma, trust and personal integrity. People with this
perspective on life matter to one another and create a stable basis for their
own credibility. When people achieve this inner authority, they also have a
positive effect on the feelings of loyalty, motivation, and dedication of those
around them. The credibility of people depends on the following:
·
Trustworthy
people practice what they preach.
·
They keep their
word.
·
Their actions
match their words.
·
They suit the
action to the word.
·
They keep their
promises.
·
They do what
they said they would do.
The
central questions in this contemplative process are:
·
Do I act in
accordance with my conscience?
·
Is there consistency between what I am
thinking and what I am doing?
·
How do my ideals, ambitions,
intentions, needs, and deepest desires fit my present actions?
·
Are my thoughts and my practices the
same?
·
Do I act in accordance with my
personal ambition?
·
Does my
personal ambition reflect my desire to act ethically?
·
Are there
contradictions in my personal ambition?
·
In what way
does my behaviour influence my views, and vice versa?
The best way to look at success is to ask: Have I followed my conscience, have I given my best effort, have I done what was right and have I learned from my effort? Your personal ambition and your practices must be the same. When people find harmony between their personal ambition and their personal behaviour, they will not come into conflict with their own conscience.
Our conscience is the inner voice that talks
to us with firm conviction to help us distinguish between right and wrong,
between fact and fiction. It is a voice that whispers to us what we can do best
and guides us in our daily activities. It is a voice that we can trust and on
which we can build our existence. It is the only reliable compass to follow if
there is a conflict between the mind that reasons and the heart that decides.
The harmony between personal ambition and personal behaviour ensures that your
deeds are in balance with your conscience. You will gain better insight in your
own behaviour, your own strengths and weaknesses and your related personal
objectives. Also, it can be noted that the personal ambition not only supports
insight, but also reality. Harmony between personal ambition and personal behaviour
also has to do with attentiveness, namely, to continuously perceive what you do
and be aware of the influence of your behaviour on human beings, animals,
plants and the environment. As this attentiveness develops, your ethical behaviour
will grow. You will also become a better human being.
1.
Understand yourself.
2. Recognize your responsibility and ethical duty to improve continuously and make personal improvement to a routine.
3.
Assess relationships with
your family, supervisor, peers, subordinates, customers, and others.
4.
Evaluate your need/desire to
improve regularly and necessity of your personal growth.
5. Realize behavioural changes and constantly challenge your behaviour.
Hubert Rampersad is president of TPS International Inc. in