Essay About Integrity
Honesty and integrity create the foundation of trust. When a person loses his or her trustworthiness, it is impossible to have healthy personal or business relationships. When our company loses its credibility, it loses a critical portion of its competitive edge. Trustworthiness and credibility are based upon honesty and integrity and these are the key values in “The Levy Difference.”
As you can see from the definitions above, honesty involves being truthful in word and behavior. Integrity means having your insides match your outsides. This means that your behavior reflects those values that you say you believe in. To give a simple example: if you have a team member that says that they are a dedicated team member but shows up late for each shift, they are lacking integrity. To become integrated in this matter, they would need to show up to work either early or on time for their shift or, take the meaning off of being a dedicated team member. If this team member shows up early and goes above and beyond for every guest, then their external behavior will match their stated value of being a dedicated team member. But, if they just do the work to get by; they would have to admit that being a dedicated team member was not important to them. Either way, this team member would have matched their beliefs and their behavior. They would have integrity in this matter.
The more honesty and integrity you have the less anxiety and stress you will suffer. When your behavior doesn't reflect your feelings, you will experience lower self-esteem. You won't feel very good about yourself. So, in addition to affecting your interpersonal relationships in business and in your private life, a lack of honesty and integrity will affect the relationship you have with yourself. When viewed this way, integrity is the value we place on ourselves. Do we value ourselves and our peace of mind enough to be honest in word and behavior?
At Levy Restaurants, we always want our guests, team members, business associates and suppliers to understand our commitment to honesty and integrity. Think for a moment why you joined our company. It was probably based upon our reputation or your perception about the kind of company we are. Your job now is to represent us with the utmost of honesty and integrity, so that “The Levy Difference” will live on.
When dealing with purveyors, vendors and suppliers, we expect that you will deal in only the most honest, fair way. Not only is it against all Levy principles and values for you to act in any other way, but always remember that these people talk to other suppliers and they are also our guests. One little breach of integrity on your part will chip away at our reputation.
As you know from our mission statement of living “The Levy Difference” we place a premium on guest satisfaction. When our guests leave our property we want to be certain they have received the experience they were expecting. We will do whatever it takes to be certain they are satisfied. We will only have integrity as a company if we can "walk the talk" on this stated value. We will be the ones who will provide the integrity when we are able to actually behave in such a way that it communicates these values to our guests.
When thinking about our team members, honesty and integrity are critical. Team members are our greatest asset. We insist that everyone is treated with dignity and respect. It is up to you to see that this really happens. It is up to you to provide the integrity.
Stephen Covey, in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, points out that one of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. When you are able to do this, you build the trust of those who are present. Suppose you were chatting with a supplier and were criticizing another vendor in a way that you wouldn't dare do if that vendor were present. Even though the supplier may be participating in the conversation, what do you think he/she is thinking about you and about Levy Restaurants? That supplier is thinking that if you ever have a falling out with them, you will be discussing their shortcomings with someone else. That supplier now knows your nature: you'll be cordial to people to their face but be critical of them behind their back. How do they know this? Because they have seen you do it! Your integrity is lost. Or suppose you are talking with another manager and you tell him/her something someone else had shared with you in confidence. In an effort to build a relationship with that manager, you preface your comments with "I shouldn't be telling you this, but because you're my friend..." Betraying another person does not build trust with another person. Quite conversely, it would be communicating your lack of integrity and therefore destroy the illusion of trust you were trying to build.
Honesty and integrity sometimes require being confrontational. Sometimes it means standing alone in your beliefs and behavior. Confrontation takes courage. Many people would prefer to take the path of least resistance. They would rather submit to gossip, betraying confidences and dishonesty than to stand up for what they say they believe in. But in the long run, you will be more trusted, respected and even loved if you are honest and kind to others. Work to be an "authentic" person. Work to live a truthful, integrated existence. Carefully evaluate your values and live by them.
As a company, we strive to have the highest degree of honesty and integrity. We have spent a great deal of time and effort to determine what kind of values and attributes are important to us. We recognize the need to reaffirm them on a regular basis and act accordingly. Our integrity, and yours, depends on it.
Levy Legendary Action
One day a Sous Chef at Fulton's Crab House realized that one of his team members and the family was being taken advantage of in their current housing situation. From October to December he took the family throughout the area to find them acceptable living conditions. He acted as a translator for his team member to ensure they were no longer being taken advantage of.
The actions of this Sous Chef continually help his entire team to motivate them to do a better job while at work. His personal involvement merges the community with that of the Levy family to make his property a greater place to be.