8/6/2019 How to Tell You'Re Losing Your Integrity

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FROM THE BOTTOM UP September 21, 2010, 3:31PM EST

It really is a long, slippery slope. Stop and think about your behavior before you end up fired, jailed, audited, hated—or simply filled with regret

By Jeff Schmitt

I remember the first time I watched Oliver Stone's Wall Street . Back then, insider trading had captured our imaginationsand moral hazard was an obscure concept. While the media was caricaturing the Boeskys and Milkens, Gordon Gekkomanaged to humanize them. Sure, I recoiled at Gekko's callous individualism, but I was also drawn to his wile and wit.Even more, I related to Bud Fox—an outsider like me, chasing a spot on the other end of the phone. Still, somethingabout Fox always troubled me. He had the high-rise apartment and stylish girlfriend. Why couldn't he just walk away?

I didn't get my answer until years later. A mentor, sensing my Gekko-like ambition as a salesman, posed this question:How far would you go to get what you want? The question stayed with me as I watched others shrug off the question.They were certain of their compasses; they vowed to clean the stables once they neared the top. Things weren't sosimple. They had bills to pay and children to feed. Right vs. wrong wasn't always clear cut. Even when it was, theyknew it took only one misstep to become a living cautionary tale.

So they fell in line and looked the other way. In the beginning, they told themselves the same things: "This isn't reallyme;" "it's only temporary." With tradeoffs came temptations—and these soon became part of the problem. Little bylittle, the line drifted further. The rules they bent always snapped back so easily. It took only a first step and thingsslowly unraveled from there.

Our century began with "too good to be true" before tumbling into "too big to fail." The bubbles burst and the baublesbroke. From boardrooms to cubicles, so many lost their way. With Gordon Gekko returning for an encore in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps on Friday, we're reminded that this cycle inevitably will repeat. The seeds of the next collapse arealways planted in the embers of the last. Ever wonder if you're sacrificing honor for expedience? Ask yourself if you'redoing any of the following:

Self-Justifying: You're above the rules and infallible. You view yourself as a transcendent force, entitled by yourpower, knowledge, and achievements. You apply the rationales that many before you have offered: It's easier to ask forforgiveness than permission; everyone is doing it; the ends justify the means; no one will ever know; and "I'll put it backthe way it was." Don't forget to include an unhappy childhood, for good measure. In reality, you're neither invincible norremarkable—just another flawed individual looking for a pretext to go in or a way to get out.

Clamping Down: You brook no dissent. Imperious and impatient, you fend off any entreaties with the usual dismissals:"It's none of your business;" "what's done is done; and "I'm not going to explain myself to you." You hide behind yourreputation and title, bursting with piety, expressing indignation that anyone dares question you. Your employees have astake, too"one you're putting at risk. You forget that your misdeeds will stain their reputations as much as your own.

Taking on Risk: When you were young, you told yourself, "I'll never do that." But when your principles interfered withyour aspirations, it became "Just this once." That's a slippery slope; it gets a little easier to make those concessionseach time. "I've already gone this far," you say to yourself. "What's a little more?" So you double down, determined torescue your status and legacy. Now there's no larger purpose than the present moment. You tell yourself it'll all workout. Yet you have your escape plotted out.

o Tell You're Losing Your Integrity - BusinessWeek http://www.businessweek.com/print/managing/content/sep2010/ca20100...

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