As a splendid palace deserted by its inmates looks like a ruin, so does a man without character, all his material belongings notwithstanding. – Mahatma Gandhi
Our conscience can help us live principle-centered lives when we learn to listen to and to trust its voice. The Sufis speak of a blind horseman who, while riding a horse with his friend, drops his whip. When he reaches down to pick it up, he mistakenly picks up a snake instead. His friend implores him to throw down the snake, but the blind man doubts his friend’s integrity, thinking that he wants a better whip for himself. This lack of trust costs the man his life, as the snake bites him. When we trust the voice of our conscience, we are guided well.
In our lives, we will face many crossroads-the right path may be long and full of obstacles while the wrong path may be short and clear.. If we choose the wrong path, we will achieve success that is temporary and meaningless, but if we opt for the right path, we will achieve fulfilling and sustained success. We should always pay the price and follow the right path.
In a corporation, our conscience guides our mission statement and the values and principles emanate from it. As leaders, we get our guidance from this statement, and through self-awareness we remain true to our values.
In our corporate lives trust takes two forms; the first is the voice of each corporate person’s conscience, and the second is the trust that we build within the team.
We work on eliminating rivalry that can lead team members to lose trust. If our team members are unhappy with their work, they might be tempted to violate their principles. A lot also depends on employee self-concept. When people feel good about themselves, they remain steadfast. As leaders, we can help by catching people doing things right, providing training and keeping them happy and excited. With encouragement, we keep the confidence of our team high and encourage them to work with principles, no matter what.