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Management Side
Week of 1 June 2015: Integrity First
Sponsored by Genesis Energy, LP--your exclusive source for NAHS--1-800-422-6274

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This old world seems to be full of problems these days. Wars, rumors of wars, natural disasters, you name it. These affect all of us, not only in our personal lives but at work as well. And with political correctness running rampant these days, traditional ways of calling on people to behave in a manner that is conducive to the common good of whatever organization or entity with which one is associated seem unavailable.

There is one word, however, that can breach all languages, creeds, religions, loyalties and so forth. That word is Integrity. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers the following definitions of Integrity:

1. Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values: incorruptibility
2. An unimpaired condition: soundness
3. The quality or state of being complete or undivided: completeness

I think I can say if I am dealing with people of integrity, I don't have to worry about much else as most other things will take care of themselves.

Consider:

1. If a person of integrity does not know how to do a particular task, they will ask, not fake it.
2. If a person of integrity is confronted with an unethical or possibly illegal situation they will bring it to a manager's attention, not participate.
3. If a person of integrity sees an unsafe act, they will report it.

And on and on and on.

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In other words, if you are looking for a foundation upon which to build your employment principles, integrity is the place to start.

How many actions have you seen in your place of work, mill, supplier or elsewhere, where if people had acted with integrity all would be well? How many disciplinary issues have you seen, which, again, if people had acted with integrity, would not have even been necessary?

Employees, people in general, often take shortcuts, think they are being savvy, or just plain being cute when an adherence to the simple definitions of integrity I listed above would have prevented the problem to begin with. Nothing wrong with being savvy, as long as this is done within one's experience limits. There are times when shortcuts are fine, too--for the person experienced at the tasks at hand.

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The mistaken idea that uptime is directly related to market conditions: Mills generally run flat out ... Check out the latest edition of Strategic & Financial Arguments.

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Outside of work, more integrity would result in fewer problems, too. I have thought about it a lot and integrity takes the day as far as one word that would best describe how I and the people I deal with should behave.

So, when you are dealing with people in difficult situations, start here. Ask yourself if you are dealing with people of integrity. If you are not, it is time to stop and address this issue. It is like I tell people when writing contracts. A good contract is important, don't skimp on it. However, no contract is good enough to protect you from a person or company which has no integrity to start with. You can't write integrity into a contract.

What do you think? You can take our weekly quiz here.

For safety this week, refer to the second and third definitions of integrity mentioned above. All of your safety equipment should be of the highest integrity.

Be safe and we will talk next week.

You can own your Nip Impressions Library by ordering "Raising EBITDA ... the lessons of Nip Impressions."


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