In my fourth blog post on the STRONG Skill of Integrity,  I feature Brianna Zafian, a recent graduate of CU-Boulder and a student in my class, Capstone for the Business Minor, at CU this past semester.

Millennials and Integrity in a Business:

Integrity is defined as: “The quality of being honest and having strong moral principals; moral uprightness.” More and more companies nowadays are being looked at by millennials based off of their integrity. The younger generation is able to find so much information about a company from many different places that there is no reason to put their support in one that is not honest. No one, especially millennials, like to be tricked, talked down to, or lied to.

That is why integrity in the workplace and as a company is so important. Millennials have options in this capitalist society and many are now choosing to investigate into certain companies to see if they are honest or not. Millennials like to know that by supporting a certain company, they are helping the greater good. By buying something from a company that lies about their product or does harmful things to society, they are inadvertently supporting those flaws as well.  Having integrity on a personal level is important, but the trick is being able to create a company filled with those people. In turn, the company will reap the benefits by gaining many supporters.

Integrity in the Classroom:

One of the best quotes I have heard from a professor was, “Unlike you have been taught throughout your career as a student, there are favorites in the classroom. Not everything is black and white. There is not always a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to things.” That quote, to me, shows integrity. Hearing someone actually admit the fact that life after graduating from college is not like college or school at all may seem obvious. However, no one ever said it flat out. It was a relief and a bit of a slap in the face to hear it.

I felt as if I had been lied to a bit throughout my life as a student. Being told, if you do “a” and “b” then you will succeed, is not the way that life works outside of school? Life is full of ups and downs and is rarely ever perfect. Having an honest professor that reiterated the truth was refreshing. It prepared me to learn that integrity is important because a lot of the times it does not set unrealistic expectations, especially after you graduate.

Is Integrity the Best Policy?

Many people may succeed in life because they are wiling to lie and squash others until they reach the top. I have never understood that method and it irks me that sometimes it works.

Luckily, I have yet to come across a person who has sold their soul for their work, and I hope I never will. While some people may be okay with this tactic, it is upsetting to even think that there are people I most likely will come across during my career who decide to throw me under the bus (maybe I have been watching too much Mad Men). Either way, I think it is time to adjust the workplace into an area that produces people with integrity instead of creating unhealthy competition that breeds over-competitive people.

Some people may love the idea of competing with their co-workers to impress their boss, but it should be people working as a team to impress their boss and improve everyone’s situation.

Having a workplace that supports integrity is something that will help people grow professionally and individually and not revert people to their high school ways of starting rumors and trying to be the Queen/King “B”of the office.