Three times in the last week. It could have been more than that but I remember three very distinct times that it happened and one of the times involved me and I am disturbed by that.
I met with some friends for lunch last week when it happened the first time. A friend of one the people I was meeting with had been invited along as well. In introducing himself he told of how he had been fired a day before he was due for a huge bonus. I remember thinking to myself, “Why do people have such a hard time doing the right thing?” Even if there was more to the story, and there may be, letting someone go that way is just wrong and cowardly.
The second time the issue of doing the right thing came up I was actually quite surprised by what was done and who had done it. Garrett Scott was a sixth round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks in the draft just a few weeks ago. In his pre-camp physical it was discovered that he had a rare heart condition that would keep him from being able to play football without great risk to his health and potentially his life.
This all happened prior to Scott signing a contract with the football team, as is the case with every draft pick. The Seahawks are under no obligation to do anything for him since he is incapable of playing and no contracts had been signed. This is where the team did the right thing. They still signed Scott to a one year contract providing him with his signing bonus and his first year salary for a total of $550,000! I know some of you might be thinking that that is just a drop in the bucket for the Seahawks and is no big deal. Forget about the dollar amount. The Seahawks did the right thing. I’m sure this kind of thing happens often and teams simply tell the player to have a nice life.
Round three of doing the right thing is on my shoulders. I was doing some training for a company that I have worked with several times. When we were to complete the training the office would have already been closed for an hour. When we were done everyone left and I stayed and picked up all of my things as well as cleaned everything up.
As I cleaned I noticed there were four unused notepads that had been put out for people to take notes on during the training. I remember thinking that I have been needing to pick some of those up and here’s four of them. No one will ever know because no one is around. They would never be missed and it would save me a couple of bucks and a trip to the store. As I picked the notepads up the saying on the cup in the picture rang loudly in my head. Again, you might be saying that it’s just four notepads. No big deal. I must admit that I wrestled with this decision more than I would like to admit. In the end, I would know. My integrity is not worth the price of four note pads.
What is your integrity worth? Do you have the courage to do the right thing even if it costs you?
I welcome your comments and feedback and feel free to share as you are inclined!
Have a STRONG and COURAGEOUS day!
