Everyone I talk to agrees: this country (company, agency or school) needs more people with good old-fashioned character. You know, the kind of people who place ethics above expediency and integrity over personal advantage, people you can count on to do the right thing even if it may cost them more than they want to pay. The problem is it’s always the other guy who needs more character. It seems everyone is ethical in their own eyes.
The fact is, however, none of us are as good as we could and should be and that we probably would improve society more if we could just induce all the good people to be better than trying to make the bad people good. In that spirit of humility I wrote the following declaration that invokes me to focus on my own struggle to reach my moral potential:
“I am not and never will be perfect. I am not always as honest, respectful, responsible, fair or as kind as I should be. All I can do is what I should do – strive every day, with every decision, to be the best person I can be. I don’t expect to be perfect but I know I can be better. (Please join me at my What Will Matter Facebook http://goo.gl/JKeSxY or follow me on LinkedIn) .