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Zachary Aldwin Milkshake in the  Boardroom
During the other, I was the one reversing when this rather large pillar jumped out at me and smacked me in right in the middle of my boot (of course, the pillar moved, everyone knows pillars are sneaky and wait for unsuspecting drivers to be reversing before moving into their path, the thought that I would actually reverse into a pillar should be banished from your mind).

Needless to say I had to go the panel beater on both occasions. I ended up using two different ones. The first panel beater gave me a quote that was more than reasonable. My insurance company was happy to pay less.

The actual paint work was pretty good; they matched the colour rather well. On the surface all seemed good. Then I got in the car. My air conditioner had been turned on, why my air conditioner was turned on while they worked on my rear boot was unfathomable.

My battery was flattened. On the way home it was pointed out that my rear lights were not working, lights that despite my pillar-hugging actions had been operational before I took it in.

And they had not properly repaired my lock mechanism.
I phoned, I complained, someone was to come fix the lock . . . they never did. Second time round I found a new panel beater.
They have a relationship with my insurance company and it is easy to see why. Efficient service. Clear and honest feedback.

I phoned to find out if my vehicle would be ready, “No sir, I’m sorry but we were about to paint when we noticed that an error had been made by us so we took it back to the workbench.’’

Honest. On collection my battery was charged, the owner had a chat with me about the lock on my door, he had noticed a pre-existing fault and wanted me to be aware of it.

And they valeted my entire car, including the interior of the boot where they had not been working.
Guess where I am going next time. The second panel beater displayed a simple integrity that was missing from the first.

An integrity that showed in the small things, in the way they handled me and my property.  They delivered and over delivered.
Let us not con ourselves, we live in a season where things are rough. Companies are struggling, cash flow is difficult and a lot of people are finding themselves on the streets due to these many company closures.

Times are very hard and you have to stretch the dollar to make ends meet and live within one’s means not to be extravagant.
These are trying times, and it is in times like these that certain traits will mean the difference between your survival or failure.

The behaviour of the second panel beater is one of those, he stood by his word to deliver a quality product.
Our words and our actions have to line up, at all times we have to walk the talk at all times.

Our private actions and public persona need to line up.
We can no longer afford to live a split personality where we pretend to be something we are not.

You cannot live a life beyond your means in an effort to impress, especially when you are sacrificing your company by drawing money from it to sustain your impossible lifestyle.

Now is the time to cut back on that. It may mean that you have to sacrifice a few things in the short term, but both you and your company will still be there in the future.

Integrity gets bandied about in many value statements. It has been abused so much that it has become a common term that gets disregarded.

We have been burnt so many times by people who promise integrity and make no effort to stick to it that we treat the promise of it with disdain.

Integrity simply means that all aspects of your life line up, that you are the same person regardless of the situation. We could do with more of it. Low integrity is not enough. You can be a thief and still have integrity.

You are just honest about the fact that you are a thief.
You will steal at work, steal at home and no one will really want to do any business with you.

In fact, you warn them right at the start of any deal that you will steal from them and get them to sign a non-prosecution waiver for when they finally notice you robbing them blind.

No, integrity is not enough. You also need a degree of principle.
Your life needs to be run by a moral code, a standard of practice really.

The unprincipled person will always be at the mercy of the principled. Here is no doubt about that goodwill always prevail over evil no matter the circumstances.

Principles help you navigate difficult situations.
They give you the compass to set your life by.

Integrity means that you live your life by those principles even when you do not want to (e.g. refusing to pay a bribe when it will make your life easier).

Now is the time for principle (actually it is always the time for principle, but crisis will highlight them a whole bunch more).

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