Word of mouth marketing? Honoring my word as myself? Integrity? (Same difference.)

Honoring one's word and integrity go hand in hand. They are obviously connected and the consequences of incongruity are straight forward. When I make a declaration I am putting myself out in the world as my word. Consequently, others view this declaration with varying levels of skepticism based on the declaration I have made and the history of our relationship. Finally, my follow through actions are the current state of my integrity.

Now does that mean I don't screw up? Of course not, I'm a human being and lack of integrity is inevitable. So, what's a person to do? Clean it up! Identify and correct it when you've made a mistake. Acknowledge the impact on yourself for not living up to your own standard of integrity and the impact your lack of integrity has had on others in your community. Make a revised declaration and follow through on it with integrity!

How does this play out in an ethical company or an organization? Exactly the same way. As an employee, I am a member of a community providing a service or product to a larger community. As such those principles of integrity function in the same way for a community of employees and community of customers. Companies and organizations with integrity identify and stop the actions that lack integrity. They publicly disclose what happened and implement procedures to prevent it from happening in the future. The principles of integrity and word of mouth among humans (no matter what the relationship) is as consistent as is gravity on Earth.

Most of us (individuals and communities) have honorable ethics. And often times we fall short of meeting those standards we set forth. It's what we do when that happens that makes a difference in our world.