“Walking the talk” is a widely used expression and important concept for personal and business integrity. Only to the extent that we “walk the talk” are we perceived, either as individuals or as companies/brands, to have integrity and to command respect.
One of the dilemmas faced by organisations that seek to raise standards and awareness is as to whether to enforce standards and face the significant cost of “policing” those standards or otherwise to leave it to natural forces.
The trend on the internet is to take the latter route. Websites such as eBay and Amazon have rating systems that allow people to rate suppliers and, in the case of eBay, even buyers. Whilst theoretically risky in terms of claims for defamation, these systems work surprisingly well.
We believe that the same thing can be applied to setting standards in other areas. We believe that people are far more savvy than we give ourselves credit for: people often intuitively know when they are being misled. You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all of the time.
They key to this is transparency. In the sector of socially and environmentally friendly business, there are many businesses that profess to be “green” and there are many other businesses that do not say they are green or even allude to their “green activities” for fear of people picking up on the shortcomings. However, being open and transparent about what you are doing, acknowledging your achievements and at the same time acknowledging the shortcomings, perhaps having a private place to fill the gap over time, is far more effective than keeping quiet. The more people who acknowledge the small contribution they make (but do not overstate it), the more people are inspired to take action as the movement gains momentum.
Part of the problem behind the perceived need to keep quiet is a fear of being judged. Highlighting peoples’ shortcomings rather than their achievements serves as a disincentive and tends to extinguish the small sparks of the awakening process.
So why is a lawyer writing about this subject? Because I advocate being consistent in all dealings, having integrity by “walking the talk” being open about positive progress as whilst openly acknowledging the further work to be done.
Openly owning the aspirations and values and incorporating them into all legal relationships (internally and externally) allows the business to exude integrity whilst it develops itself. This spurs loyal support from customers, suppliers and employees. How valuable would that be to your business?
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