Integrity
Dictionary.com says integrity is “a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition”.
I’ll offer another definition – complete faith or total certainty in the numbers that are presented, knowing that the numbers are accurate.
Both definitions point to one thing – integrity means the numbers are right.
 All of us in business make decisions based on the numbers.
How much we can invest.
How much we can pay people.
How much we can spend.
How much we can donate.
How much we can dividend.
How much we can save.
If the numbers are wrong, any decisions we make in this list become suspect.
We may not have that much to invest.
We may not be able to pay people as much as we wanted.
We may not be able to buy those new things for the office.
We may not be able to give those gifts.
We may not be able to pay out that dividend.
We may not be able to put just a bit away in case tomorrow is less rewarding than today.
It’s all about the numbers.
And when those numbers are suspect, any of these decisions would be questionable as well.
I’ve been blessed to know some incredibly good CFO’s in my life.
The thing that differentiates the best from the worst is integrity.
Trust in the numbers.
Total belief that the numbers that are presented are indeed accurate.
So the best decision at the right time can be made for the company.
That’s integrity.
That’s priceless.