Integrity

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Zig On…Leadership

By Zig Ziglar

It’s a fact that men of genius are admired, men of wealth are envied, men of power are feared -but only men of character are trusted. Integrity is the key. A classic story is that of Brockdale County High School Coach Cleveland Stroud. In 1987 this high school coach from Conyers, Georgia, and his basketball team won the state championship. Community pride was at an all-time high; the trophy was safely locked in the trophy case for everyone to view. However, as Coach Stroud was reviewing the records and grades, he discovered that he had used an illegal player for 45 seconds in one of the games. The player had zero influence on the outcome of the game, but Coach Stroud felt he had to forfeit the game and return the trophy. As stated, this player had nothing to do with the victory they had achieved, but returning the trophy had everything to do with integrity.

Many people will say that’s taking it awfully far. Those kids had worked hard for the trophy, they had earned the championship. However, here’s one of those ironies of life: Had they not revealed that an illegal player had been involved and kept that trophy, each one of them, along with the coach and the community, would have known deep down that they had not really won and that they really were not the champions. Rules are established in life, and winners play by those rules. The interesting thing, however, is the fact that since they returned the trophy, the coach, players, administrators and the entire community know that deep down they really were - and are - the champions. Most important, the kids saw a classic example of what integrity is about and will undoubtedly benefit from that example all of their lives.

When asked about it at a press conference, Coach Stroud said: “Some people have said that we should have kept quiet about it. That it was just 45 seconds, and that the player wasn’t really an impact player. But you gotta do what’s honest and right. I told my team that people forget the scores of basketball games. They don’t ever forget what you’re made out of.” That’s a good approach to take.