When the Chips are down
It’s an unusual scene, closed doors and a tense atmosphere. Here you are at the deciding moment, when you get to know whether or not you get the contract for…$10million. You have done your homework, everything is perfect, your price is right and your qualifications superior. You are called to a dinner to “discuss some more”. Why not at the office, and why aren’t the other executives present? The euphoria of the moment stops your reasoning and forces you to concentrate on the deal. Suddenly before your eyes, the contract papers are placed on the table with a pen and you hear the words you’ve been waiting for “Congratulations, you’ve won the contract, please sign here”. You try to hold your excitement so you give a warm smile, pick up the pen gently and read through the contract papers not because you want to be sure of the details, but because you want to ease the tension and convince yourself it is all true. Suddenly, you realize the figures are altered, exaggerated actually, and some materials are changed. Then it dawns on you, the deal isn’t clean, fraud is involved and the law is being broken WHAT DO YOU DO?
When the chips are down and those events we discuss and boast about before our friends now truly steer us in the face, what do we do, how do we overcome and come out of such situations with our conscience clear?
The key: BE PREPARED
Why do we prepare for school, exams, interviews, even a date but we don’t consciousely prepare for life’s challenges. It’s not enough to claim “I don’t take bribe” or “I hate corruption” but lets be honest, if you find yourself in the situation above, knowing fully well that you’re in debt, about to wed and out of job, what is to guarantee you won’t compromise?
Opportunities to do wrong will ALWAYS COME, but we can never predict what we’ll do if we don’t prepare for them.
Guarding your integrity
There are a few ways to prepare ourselves against the sure temptation to fall for bribery and other forms of corruption:
- Firstly we must have the heart to stand up against it. Not everyone is willing to fight this cancer, but it must be destroyed for our nation to move forward
- Define your limits and standards clearly: no bribe, no falsifying figures, no cutting corners to get things done, and things like that. If you don’t have a conscious deliberate stand on something, you are more likely to fall for anything with just little pressure.
- Be accountable to someone. This is one area we are poor in, everyone is his own lord and master, but if we have friends, mentors that we share things with and respect, we are more likely to think twice before doing somethings.
Bribery can be stoped, corruption can be destroyed, but it takes us all working together. However, IT STARTS WITH YOU!
Live Deliberately
TiOLUWA
