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Walk the Talk

April 26, 1999

"The ethics of excellence are grounded in action - what you actually do, rather than what you say you believe.  Talk, as the saying goes, is cheap.  Or as Adlai Stevenson put it, 'It is often easier to fight for principles than to live up to them.'

People really won't show much faith in the claims you make about your personal standards.  But they pay close attention to what you do.  Particularly when temptation grows sweetest.  Or when your moral standards come under heavy fire.

Anyone can do right when it's easy.  But the ethical hero hangs in there when it's hard.  Your personal ethics, and the organization's value system, are best revealed under stress.  When the heat is on, you show your true character.  Everybody watches to see if you 'walk your talk.'

The organization that preaches one thing and does another is considered hypocritical.  Not excellent.  Lip service isn't the kind of exercise that builds ethical muscle.

We can't win the struggle for high standards if we just talk a good game...we've got to play a good game (Pritchett, 1997, p.34)."

Reference:  Pritchett, P. (1997).  The ethics of excellence.  Dallas:  Pritchett & Associates, Inc.

Are you walking the talk?

The Ethics of Excellence is available on loan from the OSU Leadership Center.  A complete listing of all the Leadership Center's resources is available on our website www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~leaders

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Created: 2009-01-06, Updated: 2009-01-18