Values speak about ourselves, who we are. (Week 283)

The basis of being authentic, being ourselves, is being true to what we believe in, to who we are, our beliefs, values, principles. We are that very thing, and respecting and being honest with ourselves is what gives us value as people.

Throughout my life, I have always been very clear about the values and principles I wanted to live by. There are many, and I have always respected them, even when it has sometimes been to my detriment, but in the long run it has been beneficial.

Honesty, truth and justice are values that I have always held to be the most important, along with respect for others. Respect for those who think differently, who are different, because I know that each person is the way they are due to many circumstances, many of which are beyond their control.

Respect not only encompasses respect for others, but also for myself, as well as loyalty to the people I trust and believe in, and loyalty to myself. I cannot apply to others what I do not do to myself. There are many more values and principles, but these are the most important ones for me.

The same applies to the first three I mentioned: honesty towards others and myself, staying away from lies and from those people for whom lying is commonplace. I believe that truth is a very important pillar of trust. And justice is another of the most important things in this world.

Several times in my life I have found myself in situations where those values were in danger, or at least some of them, although I think they are quite related. When I was a child and a teenager, they were minor things like not telling the truth or putting up with unfair things that were not serious, but I still stood my ground. From my father I learned the pain caused by lies, disrespect and injustice. You suffer greatly when you discover lies, when you are disrespected. I think that was the force that always kept me true to my values.

But there was something, a job I had in my life where things were not honest, where in a way I was forced to lie or hide the truth, and that leads to injustice and disrespect for others. I believe that others have the right to know things as they are. Then the person has the possibility to decide within a framework of sincerity and truth.

When I worked in sales, the manager practically asked the employees to disguise the truth, which is lying, and I felt a lack of loyalty to myself if I did that.

But the manager stayed in the office, and I was the one who went out on the streets to sell a telephone service to shops, businesses, premises, and self-employed people. The stress caused by the possibility, just the possibility, of having to lie or be dishonest when asked a question was overwhelming. I needed the job, and I needed it badly. It was my livelihood and how I paid my bills, and inside me there was a war between necessity and values.

The first few times complicated situations arose, I tried to avoid the questions, but I felt even worse. So I started thinking about how I could reconcile the two things, things that seemed impossible to bring together.

I had made the decision to tell the truth. If there was something wrong with the service or the rates or whatever, I would say so, but then I wouldn't make the sale. That was the dilemma. My strategy was to explain the pros and cons of the service before making a sale, compare it with what the customer already had, find the best alternative for them, and while mentioning everything, emphasise the positive aspects.

Honesty led me down the right path, because with this way of selling and dealing with people, in addition to being friendly and making people feel comfortable, they bought more from me and wanted to deal with me before the other salespeople. The same thing happened with the people I was in charge of. The job was really bad, and the others hid that in their interviews, but I didn't. I also talked about the virtues it had and what could be achieved. I focused on the positive, and that's why I managed to have a larger team than the other supervisors.

Honesty and truth prevailed, and that makes me very happy because I was able to be at peace with myself, my principles, and the need for work. It also helped me develop as a team leader, and I learned even more with every step.

Being faithful and loyal to our values is what shows who we are, people of integrity. I chose this topic from among the interesting weekend topics presented by @galenkp. Thank you for that.