The world behaves differently when I take action to go after what I want.

You can't put someone else in charge of your morals. Ethics is a personal discipline.

If you're unwilling to defer pleasure or endure some "pain" for now, are you likely to end up later deep in the hole?

The question is, when so many others cut corners, shave the truth, self-deal, believe in the fast buck, and follow the crowd along the low road of least resistance, can we even afford to travel the high road of ethical behavior? Frankly, we can't afford anything else. Any other competitive angle is a pure crapshoot in today's business world. Companies with shaky ethics and shabby standards will be crippled as they try to compete in our changing world.

You carve out the organization's character through your daily choices. You shape its conscience as you exercise your own.

The world behaves differently when I take action to go after what I want.

In these times of self-directed teams, empowered employees, and "boundaryless" organizations, your worth as an individual employee will also get measured by your work group's collective results.