Fire Service Trust

I Owe It to My Family
Years ago, a woman approached me after a speech to tell me off for urging an audience of government workers to stick their necks out if necessary to assure that their agencies behaved ethically. She was a single mom and she said, “My first loyalty is to my family and I owe it to them to keep my job.”

She was challenging noble rhetoric like “all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing” with brutal reality: “All that is necessary to lose your job is to rock the boat.”

As a father of five, I couldn`t just brush off this seeming conflict between public duty and self-interest, but I do believe that convincing ourselves that moral compromise is something we need to do for our family misses the larger picture.

When your integrity is being tested with a difficult choice and you think your job and even your economic well-being are in jeopardy, you should consider which message is the better gift to your family: compromising your principles and sending the message that we can`t always afford to be ethical, or demonstrating confidence that whatever happens we can make it, that in this family character really does matter and that no job is worth dishonor.

Sometimes the dues we pay to maintain integrity are pretty high, but the ultimate cost of moral compromise is so much higher. In fact, the more an act of honor costs, the more it`s worth, and every example of our moral courage contributes to a lasting legacy our children can and will be proud of all their lives. Don`t give that up for the short-term benefits of security.