Miss American Angus | Speech | Archives
Integrity and Me
Integrity. It is a powerful trait, and I submit to you, today, that you must Learn It, Earn It, then Live It! Since my early childhood I have seen this plaque on our office wall. It is closely aligned with one of the Codes of the West and reads:
When two people meet,
An agreement made,
The terms of the deal,
The plans are laid.
Each one gives their seal
By the grip of their hand
On their word of honor
They take a stand.
These days there are contracts
All written out
There in nothing
To dispute about.
But if a person won’t stand
On his word understood,
A piece of paper
Won’t make it good.
As a youngster, I never gave this poem much thought. As a young adult, I am beginning to understand its significance in both business and in life. The late Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy’s, attributed his success to a simple principle. He believed in being truthful and direct under any and all given circumstances, and in living by the golden rule – simply put, to treat others the way you want to be treated. I find this to be a solid definition of Integrity. So how do we achieve this elusive quality?
We must first LEARN IT and what a great hands-on experience we have in the Angus industry. Until beginning college this fall, every morning when I woke up and looked out my window and I have seen Angus cattle. Angus cattle have always been the source of my family’s livelihood, and I have watched for many years, as my parents try to provide the ultimate in customer satisfaction, through selling only high quality breeding stock, painting a fair and accurate picture of the product, and then following up after the sale. I know firsthand, the importance of accurate reporting of performance data after turning in a 100+ birth weight on a bull calf from my pathfinder, a favorite former show heifer. The resulting high birth EPD made him a poor prospect for most of our bull customers, who place a high priority on calving ease and I saw my herd sire prospect become a steer. How painful it was for me to watch the $3000 picture I had painted in my mind, fade into a steer worth way less. However, no amount of money could restore the trust that would have been lost, had I turned in a weight which would have made him acceptable, and then caused a customer, loss of income due to calving difficulty, which I could have prevented. Showing heifers has also presented me with the temptation to think that maybe that heifer born on December 31 really wasn’t found until January 2nd, thus putting her in a better position to place well. But I would have known and that would be enough. No blue ribbon is ever worth compromising your reputation. Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.
After we Learn It, we must EARN IT. A great example of earning integrity can be seen in our own, Certified Angus Beef brand. Since 1978 the CAB Brand has been committed to quality and producing a consistent product. Consumers don’t care that over half a billion pounds of Certified Angus Beef is sold each year in over 30 countries around the world. They do care about a consistent, delicious eating experience each and every time they buy CAB, which is exactly what has earned the CAB brand the label of integrity that they enjoy today. This is what sets both products and people apart – when they can be depended upon to be or do what they say they are, time after time. As a young Angus breeder, I earn my integrity by being the same person every day, and not changing who I am, to suit the crowd I am with. Growing up as “the girl who showed cows” has given me a unique identity among my peers. I am happy to say I have never been anything less than delighted to talk about my experiences with cattle and didn’t even mind when a group of friends, in good humor, coined me as their Champion Angus Heifer. I earned this nickname because I proudly wore a jacket to school, which was nicely embroidered with the message that I exhibited the Champion Angus Heifer at a livestock show. I agree with the principle that you should never separate the life you live from the words you speak. It is, in fact, hard for me to separate who I am, from Angus, because so much of what has shaped me into the person I am today was learned on an Angus farm. Showing our cattle to prospective customers, answering farm phone calls, being responsible for daily chores, winning and maybe even more importantly, losing in the show ring, and helping new juniors get started are all intertwined as experiences that are continually helping me EARN my integrity.
LEARN IT, EARN IT, then LIVE IT. Though I am only 18 years old, I know that I have the opportunity to influence for better or worse, those around me. An old Japanese proverb says “The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.” As a young Angus breeder, I recognize the importance of this statement. A tantrum in the show ring, gossiping about another junior, or creating strife in any organization are occurrences that are not easily erased. On the flip side, being a good winner or loser, taking on a leadership role, or giving encouraging words to the little girl in pigtails, dragging around a 1200 pound heifer at her first show, will stick. I have watched the Miss American Angus competition at Louisville every year, since I was that little girl in pigtails. What a great privilege Miss American Angus has to be a role model, spokesperson, and ambassador for the Angus Breed!
In a nutshell, integrity is doing the right thing, simply because it is the right thing to do. I’ll close with this story about
an old cabinet-maker, who was diligently working on the back of a fine cabinet, on a part that would, in all likelihood, be never seen. One of his co-workers said to him, “Why worry about that? No one will ever know.” The old man simply said, “I’ll know.”
That, to me, defines integrity. My goal as a young Angus breeder is to continue to do my part to maintain our breeds’ position as the leader of the beef industry, by modeling integrity, as I continue to LEARN IT, EARN IT, and LIVE IT.