Perseverance and Integrity in Business: The Twin Towers of Success

Joel Koncinsky·November 10, 2021

Table of Contents

Your core values are the guiding principles of your business that unify and drive your business towards success. Today we will focus on the two foundational values every successful entrepreneur needs: perseverance and integrity in business.

Over 63% of consumers prefer to buy products from businesses in sync with their own values. Some will even avoid companies that don’t line up with their belief system. Establishing a business built on perseverance and integrity will attract customers who also value those principles.

Here’s what it means to be a business built on perseverance and integrity.

Big ideas

Your core values are the building blocks for all your other business decisions.
Perseverance and integrity are the two cornerstones of your core values and should be the focus of your company.
Your core values build unity, reliability, and accountability with your employees and customers.

Why core values are the foundations of success

Your core values let your customers know what type of service to expect, your employees know what kind of work they need to perform, and you know what type of image to promote. For example, a business built on integrity places making the right decision higher than choosing the most profitable choice.

Some examples of core values include:

Honesty
Reliability
Quality
Transparency
Efficiency

They can also include support for causes. For example:

Education
Community development
Environmentalism
Animal rights
Supporting the arts

Lastly, core values can include a company’s belief system. Such as:

Religious affiliation
Family-friendly
Healthy work-life balance
Diversity and inclusion

Some core values in business will differ between companies because of different industry focus. But, at the foundation of nearly all your core values are the principles of perseverance and integrity.

What is perseverance in business?

I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from non-successful ones is pure perseverance.

—Steve Jobs

Perseverance in business is when your company keeps pushing forward despite obstacles and challenges. Without a decision to keep going no matter what, a business would crumble when faced with any difficulty. But a core value of perseverance motivates you and your employees towards success.

When customers see that you won’t give up when faced with hardships, they also know you are reliable, efficient, and stand firm in all your other beliefs instead of changing with pressures from society.

Example of perseverance in business

One example of perseverance in business is the story of Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors. He began investing at 11 years old and reached his first billion dollars when he was 56 years old.

However, he didn’t walk an easy road to success. He made 99.7% of his wealth after he turned 52. His foundation for success was perseverance. He learned to keep going even when faced with daunting obstacles.

The key to perseverance is patience. You might not see the rewards of your labor today or tomorrow. But if you have enough patience while you persevere through the hard times, you will reap the rewards one day.

What is integrity in business?

Integrity is doing right even when no one is looking.

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said:

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.

As a business, you invest in the company image your customers see. You can say the right things, post the right words, and advertise the right values. But what happens when the customer can’t see you decides the kind of business you own.

For example, do you take the time to produce quality products, or do you try to use cheap production methods to maximize your profit?

Example of integrity in business

Al DiLeonardo, the CEO of Vector East, shares this story.

When Jimmy was a young boy, he went fishing with his father. On one occasion, he caught a giant bass, the largest he had ever seen. But, unfortunately, the bass season didn’t start for another 2 hours. So, his father told him to return the bass.

Jimmy tried to change his father’s mind because no one would know they caught the fish two hours early. But his father stood his ground and told him again to return the fish.

Thirty-four years later, Jimmy became a successful architect. He is faced with similar dilemmas over and over in his line of work. But the lesson his father taught him still stuck. Ethics is knowing right from wrong, then doing what’s right even when no one else sees you.

How perseverance and integrity work together

As a society, we expect instant gratification. We go to fast-food restaurants and want two-day package delivery options. Also, 47% of people will give up on a website if it takes longer than 2 seconds to load.

Waiting patiently for business results doesn’t come easily, which is why so many entrepreneurs struggle with perseverance. Yet, it is more satisfying when you achieve success after persevering through a long wait and multiple obstacles. For example, one study used two groups of people. One group was allowed to eat chocolate. The other wasn’t. Then at the end of the test, both groups were given chocolate. The group that had to wait for that chocolate received greater satisfaction from eating it than the group that had chocolate from the start.

Instead of persevering with patience, business owners may consider speeding up their success by cutting corners. But that is also how businesses lose customer trust and watch their short-term wins come tumbling down around them. So instead, the best CEOs choose to combine integrity and perseverance as their foundational core values.