It was back in the summer of ’91. I would occasionally join my father, who was then a practicing physician, at his workplace to read and browse through his collection of books and journals, to escape ‘home time’ and explore my father’s office which never seized to intrigue me.
One morning I decided to create my own posters on health-awareness using the office stationery. So proud of my informative art work, together we pinned it up on the bulletin board as we made our way out of the building.. It was about 10 minutes into our drive back home when my father spotted a pencil in my hand. “Where is that pencil from?” he asked and I casually replied “Just one of those from your office”. I immediately noticed his discontented facial expression, sensing it was about the pencil I quickly and defensively added “it’s JUST a pencil.. why are you upset? what’s the big deal? No one will notice one pencil has gone missing.”. My dad calmly, yet sternly explained “ You are right. The organization will not collapse because you took a pencil, but this isn’t about the pencil. This is about the PRINCIPLE. It starts with a pencil and may escalate to a few millions. You need to return that pencil back to where it belongs, back to who it belongs.”
To this day I still remember every detail of that conversation with dad. Little did I realize then that that was to become one of my first and fundamental lessons in INTEGRITY which would influence the “professional” I was to become. it continues to serve as a a reference for my intentions, decisions, actions, and behaviors in the workplace and elsewhere. That little me who returned the pencil back to the office 30 years ago continues to inspire me today.
