A FEDORA, A WHIP, AND A HANDSHAKE
Years ago, I was tasked by a mentor with identifying my 5 core principles. It is said that if you are faced with a hard decision or major challenge, checking in with your core principles can help guide you down the right path. If your conclusion is in alignment with those principles, then even the most difficult decision becomes easy. After sitting with this for quite some time, I came to understand that my core principles are: faith, family, health, integrity and self-improvement. Much of that is self-explanatory. Except perhaps integrity. That one is a little more ambiguous. There’s a great line in When Harry Met Sally where Marie (played by Carrie Fisher) says, "Everybody thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor, but they couldn't possibly all have good taste." Integrity is much the same way. Everybody thinks they have it. How could I be sure?
It led me to ask myself, what does integrity look like?
Well, it looks like this:
My all-time favorite movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark. A lot of people don’t know the story of how this iconic film came to be. Though produced by Steven Spielberg, it was the idea of George Lucas. As the story goes, George jetted to Hawaii following the release of Star Wars, convinced it would be a colossal failure and wanting to avoid the press for as long as possible. Steven Spielberg decided to join him. One day, casually hanging on the beach together, George told Steven his vision of the adventure-seeking archeologist. Though just an idea at the time and not anywhere close to an actual script, George shared the whole plot he had concocted with Steven. Spielberg thought it sounded amazing and said that he’d love to do it with him. The two men shook on it. Then George put the project on ice for four years while he worked on other projects.
Now consider this. Steven Spielberg is an accomplished film maker who didn’t need George Lucas on board to create a blockbuster movie. He had already invented the concept of the Summer Blockbuster with Jaws and was firmly on the map. And frankly, Lucas was a competitor of his in many respects. Spielberg has even said at times that he was jealous of Lucas’ talents. Now here he was, presented with an incredible idea for what was sure to be a hit movie. Steven could easily have taken Lucas’s plan and ran with it as his own, especially after so much time had passed. Besides, who would have been the wiser? Who would have been able to challenge him on where the idea came from? There was nothing in writing anywhere. There were no witnesses that day on the beach. No one else around to say, “hey, Steven, that was GEORGE’S idea!” Or to prove Lucas didn’t tell Spielberg to just take it for himself because he was too busy. Many businesses out there have been the victim of these same things. And it certainly happens in Hollywood. After all, wouldn’t it in some way be Lucas’ own fault for revealing the idea to him in the first place? It could have been easy to rationalize. The concept was clearly worth millions (many have betrayed others in business for less). Yet Spielberg didn’t go anywhere near the project until Lucas was ready to circle back to it.
That’s integrity.
Holding your partner’s idea close to the vest instead of cutting them out or running with it on your own, even while knowing you could get away with it. Not betraying the trust of that partner who confided in you and then finding a way to justify it. Collaborating with a competitor to create something that would bring major success to you both instead of wanting it all for yourself and letting your competitiveness get the best of you. Not begrudging someone else the success of their idea, or the credit. Sticking to your word even though you may have given it years ago. Recognizing that a handshake is as good as a signature and standing by what you said you would do. Business is business and that is true, but integrity doesn’t know boundaries. I’ve learned the difficult lesson time and again that a contract is only as good as the integrity of the people who sign it, (starting with a botched condo sale years ago.) But in this case, Spielberg simply honored his word to Lucas, no contracts necessary. No NDAs, no attorneys, no legal agreements. Just two men, a handshake, and their integrity sitting on a beach in Hawaii talking about the tales of an adventurer in a brimmed hat with a whip. (Thankfully no snakes yet, though.) They’d later bring him to life together. It’s an inspiring model for integrity from two men I admire.