How to maintain your integrity, even when the cookies look irresistible

Scott Cochrane Sept. 26, 2025

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To protect your integrity as a leader, don't focus only on the big, obvious temptations. Watch out for the subtle deceptions.

Think of it this way. Have you ever made a personal commitment to lose weight, or to simply eat healthier, only to come across a steaming, fresh-out-of-the-oven plate of chocolate chip cookies?

You knew in an instant that to take a cookie would break your personal commitment. So what did you do?

You broke a cookie in half, and ate just half a cookie. (Admit it…We've all done it.)

This allowed you to convince yourself that you had maintained your personal commitment to eating healthy. "After all," the reasoning goes, "It's only half a cookie."

Matters of leadership integrity work the same way.

• You commit that we would never tell a brazen lie. But you might bend the truth a little to avoid looking bad. You've just eaten half a cookie.
• You commit that you would never steal money from the company. But you might show up to work late or leave early. You've just eaten half a cookie.
• You commit that you would never talk disrespectfully to someone. But you might criticize them behind their backs. You've just eaten half a cookie.
• You commit that you would never take credit for someone else's work. But you might not correct someone if they mistakenly congratulate you for work that wasn't entirely yours. You've just eaten half a cookie.

The point is that the challenge to maintain your integrity is not primarily a matter of avoiding the big obvious missteps. The chink in one's armor is usually found in a slightly more innocuous step. It's in the hardly-noticed expense report exaggeration or in the stories you tell that make you look slightly better than you really are.

How do you avoid these missteps?

This article is not about "5 Easy Steps to Preserving Your Integrity." I won't tell you to find an accountability partner or to maintain an 'Integrity journal."

I will simply remind you that your integrity is the most prized possession you own as a leader, and that preserving it is your highest calling.

So do the right thing. Always.

And avoid the cookies.

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Scott Cochrane serves on the executive team for the Willow Creek Association, as Vice President, International Ministries. He was born and raised in Canada, where he became connected to the Willow Creek Association, first as a marketing director and later as the ministry’s Chief Operating Officer. Following a five-year stint as Executive Pastor of a large church, Scott returned to Willow Creek Canada in 2009 as Executive Director, and in 2012 relocated to Illinois to take up his current post with the Willow Creek Association. Learn More »

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