Reposted from Tim Richardson

Today is Tax Day. And for millions of Americans, it is a race to submit returns just in time. But here is the bigger question:

What happens when we start believing no one is watching?

Recently, The Wall Street Journal highlighted a troubling trend, suggesting that “the IRS isn’t going to catch me” has become a growing mindset in the United States. While I am not a proponent of paying more taxes than I owe, I do believe every American should pay their fair share. That belief traces back to something my father told me when I was young: “If you cheat on the small things, you’ll cheat on the big things.” That principle has stayed with me my entire life, even though I have not always lived up to it. As a teenager working at Publix Super Markets in Florida, I regularly took snack items without paying for them. At the time, it felt insignificant. Years later, it did not. About 15 years ago, I went back to that same store, which was still open. I met with the general manager and handed him $200 in cash to try to make things right. He hesitated to accept it. He told me that my apology was enough and that in 30 years of working in management, no one had ever apologized for stealing. But for me, it was a freeing moment. What seemed like a small mistake from a teenager had stayed with me, and making restitution lifted a weight I did not fully realize I was carrying. Cheating, cutting corners, and bending the rules are not new. But they do feel more normalized today.

In the business world, it shows up in subtle ways:

• Padding expense accounts
• Logging work hours while distracted or disengaged
• Taking company resources for personal use

The common justification? “Everyone does it.” But that does not make it right. Early in my career at IBM, our team went through an internal audit. Instead of approaching it with integrity, we did the opposite.

We laughed as we:

• Created documents that never existed
• Backdated files to match expectations
• Manufactured compliance

At the time, it was dismissed as harmless because it was “internal.” But looking back, it was not harmless at all. It was a clear violation of the standard my father had set:

Cheating is cheating. Leaders set the tone. Employees follow what they see, not just what they are told. When integrity slips in small areas, it creates permission for larger compromises. But the opposite is also true. When you hold yourself to a higher standard, even when no one is watching, you create:

• Trust
• Credibility
• Peace of mind

You sleep better. Just when I thought I had this lesson fully internalized, I was reminded again. Recently, I used an unauthorized image in a blog post and was called out by a copyright enforcement company. I could have justified it. I could have said:

• “Everyone uses images online”
• “I gave credit”
• “What’s the harm?”

But the truth is simple: It was wrong. And no amount of justification changes that. Maybe, like me, you have done something in the past that still lingers. Something small. Something easy to dismiss. But still there. An apology is a good place to start. But whenever possible, making it right is even better. Because integrity is not built in the big moments. It is built in the small ones.

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