“Just do what’s right.” JC Penney

One of the most iconic brands in fashion and retail, JCPenney, hasn’t been successful by accident... It’s a testament to a foundational culture built into the business, “Just do what’s right.”

When you build the habit of doing the right thing, things tends to work out.

“Just do what’s right” is the life mantra of the founder James Cash Penney. In practice it’s pretty simple: Act with integrity, treat people fairly, and act in good conscience. It’s an intention to do what’s in the best interest of everyone involved, and being willing to take on personal sacrifice to achieve it. Doing the right thing might have short-term costs, but as a law of the world, good karma always seems to come back around and provide in unexpected ways when you do what’s right. 

Interestingly, Mr. JC Penney learned this lesson from his first business partners, where he bought into becoming a partial owner of a new location associated with the “Golden Rule” stores. As you’ll probably remember, the Golden Rule is to “treat others the way you want to be treated.” Doing what’s right is doing exactly that.

It’s with that spirit that JC Penney turned a ⅓ stake in one store into 1400 stores less than 30 years later.

In our lives, we’re tempted to not ‘do what’s right’ in an effort to save some money, time, and our reputation. But when we go down that path, we know it’s out of integrity. There’s something about that choice that doesn’t sit well with us, and it’s a feeling we need to live with. Sure, in the short-term we took the path that was easier, more convenient, and came with more personal benefit… But it quietly eats away at our confidence and puts our character into question.

Doing what’s right often involves being the bigger person. Perhaps JC Penney is somewhat responsible for the expression “the customer is always right”... But doing what’s right involves a lot more than just conceding an argument. It’s also apologizing and acknowledging that you made a mistake, or that you did something that negatively affected someone else. It’s taking responsibility for something you played a part in, even if you can easily point the finger. It’s making things even when someone else doesn’t even know they’re being wronged, because it’s the right thing to do.

The right thing to do is always the right thing to do.

Not only are you rewarded for it in the long-term, but you also feel good about yourself, you can proudly look at yourself in the mirror because you’re a person of integrity, and you can’t put a price on that.