"Integrity, Influence and Impact"

Dear HAPL Members:
Our Association’s theme this year asks us to consider how we can use our integrity and influence to impact our industry and our community. That made me ask myself what integrity really is to make sure I had some of it.

Black’s Law Dictionary defines integrity as “The soundness of moral principle and character, as shown by one person dealing with others in the making and performance of contracts, and fidelity and honesty in the discharge of trusts, synonymous with honesty and uprightness.” Other words that come to mind that reflect the attributes of integrity
are; fairness, loyalty, respect, achievement, excellence, and success.

In order to have integrity one must have an introspective life and consciously adopt a set of core values, morals and ethics. In addition, one must practice his profession based on a solid foundation of these principals. It does not stop there. We have the responsibility to promote those morals and principals to those around us and others must be influenced by these qualities.  That means we are a role model.

We all know whether we have integrity and to what degree. However, our integrity is recognized by others based on their perception of our outward demonstration of the qualities described above. Do our friends, family, and colleagues recognize these traits in us? Would they describe us as a person of high integrity? I can think of no higher compliment if they do.

I am privileged to say that over the span of my career I have met many landmen of the highest integrity.  I meet them in my day to day business. I meet them at HAPL events where our members come to educate themselves, engage in important community service activities, and meet other landmen in the pursuit of opportunity and friendship. Over the years our organization has come a long way in raising the
profile of the professional integrity of landmen in the public eye by promoting high ethical standards of fair and honest dealing and creating opportunities for our profession to show our moral character by serving the community. We ARE truly impacting our industry and community. I must say, I am proud to be a landman and I am proud to be a member of HAPL, an organization of integrity made up of so many
landmen of integrity.