05/15/2026
As last year’s first place winner of the NH Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for ethical business, I was asked to speak at last night’s presentation for this year’s winner. They asked me what it meant to win such an award. I said that since martial arts schools teach integrity and respect in all we do, winning the award was confirmation that we are on the right track.
Receiving an award for ethical business is a bit like receiving a new karate rank, such as a new colored belt. Getting the belt is recognition for developing one’s karate abilities. That is a very separate thing from the sense of accomplishment one should feel from making progress through dedicated practice. I point out to my students that external recognition and the internal sense of accomplishment often do not arrive at the same time. We need to develop the ability to nurture and enjoy our own sense of accomplishment whether or not we are receiving recognition.
Like a karate belt, the Torch Award is the external recognition. Integrity that fuels ethical business is the internal quality that business people need to nourish and enjoy whether or not they are the winners of the award. I pointed out that not everyone attending the ceremony was going to win, but that everyone who had been nominated was a person of integrity striving to run an ethical business.
In karate class, when someone performs something well, I like to compliment them, but then I’ll ask (usually in classes for younger students) “did they come to class just for me to say that they did a great job? Well maybe they did, because it’s nice to hear compliments. But they also came to get better at karate. To help them with that, I need to give them constructive criticism.”
One benefit of karate practice is learning that criticism is a gift we use to improve, and that instead of feeling uncomfortable about receiving critiques of our performance, we should embrace each opportunity provided by these gifts.
What kind of constructive criticism can we expect as businesses trying to improve our ethical performance? Sometimes the criticism does not feel very constructive. We might receive a one-star rating, or we may need to offer a refund, or an apology, but we should work hard to learn from the situation to improve our business. And in the process, we can rely on our integrity to sustain us.
