A Career Lesson From a Lead Teacher at International School of Aruba

The number one most important lesson I learned is to operate with the highest level of integrity 100% of the time. Earlier in my career, I may not have told the whole truth, or perhaps I was dishonest with myself about something I wanted. I didn't always listen to my intuition or treat people kindly, and I regret those things.

When I talk about integrity, I mean being impeccable with your word. Be careful what you say, what you commit to, and how you act when nobody's looking. This also includes being cautious about what you put in writing to ensure you do what you say and say what you do.

Integrity also means treating people with kindness and respect. You'll work with many difficult people, and sometimes you have to take the high road and do the right thing. Show up and be excellent, even if you have a terrible boss. Always operate at your highest level of excellence.

Many of my regrets involve how I treated people, like being dismissive, condescending, or raising my voice. I've worked hard to be someone who maintains kindness. This doesn't mean you're not honest or that you avoid conflict. Even when doing difficult things, do them with love and care.

Another aspect of integrity relates to your path. I became a principal at 26 and later moved to Central Africa to teach at 30. Some might have seen this as career suicide, thinking I should have pursued higher executive roles. However, moving to Congo was an amazing decision for my life.

After returning, I became a principal again, then a principal mentor, and then had the opportunity to move to the Caribbean. I'm 38 and have many more years to work. I know I'll never regret following my gut and making those moves to Africa and the Caribbean.

Money is also a factor. My biggest job regret was taking a position solely for the high salary. While money is important and sometimes necessary, be careful if it's your only driver. There's much more to us than that. Operating with integrity means considering all aspects of yourself when making decisions. It's tempting to ignore this when presented with large sums of money, but be careful.