Standard 1 – Act with integrity
Always put the interests of your clients or others to whom you have a professional responsibility above your own and respect their confidentiality. Always consider the wider interests of society when making your judgments.
Always be honest. Be trustworthy in all that you do – do not deliberately mislead, whether by withholding or distorting information.
In practice this includes, but is not limited to, behaving as follows:
- Share appropriate and necessary information with your clients and/or others to conduct business and do so in a way so they can understand that information
- Respect confidential information from your clients and potential clients
- Don’t divulge information to others unless it is appropriate to do so
- Don’t take advantage of a client, a colleague, a third party or anyone to whom you owe a duty of care
- Don’t allow bias, conflict of interest or the undue influence of others to override your professional or business judgments and obligations
- Make clear to all interested parties where a conflict of interest, or even a potential conflict of interest, arises between you or your employer and your client
- Don’t offer or accept gifts, hospitality or services, which might suggest an improper obligation
- Act consistently in the public interest when it comes to making decisions or providing advice
Some of the key questions that you could ask yourself include:
- What would an independent person think of my actions?
- Would I be happy to read about my actions in the press?
- How would my actions look to ICF?
- How would my actions look to my peers?
- Do people trust me? If not, why not?
- How often do I question what I do, not just in relation to meeting technical requirements but also in terms of acting professionally and ethically?
- Is this in the interest of my client, my interest, or the interest of someone else?
- Would I like to be treated this way if I were a client?
- Do I promote professional and ethical standards in all that I do?
