President Abraham Lincoln was once criticized for referring to the Confederates in kind terms. A woman critic asked the president how he could speak generously of his enemies when he should rather destroy them.

"Why, madam," replied Lincoln, "do I not destroy them when I make them my friends?"

The moral of the story: Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.

Few people have had the ability to tell stories to illustrate points like our 16th president. I love good stories that teach a lesson. Here are a few of my favorites.

Lesson 1: A sales rep, an assistant and their manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a genie comes out. The genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish."

"Me first!" says the assistant. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone.

"Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of pina coladas and the love of my life." Poof! He's gone.

"OK, you're up," the genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral: Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 2: An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people who remarked, "What a shame; he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed people who shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal, and he fell into the river and drowned.

Moral: You can't please everyone, so don't try.

Lesson 3: A frog asked two geese to take him south with them. At first they resisted; they didn't see how it could be done. Finally, the frog suggested that the two geese hold a stick in their beaks and that he would hold on to it with his mouth.

So off the unlikely threesome went, flying south over the countryside. It was quite a sight. People looked up and expressed great admiration at this demonstration of creative teamwork.

Someone said, "It's wonderful! Who was so clever to discover such a fine way to travel?" Whereupon the frog opened his mouth and said, "It was I," as he plummeted to the earth.

Moral: There is no "I" in team.

Lesson 4: An empress with no children decided to hold a competition to determine who would succeed her when she died. She summoned all the children in the city to her palace and gave each one a seed. "Plant this seed, care for it, and in one year bring back the flower that grows from it. Whoever brings me the most beautiful flower will be the next empress."

One young girl planted her seed in a pot and watered it every day, but nothing grew. At the end of the year she was devastated, but on the day set for inspection of the flowers, she picked up her pot and carried it to the palace.

All the other children brought colorful, vibrant flowers, but the empress only glanced at them. She walked straight to the young girl and smiled. "All the seeds I gave you had been boiled and were dead. Only you were honest enough to bring back the original seed I gave you. You will be a just and wise empress."

Moral: Tell the truth, even when it seems easier not to.

Great stories bring real life to essential lessons. They illustrate difficult situations. With practice, you might be the next Aesop!

Mackay's Moral: The real moral of this fable is that stories are a fabulous way to teach and learn!

When Janet looked at her pay stub, she was pleasantly surprised to learn that her company had deposited more than her normal wages into her bank account. However, on the next payday, her paycheck was significantly less than what it should have been, and she went to her boss to complain.

"I'm curious," her boss said, "Why didn't you say anything when we overpaid you the other week?"

Janet responded: "I was willing to overlook one mistake, but two is pushing it."

Integrity: Either you have it or you don't. It's not something that you can have one day but not the next. It should be a constant in your life, like brushing your teeth.

I was invited to speak at the third annual Integrity Summit in Phoenix. Its mission is to significantly increase the integrity quotient in organizations and across the marketplace. The annual event was co-founded by Jerry Colangelo and Gregg Ostro, who also created the Integrity Business Institute, for which I'm a special adviser.

Integrity Summit 2013's theme of Inspiring Individual Integrity to Win could not have come at a more critical time.

It seems the anti-heroes -- those doing wrong -- versus the heroes -- who do right -- are being promoted and celebrated in America all too often. Too many messages in the media and across society seem to say that getting what you want -- regardless of the means -- is just fine. Well, it isn't. You know that and I know that and so must our employees and job applicants.

Cheree McAlpine, chief compliance officer for Avnet, the world's largest computer parts supplier and a founding sponsor of the Integrity Summit, said: "Our ability to impact change, drive strategy and our ability to lead are all based on integrity. Integrity is not that complicated. It's not academic. It's actually quite simple. It's the lessons we have learned to do the right thing; to stand for what we believe in."

Integrity begins at the top. As leaders we must set the example -- that alone inspires our employees to do right. We must live by it in all we do, starting in the corner offices and promoted and expected throughout the organization, ensuring integrity is first and foremost in our decision-making. Enduring leaders know that the numbers will be better if integrity is not optional.

Peter Fine, CEO of event sponsor Banner Health, said: "If you're going to be an organization of integrity, you have to communicate what that means to employees on an ongoing basis. The integrity of our employees is the very best selling tool."

I think it's smart business to recognize acts of integrity and celebrate and reward them in organizations just as much or more than financial achievements or increased efficiencies or even a brilliant idea are rewarded. Make no mistake, when employees understand that management requires integrity, it will become the norm.

Russ Johnson, CEO of Merchants Information Solutions, also a founding sponsor of this event, has a remarkable job applicant integrity test of which I'm a huge fan and consultant. We use it at MackayMitchell Envelope Company. It screens out the bad apples who are work-comp abusers, commit fraud, steal, are hostile and so on. It also reduces work comp rates, as well as worker turnover and unemployment payouts. The test takes 15 minutes, is in 21 languages and costs $20 or less. The test is available at integritybusinessinstitute.com/test.

Here's an example of what integrity looks like:

Tom, a hotel worker, could not afford a computer for his son, who desperately needed one for school. At the end of a hotel event when everyone was gone, Tom discovered a laptop had been left behind. He waited awhile, and no one came back. Was this the computer he so needed for his son?

No one would know he took it. No cameras were in the area, and no other workers were around. Tom knew it was wrong to steal, but isn't helping your son a good and righteous thing? He decided to take the computer. As he went to grab it, his values and his boss's words about always doing what's right kicked in.

Tom turned in the computer to his boss. Later that day, Tom received a $1,000 check from the executive who owned the laptop, plus he was promoted to supervisor. Tom's son had a new computer that night.

Mackay's Moral: Only those on the level can climb the highest peaks.

In my entire career, I have never once heard a successful person say he or she regretted putting time and energy into building their relationships and contact management system (CMS).

That's why my interest was piqued when I recently saw a blog by my close friend Brandon Steiner, CEO and founder of Steiner Sports in New York. It addresses what Brandon calls "next-level networking."

What Brandon is referring to is: "If my contact at a company left, who would I still know there? Would I still be able to work with that company?" If the answers are "no one" and "maybe not," then you could be in trouble.

That's why it's always been my philosophy to get to know as many people as you can at the organizations you do business with. Always have your antennae up. Never pass up an opportunity to meet new people. Develop a relationship with the gatekeeper. Seek out introductions from your customer. Do your homework on the company. Learn about your customer's organizations and groups and possibly get involved.

I call this strategy "dig your well before you're thirsty," which happens to be the title of one of my books. You'll never know what kind of relationships, ideas or even deals can come out of these new contacts. Consider it a great networking insurance policy.

Also, don't forget your former contacts who flew the coop. Just because they've moved on is no reason to yank their entry in your CMS. In fact, there's a reasonably good chance they'll become even more valuable members of your network. For one thing, a former contact knows where the bodies are buried at his or her previous company. If your network is going to work, you have to stay plugged in and keep the wire humming.

Consider the Law of Large Numbers. An entire industry -- insurance -- is built on the principle of the Law of Large Numbers. There are over 315 million living Americans. Insurance people can tell you within one-fourth of one percent just how many of us are going to die within the next 12 months -- and how and where and in what age bracket, sex, color and creed. That's pretty amazing. The only thing they can't tell us is which ones!

The Law of Large Numbers can work for and against you in sales. First, when you are trying to break into accounts, strive to position yourself as No. 2 for every prospect on your list and keep adding to that list. I can promise you that if your list is long enough, there are going to be No. 1s who retire, die, jump to another company, are terminated and succumb to the Law of Large Numbers. What I can't tell you is which ones.

But fortunately, as in the insurance business, "which one" doesn't matter. All that matters is that you have the perseverance and patience to position yourself as No. two to enough different people, and the Law of Large Numbers will do for you what it has done for the insurance industry: You will be an extremely successful and wealthy salesperson.

But what if you are No. 1 and your contact leaves? Then you have to compete with the salesperson who is No. 2 and has a better relationship with the new decision maker. That's why you have to develop relationships with as many people in the company as possible. You know who, but does who know you?

If you want your CMS to produce a fruitful harvest, you have to be persistent and you have to keep on hoeing. An ancient Chinese proverb advises: "If you want one year of happiness, grow grain. If you want 10 years of happiness, grow trees. If you want 100 years of happiness, grow people."

Never underestimate the importance of people in your life. Next-level networking doesn't work unless you master first-level networking. With practice, using your CMS becomes more than a discipline; it's a way of life.

It all comes down to liking people. I get a real kick out of adding people to my CMS. I try to stay in touch with the bulk of my network every year, but I might not see someone for five or 10 years. Sooner or later they crop up again, and it's always fun to get reacquainted.

And that's how you take networking to the next level.

Mackay's Moral: People aren't strangers if you've already met them. The trick is to meet them before you need their help.