A flock of chickens were in a yard when a football flew over the fence and landed in their midst. A rooster waddled over, studied it, then said, “I’m not complaining, girls, but look at the work they’re turning out next door.”

Competition is healthy. It keeps us sharp. It makes us better. It improves quality. We should not only welcome stiff competition, but we should also actively seek it. We’ll never realize our full potential in business or athletics unless we are challenged.

Competition has made me a better businessman, a better golfer and a better person. And when there isn’t another company or business to compete with, I try to outdo myself. If that sounds simple, well, it is. I always want to be at my best and show my best side.

When legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden diagrammed his famous pyramid of success, he put “competitive greatness” near the very top for a reason.

But a problem I see all too frequently is that people are afraid of competition. Perhaps it’s because they fear losing, but I suspect a better reason is that they know they are not as prepared as the competition. They are not willing to put in the necessary hard work, training and sacrifice.

As much as I love to come out on top, I’m too realistic to believe the “winning is everything” philosophy. Because after so many years in business, I know that you can’t win ‘em all. But there is no excuse for not giving it your best shot.

Few of us succeed on the first attempt because we don’t know how to read the competition. Knowing what you are up against is half the battle. Does your competition have a better product, better service, better training, better financing or better location? Learn from their successes! That’s the best way to catch up with and eventually beat your competitors.

A story about how American industrialist Charles Schwab managed an unproductive steel mill appears in Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” Schwab asked the mill manager for a piece of chalk and said, “How many heats did your shift make today?”

The manager replied, “Six.” So Schwab wrote a big “6” on the floor. When the night shift came in, they saw the big number six and asked what it meant. The manager explained that the big boss was in here today and asked how many heats the day shift made and wrote the number on the floor.

The next morning Schwab toured the mill again. The night shift had rubbed out “6” and replaced it with a big “7.” Well, the day shift wanted to show the night shift a thing or two and wrote an enormous “10” on the floor. Soon that mill was outperforming all the other mills.

“The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting in above-average effort,” according to the late Colin Powell, four-star general and U.S. Secretary of State. With a resume like that, Powell knew all too well about beating the competition.

The existence of competition is a good sign. No one ever set a world’s record competing against themself. But when there is no other viable competitor, look for ways to improve your own performance. Forget about the world record for a moment; just keep getting better at what you do.

When I wrote my New York Times No. 1 bestselling book “Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt,” I devoted a chapter to how to beat your competition. Here is a quick summary:

-- If you just show up, you are a winner 80% of the time.

-- If you show up on time, you’re a winner 85% of the time.

-- Show up on time and with a plan, and that number jumps to 90%.

-- Show up on time with a plan and a commitment to carry it out, and you are successful 95% of the time.

-- And finally, if you show up on time with a plan, a commitment to carry it out and then execute it, you will be successful 100% of the time.

Mackay’s Moral: Competition is fuel for those who are driven to succeed.

Once upon a time in a tiny French village, the townspeople decided to honor their parish priest by each bringing a bottle of wine the following Sunday for the pastor’s empty wine barrel. The pastor was delighted, and he asked all in attendance to join him for a glass of wine from the now full barrel. But when the tap was opened, only water came out.

Each villager had brought water instead of wine -- thinking that all the others would bring wine and the one bottle of water would never be detected.

Alas, they all had decided to ignore their agreement, and they were all exposed as cheaters.

What is cheating? Simply put, it is breaking the rules.

Cheating has become so normalized in society that people are hardly shocked by it anymore. There has been a consistent, gradual decline in ethical business practices in the United States for about 50 years. And it’s reached new extremes lately in almost every institution that can be measured. Business leaders, politicians, religious institutions, sports heroes, college students trying to get better grades and parents cheating to get their children into college are just some of the examples that are easy to spot.

That’s why I always advise everyone to “Act like your mother is watching.”

Many people cheat in one way or another to get ahead in life. For example, some people cheat to pass exams, while others cheat to win games. In some cases, cheating can seem to be beneficial, but it is often illegal and always unethical. As cheating becomes increasingly common in schools and workplaces, more people are beginning to ask themselves if cheating is becoming acceptable because it is overlooked so often.

For example, a new study has found that more than 90% of college students have cheated somehow. The survey, conducted by the NCAA, surveyed over 4,000 students at various colleges and universities across the United States and found that cheating is not just a problem on one campus -- it’s a problem nationwide.

A teacher was talking to his colleague and observed, “The worst thing that can happen to a student starting school is to get caught cheating.”

“Not at all,” said the colleague. “The worst thing at the start of a person’s life is to cheat and NOT get caught.”

A mechanic whom I have patronized for years explained that his profession is frequently mistrusted by customers who question why certain repairs are needed because some greedy competitors try to “sell” services that are unnecessary.

Ask a hundred human resources managers if they have ever seen a suspicious resume -- exaggerated credentials, fake degrees, questionable experience -- and I’d bet you can count on both thumbs how many say they have not.

Performance-enhancing drugs in sports? Athletes know they are banned, yet some still try to cheat their way to success. Clean athletes who turn in stellar performances know there is no substitute for training and talent. But because some refuse to follow the rules, everyone has to be tested to prove they haven’t cheated.

Cheaters spoil the fun for everyone, regardless of the situation. A tainted victory is never a victory; it’s an admission that you don’t trust your own abilities or aren’t reliable enough to be trusted by others. It’s a difficult habit to break, but it can be done.

Here’s a final story to illustrate my point. A baker bought his butter from a local farmer. After some time, the baker began to suspect that he wasn’t receiving full pound bricks of butter from the farmer.

For several days, he weighed the butter after it was delivered. His suspicions proved correct. So he turned to the law to settle the matter.

The farmer was brought to court to answer for his act of fraud. “What kind of scale do you use?” the judge asked.

“I don’t have a scale, your honor,” replied the farmer.

“Then how can you weigh the butter that you sell?”

“It’s pretty simple,” the farmer said. “I have balances, and I use the one-pound loaf of bread I buy from the baker as a weight.”

Case dismissed.

I learned a long time ago that by not cheating -- and doing the right thing, you will live a much happier life than trying to cheat your way through it. Just tell the truth. It’s so simple, so basic -- and the cover-up is always worse. You’ll also sleep much better at night.

Mackay’s Moral: People don’t cheat by chance, they cheat by choice.

A young banker asked a retiring banker what the secret of success was in banking, to which the older banker responded, “Good judgment.”

The rookie then said, “How do you get good judgment?”

The older banker said, “Experience.”

To which the youngster asked, “How do you get experience?”

And the retiring banker said, “Bad judgment.”

Anyone who has ever been in business can identify with that story.

As a business leader and parent, the one attribute that I value most is a person’s good judgment. Judgment is the result of a person’s decision-making. When your values are clear, making decisions becomes much easier.

Nothing replaces good judgment. International Judgment Day is Jan. 17 every year.

Good judgment involves evaluating circumstances, weighing the positives and negatives and considering alternatives.

“In the face of ambiguity, uncertainty and conflicting demands, often under great time pressure, leaders must make decisions and take effective actions to assure the survival and success of their organizations,” said leadership expert Warren Bennis. “This is how leaders add value to their organizations. They lead them to success by exercising good judgment, by making smart calls when especially difficult and complicated decisions simply must be made, and then ensuring that they are well-executed.”

A variety of challenges confront leaders and team members every day: budgets, mistakes, delays, staffing, conflicts, safety, profits -- all call for making decisions that can affect an organization’s future. When decisions must be made quickly with limited information, being able to trust your good judgment is central to making the right call.

What are the skills you need to improve your judgment?

-- Ethics is all about knowing what is right and wrong. Is it fair and legal? When I talk about ethics in my speeches, I introduce the subject by saying, “Act like your mother is watching.”

-- Consistency is expected. You can’t let emotions or intense situations affect your judgment. Even the best business plans will fail without a dedication to consistency.

-- Listen to learn. Listening to others allows you to collect and assess important information rather than relying on your opinion or personal bias. Good judgment is about making the best decisions rather than relying on your opinion.

-- Accept your mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. Accept responsibility and move forward. The important thing is to learn from your mistakes, figure out what went wrong and don’t repeat them.

-- Learn from experience. As the opening story says, nothing beats experience in improving your judgment. If something went wrong, do things differently the next time, and if things went right, learn from your decisions.

In addition to those skills, John Spacey, writing on Simplicable.com, emphasizes the need for pragmatism and situational awareness. Accepting “difficult real-world conditions such as uncertainty, gray areas and imperfections” is a must for making sensible and sound decisions. Equally important is the “ability to be highly observant and diligent to respond to fast-moving situations,” he writes.

Here’s another story to illustrate my point. A business owner who was nearing retirement invested her life savings in a business enterprise which had been elaborately explained to her by a swindler.

When her investment disappeared and the wonderful dream was shattered, she went to the office of the Better Business Bureau. They asked, “Why on earth didn’t you come to us first? Didn’t you know about the Better Business Bureau?”

“Oh, yes,” said the businesswoman, sadly. “I’ve always known about you. But I didn’t come, because I was afraid you’d tell me not to do it.”

It’s a sad story we’ve heard over and over again. Too bad her judgment didn’t lead her to ask questions that she might have asked about the proposed investment: Is this a risk I can afford to take? Is this person honest and trustworthy? Is this the right time to take such a gamble? What if it doesn’t work out as planned?

Simple but necessary questions could have saved her a life of regret.

Mackay’s Moral: Judgment is knowing which door to open when opportunity knocks.