Does integrity count for anything?


credit: Vincepal

I’ve often thought of integrity in fairly broad terms.
“Doing what is right” for instance, or “having high moral standards”. On reflection, I guess it is and it isn’t.

Let me ask you this – is integrity important in your life?

How high does it rank?

When you think of the concept of integrity, do you think it has more to do with being true to your word? Or is it more about having high personal standards regardless of what other people see or hear you do?

“Integrity may be seen as the quality of having a sense of honesty and truthfulness in regard to the motivations for one’s actions.”

Integrity is an interesting concept. When I think of my own life, I’d like to think that I live a life of integrity. But I know that I don’t hit the mark 100% of the time.

An article featured on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy page elaborates a little on the complexity of integrity as a concept, saying:

Integrity is one of the most important and oft-cited of virtue terms. It is also perhaps the most puzzling.
 
For example, while it is sometimes used virtually synonymously with ‘moral,’ we also at times distinguish acting morally from acting with integrity. Persons of integrity may in fact act immorally—though they would usually not know they are acting immorally.
 
Thus one may acknowledge a person to have integrity even though that person may hold importantly mistaken moral views.

So what is integrity, really?

Is it important, or even necessary? And if so, why??

While integrity can be distinguished from morality as seen in the quote above, I’d like to think that at the very least, integrity and morality go hand in hand.

What is integrity?

Integrity by definition is:

The quality or state of being of sound moral principle; uprightness, honesty, and sincerity

Integrity means walking the talk when it comes to living one’s true values – being authentic.

So really, it’s about being honest… upright… sincere in our intentions, and maintaining firm adherence to our values and beliefs. Staying incorruptible, sound, complete and honest. Walking the talk, practicing what you preach…. Phew! Sounds tough!

Why should we bother living a life of integrity?

So what’s the point anyway? I mean, isn’t it enough to have good values – most people don’t steal from other people after all… Most people have fairly good intentions, don’t they?

For me personally, I guess I have to break up the concept of integrity up a little – consider what things I’m doing right in life, think about what I’m doing wrong and and then make the decision to work harder on some areas.

Let me give you a snippet of a self-assessment tool from Peter Vajda, titled The importance of integrity to leadership:

  1. On an integrity scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), how would you rate yourself when it comes to the following workplace behaviors:
    (a) gossiping
    (b) bullying
    (c) viewing or downloading porn
    (d) stealing physical materials
    (e) stealing intellectual property
    (f) stealing time
    (g) telling the truth
    (h) taking responsibility for your piece of your team’s projects
    (i) making excuses
    (j) being direct, open and honest in your communications
    (k) respecting others
    (l) living your values
    (m) keeping an honest set of books and following appropriate accounting principles.

    2.  

  2. Who or what stops you from acting with integrity?
  3. When you’re not acting with integrity, what kind of self-talk do you engage in?
  4. Do you lie to yourself about acting with integrity? If so, why?
  5. Does it matter to you that you are not acting with integrity?
  6. Do you use the same definition to define integrity for yourself as for others? If not, why not?
  7. Do you respond if others act without integrity and their actions directly affect you?
  8. Do you ever excuse, justify or rationalize acting without integrity? If so, when and why?

How did you go? A little sobering?

INTEGRITY is the essence of everything successful
~ Buckminster Fuller: American Engineer, Inventor, Designer, Architect

How do we life a life of integrity?

So, if living a life of integrity is something you might be interested in, how do we go about it?

The Abundance Company makes the following interesting suggestions:

  • A person lacking self-esteem, friendships, and financial stability, has a higher than normal likelihood of acting without integrity.

  • A person with high self-esteem, a strong support system and a balanced life will most likely act with integrity.

    •  

    Therefore it stands to reason that we need to regularly remind ourselves of:

    • what our values are,
    • what is important to us, and
    • what kind of life we want to live

In order to act with integrity in our lives, we also need to ensure we have high levels of self-esteem, have strong support systems and live a balanced life.

Bob Czimbal and Michele Brooks elaborate on some Signs of Integrity as follows:

  • Be open to feedback
  • Accept personal responsibility
  • Balance one’s needs with the needs of others
  • Practice understanding and compassion
  • Seek the advice of others
  • Be respectful of views that are different
  • Act with integrity even when it is inconvenient
  • Keep agreements
  • Know the difference between humor and hostility.

* What do you think – does integrity count for anything?