January 5 is High 5 Day – Integrity
Madoff’s disclosure of his Ponzi scheme was the most shocking financial story at the end of 2008.
With the continuing revelations of actions taken by people in positions of power and authority that contributed to our current global disruptions, the word integrity rings in my ears more than once daily.
In conversations with colleagues and clients, we have been discussing the meaning and importance of integrity in work as well as in life.
One definition of integrity is “the quality of being honest and having high moral principles.”
What does integrity mean to you?
What are 5 ways you can embody integrity today?
Please post your thoughts on this blog and let’s see what collective wisdom emerges about this month’s High 5.
Inspiration Into Action 
For me integrity is ‘walk the talk’ and being congruent with myself. Moral principles could be different from a person to other (as Japanese culture vs. European culture, for example) and could not have the same perception. Living my life in conformity with my values is, for me, the highest level of integrity, as long as stealing (or something similar) is not a value for nobody:)
Hi Barbara:
To me integrity is many things – first and foremost it is a fundamental principle of being from which all else you do follows. Some of the characteristics of having integrity, or operating with it, are: being responsible, accountable, authentic, engaged, conscious, direct, apolitical, not self-absorbed or self-interested to the detriment of the collective greater whole, true to one’s self… I could go on.
Great question!
I’ve always believed you don’t have integrity once in awhile … you either have integrity or you don’t. It’s not a sometime thing.
“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
A great read on this topic is “Winners Never Cheat” – John C. Huntsman
Hi Barbara
Great question … here’s my 5 ways you can embody integrity today:
Intention of the highest good for self and others
Will to the highest good for self and others
These 2 will be embodied in
1) The way you permeates your presence.
2) The way you behave in all aspects of your life… what you actually do.
3) Following through on your promises so that they are achieved.
4) Honesty in all matters however difficult including owning mistakes and using them for forward movement.
5) Standing in your own ground, adhering to and living your values however difficult.
A delicious template to model!
Warm wishes
Sharon
Interesting question. While the definition given is accurate, I think of integrity in a couple of ways: One, doing the right thing when no one is watching. The other is doing what you say you’ll do and not doing what you say you won’t do. In short, being true to your word.
Barbara…what a wonderful discussion to start off 2009!
Integrity…my grandmother was the ultimate preacher of integrity….her basic teaching…DWYSYWD (Do What You Say You Will Do!) Living up to your committments…
My husband’s view of integrity… the “headline test”…would I be proud of myself if what I did/said appeared in tomorrows WSJ???
This also brings to mind the thought of others perceptions and how our integrity (or lack there of) feeds into those perceptions.
Owen, thanks for extending the meaning of integrity to include doing the right thing when no one is watching. Implicit in that is the internal motivation that we do what is right because we believe in aligning our actions with our beliefs.
Sharon thanks for your suggestions on how others can embody integrity. I’m curious–do you practice these 5 ways on a daily basis too? Are there are things that you personally do?
DWYSYWD is showing up in many of the messages I’m getting from around the world, some of them posted to this blog and others coming via emails.
I was facilitating a client’s retreat yesterday, during which we discussed building positive relationships. One person offered what she called the “Platinum Rule,” which I have been speaking about for many years, but never had such a great name for–“Do unto others what they would like to have done to them.” So often people do for or to others what they themselves would like, however it doesn’t always connect well. That is because the other person has different preferences. The example given yesterday by someone else in the group is buying flowers for a loved one when they prefer chocolate. What I love about the Platinum Rule is that it involves our curiosity, effective interpersonal community skills, and compassion.
What do you all think?
Debi–Please thank your husband for sharing his views on integrity. It shows that he is “keeping the end in mind” as he acts.
Speaking about perceptions–do you ever notice how people’s perceptions play a part in how well they relate or not? In conversations with client groups, colleagues and family too, we explore how people’s perceptions or interpretations of another’s words or actions can lead to disappointment, misunderstandings, conflict and more. Imagine a world where everyone takes care to check our their perceptions and ensure that their own responses are appropriate to what the other people are intending to convey.
Hi Barbara…
Yes… These are things as you so rightly say I ‘practice’ every day and will, I imagine, continue to practice into infinity! My experience is the more I practice the more I’m able to align my expressed behaviour with my integrity.
And I goof at times, of course! Then I use the valuable maxim that if you’ve made a mess and can go back and clear it up, do… and then move on. And sometimes circumstances mean that’s not possible. In this case, take your learnings so you can do even better next time and move on.
I passionately believe that as a coach, trainer and human being, the more I embody my integrity the more others with whom I work, serve, live and play are encouraged to embody theirs.
How yum! is that?
Warmly, Sharon
Wow what a great question Barbara. And so timely.
I don’t think that the ‘quality of being honest’ is clear enough. What is honest to you may not be honest to someone else. So we end up trying to clarify “honest” and make the meaning of ‘integrity’ more complex.
“High moral principles” is also misleading for similar reasons. After all, Hitler had high moral principles and so does Osama Bin Laden – just not the moral principles you and I share. I bet both these evil man had integrity with their followers!
I believe that ‘Integrity’ is about having strong values and then living by them consistently.
The three important words are “values” (what you stand for), “living” (you are an example of the values you stand for), and “consistently” (that your values and behaviors are aligned on a consistent basis and not based on the way the wind blows).
What does a person stand for?
Can he/she be an example of what they stand for?
Can he/she be consistent under all circumstances?
Does he/she expect and nurture the qualities in others?
Sorry I can only come up with four.
Madoff’s desires were for fame, recognition and prosperity at any cost. The sad bit is that if anyone had done to him what he did to others, I bet he would have been a tyrant. So he was unable to live the values he expected of others.
Looking forward to hearing other comments on this
Paul
http://www.paulbridle.com
http://www.thoughtsonleadership.biz
I have two examples that are worth noting:
A former employer was an excellent example. They were very articulate and dead serious about their reputation in the marketplace as a highly ethical firm. To them,”…being a firm with integrity means ALWAYS doing what’s right (for the client), even when it means losing business”. Not only did they say it, they aligned their culture around that theme, had us incorporate it into our curricula, included it into EE promotion criteria, and most importantly, leadership and managers modelled it.
Another employer that I worked for always had the Vice Chair come and speak at every “promotion course”. He always ended his session with the topic of integrity & reputation; his concluding remarks stayed with me for more years than I care to admit, “…when in doubt about what to do, think to yourself, would I be comfortable answering questions from Mike Wallace about my actions on “Sixty Minutes”.
Integrity, simply put, is doing the right thing when no one is looking.
Barbara, what a great conversation! Thank you! I think integrity is about alignment with and being true to your core values. How that translates into “real life” is that one’s decisions, actions, thoughts and plans sometimes require kind of a litmus test to make sure the course is stayed.
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching.”
I don’t know who originally said that but it’s perfect.
Barbara,
I’ve had an interesting career so far–I’ve been a senior operations executive at a large corporation and small startup, and in between executive gigs, I have estate managed–supporting private clients in dealing with personal loss and change.
Both professions require integrity in organizational structure and emotional intelligence. You have to establish a sound foundation from which to build, and in order to be truly successful, (at least in my 20+ years as a leader) you need to be able to connect through collaboration. It’s where the magic happens because your client or your team begins to trust, and, in doing so, feels a sense of control and engagement in what they’re doing, and the results can be amazing.
For me, integrity is not just about what you stand for, but where you stand with the people around you.
All best,
Michelle Kerrigan
Integrity is doing what is right even if it isn’t easy. If you find yourself re-defining what is right because of circumstance or situation, that is not integrity, that is creative story telling. Telling yourself a good story does not make your action or behavior right.
All management consultant should take up part of the responsibility to tell C-level officer to avoid being in integrity. When I worked as a management consultant, I did the same; our job is to advise how to avoid it. Big name like Enron, Arthur Anderson, WorldCom… became well known brand names – for all the wrong reasons. We are actually the master mind behind the scene. In Enron scandal, US$60B disappeared, and WorldCom scandal, US$175B disappeared, even in Madoff scandal, do you think that was the work of one person, if so “who”
If you are engaged as a management consultant, and if you knew the C-level has problem, will you speak up……I hope you will draw your conclusion.