“What shall profit a man, if he shall gain the whole
world, and lose his own soul?”
Mark 8:36
Integrity is the adherence to a high standard of honesty and character. It’s not something you’re born with, it is something you are taught. It is a set of established values, and a coincidence of your actions consistent with these values. Character is what you are; reputation is what others think you are. When the values, character, and actions you present to others are consistent with your personal beliefs, that is integrity. Integrity is the single most important principle you can demonstrate as a leader. When you act consistently with your values, others will notice and your reputation for living with integrity will develop and become an accepted belief by your team. They will know that they can count on you to be honest and act decisively, according to your convictions.
Integrity requires action! It is not a passive trait. It involves more than not doing anything that is contrary to your stated values. This means that you live honestly, avoiding deceptive communication and being open and frank about your values and your intent. Your belief structure and values are emulated by your actions, so if your actions are inconsistent with your set of beliefs and values, you will quickly be doubted as a leader. A façade of integrity will never last. You cannot pretend to be one thing and act as if you are another. Your actions and values have to be congruent or that façade will show through almost immediately. Your team will lose trust and confidence in you as a result, and your ability to collectively hold the team together will be lost. A leader with integrity establishes a foundation that the entire team can lean on, respect, and emulate. It will always protect you from destructive controversies that otherwise arise when integrity is called into question.
My parents raised us to dream and to dream big. They raised us with the utmost integrity and to live by the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Integrity is important in every facet of your life, whether you run a company, work for a company, in your family life, in your community, anywhere you go. When James Cash (J.C.) Penney first started in the retail business, he bought a one third share in a dry goods store in Kemmerer, Wyoming. From that store he launched a chain called the Golden Rule stores, so named because they were based on the concept of treating all people with the kindness we ourselves expect, the Golden Rule as taught by Jesus. Every store had a giant Golden Rule sign hanging on a prominent wall. Penney believed that every person was a “human dynamo, capable of accomplishing anything to which he aspires.” He claimed that it was his application of the Golden Rule that made his stores, now JC Penney’s, a tremendous success. By the time he died in 1971, his stores had annual sales of over $4 billion dollars and they were the nation’s sixth largest retailer.
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written by Jason Boreyko
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