So much has been said about integrity, yet it is often used synonymously with honesty. Both are strong character traits yet they are not quite the same. Honesty means that a person will tell the truth – he won’t lie. He truthfully tells or says what he believes in whether it’s right or wrong. If he did it, he will say he did it. Honesty is part of integrity. One cannot have integrity without being honest, but one can be honest and yet lack integrity. It’s not possible to be a dishonest person of integrity. Think about it.
“Most of the major violations of trust are violations of integrity.”
Dr Stephen Covey
Both honesty and integrity are essential to building trust. Yet, integrity is more than honesty.
What Then is Integrity?
Honesty is just one pillar of integrity – there are 3 other virtues that make up integrity:
- Congruency
When a person acts according to his values and timeless universal principles. There is no gap between what one intends to do and what one actually does. - Humility
When one is able to look out for the good of others in addition to what is good for himself, when one is more concerned about what is right than about being right. - Courage
When one is able to do the right thing even when it may be difficult. It is when you do what you know is the right thing regardless of the possible consequences.
There are many important attributes of great leaders and integrity is at the top of the list. Integrity is a quality of character that occurs when a person stays true to their commitments – they do what they say, they do the right thing at all times and in all circumstances, whether or not anyone is watching.
Leaders don’t just walk the talk, they walk the walk.
People with integrity stand for something, even if it means they lose something in the process. It takes time to build a reputation of integrity, but only one incident or event to damage your integrity and lose it.
Integrity applies to self just as much as it applies to our dealings with others. So important that it is often referred to as the “thinking person’s virtue”. It demands thought and reflection. Integrity to self means the same thing: if we say to ourselves we are going to do something, we do it. We choose how we are going to act and we act accordingly. We do it with commitment and we are consistent.
A Story to Demonstrate Integrity:
The Emperor’s New Successor
There was once an Emperor from China who was getting old and needed to choose a successor. He had no children and decided to do something different. He called all the children in the kingdom together one day and said, “The time has come for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you. I am going to give each of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom.”
A boy named Ling received a seed like the others and went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. Three weeks passed and some of the other children started to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling went home to check his seed – nothing had grown. Weeks went by and he kept watering his pot, yet nothing happened.
The others kept talking about their plants and Ling felt despondent. Months passed and Ling watered his plant everyday. Nothing grew.
A year finally went by and all the children brought their plants to the Emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling was afraid that he might be punished for being lazy and not watering his plant. The Emperor didn’t know how diligent he had been but he knew his mother was right.
He took his empty pot to the palace.
When he arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants the other children had brought. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and the other kids laughed at him.The Emperor came out and started to make his rounds, looking at the many impressive trees, shrubs and flowers that were on display. The boys all puffed their chests out and tried to look as regal as possible, hoping that they would be chosen as the heir to the empire.
Then the Emperor came to Ling. He looked at the pot then he looked at Ling. “What happened here?”, he asked. “I watered the pot every day, but nothing ever grew”, Ling muttered nervously. The Emperor asked his name and moved on. When he finished his inspection, he stood in front of the children and congratulated them on their efforts. “Clearly, some of you desperately want to be Emperor and would do anything to make that happen, but there is one boy that has come to me today with nothing. Ling, come here please.” When Ling got to the front, all the kids laughed at him.
The Emperor looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd:
“Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!” Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new Emperor?
Then the Emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Integrity and courage are more important values for leadership than proud displays, so Ling will be my heir. He is the one who will be the new Emperor!”
