One part of Integrity is having lines that we will not cross. The other part of Integrity is actually not crossing them!
Politicians are really good at drawing a “line in the sand”. They say that the line is the point of no return. It is meant to show their steadfast commitment and show strength. And then when their line is truly tested, they move it, or blurr it through their rationalizations. When a politician does that, they lose my trust. I question their promises, their motives, and even their character. In fact, watching these self imposed “lines in the sand” being moved by politicians has eroded my belief in many of our leaders. And then, I look in the mirror….
Maybe we should all look in the mirror and evaluate how we are doing? Where have we drawn the line? Is it truly a “line in the sand”? Or is it something we will rationalize away when that red line makes things difficult?
Integrity gets hard when we actually have to follow up our words with action. Declaring our commitments sound noble and righteous. But do we actually behave nobley and righteously?
We all believe we have lines we won’t ever cross. But when we look behind us, we can see the remnants of the old lines. These lines may have been:
● I would never do that.
● I would never say that.
● I wouldn’t vote for a liar.
● I would stop them if they tried to drive drunk.
● I would do something if someone was belittling another employee.
The word Integrity comes from the root word - integer. Integer means whole or pure. One part of Integrity is having lines that we will not cross. The other part of Integrity is actually not crossing them!
It does not take any Courage to make commitments. It takes Courage to maintain our Integrity and hold to our commitments. Drawing lines is easy. Not crossing those lines is hard. The world does not need more people making commitments. The world needs more people keeping commitments.
Keeping the small commitments we make to people everyday will prepare us to keep the bigger commitments we have made. Small and big commitments matter when it comes to being a Leader of Character who consistently exercises Integrity.
Maybe my “line in the sand” should be that I will follow through on every commitment I make. That way, I will take my commitments more seriously in day to day life which will in turn make me someone others can count on when my commitments are tested.
Questions:
● Where do you draw the line?
● What causes people to ignore those lines or rationalize them away?
Here is a quick assessment that will take you 5 minutes to figure it out. Nobody will ever see your results but you.
Warning: If you are not going to be honest with yourself this is a worthless assessment.
To take the assessment use the QR code above or go to www.MYCHARACTERTEST.com
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