Situational Integrity Destroys Teams from Within
Integrity Defined: Doing what is good, right and proper even at personal cost.
When a leader is caught in a lie, what do the people they lead think? They don’t double down on their commitment level. The opposite happens. The people begin to question everything. When relative truths or situational integrity become part of a leader’s modus operandi, the entire organization begins to deteriorate.
Relative truths are not truths at all. They are lies. Why? Because when we leave out information, our motives are rarely pure. We are usually trying to protect ourselves or deceive someone without actually telling an outright lie.
Situational integrity is not Integrity. The root word for Integrity is integer – which means whole or pure. That means part time integrity is not Integrity at all. If we only exercise Integrity in situations that put us in a good light or there are no risks involved, that is not Integrity.
We must examine our motives when we are tempted to utilize relative truths or situational Integrity. Perhaps the best filter for determining whether our motives are pure are The Three Rules of Thumb.
The Three Rules of Thumb
Does this action attempt to deceive or allow anyone to be deceived?