The root word, integer, tells us that part-time Integrity is not Integrity.
You will not find a book or a leadership speaker who is going to tell you that Integrity is optional as a leader. Sure, in practice, there are leaders who sacrifice their Integrity regularly and seem to be succeeding. Their quarterly earnings may look good, and they may come in under budget, but these people are lonely people. They aren’t trusted by the people they lead, work beside, or live with because of their situational Integrity.
The problem with claiming to have Integrity is in the root word for Integrity. The root word is integer, and that means whole or pure. If we claim to have Integrity, we need to be exercising it in the small tests and the big tests. The root word, integer, tells us that part-time Integrity is not Integrity.
To pass the big Integrity tests that will come our way periodically, we must pass the smaller tests we face regularly. Integrity and the other Six Habits of Character (Courage, Humility, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity) are like muscles. They will either get stronger or atrophy based on the consistency of our exercises.
Here are three tests of Integrity that we must pass if we want to be ready when we face the big tests that are heading our way.
- Correct Slipping Standards: When standards slide, it is rarely a big deal in the beginning. But that slip is a starting point that often leads to big issues. When a leader claims to have standards yet doesn’t uphold those standards, that is hypocritical. A hypocrite is somebody who says one thing yet does something else. Every day, leaders have an opportunity to pass or fail this test. Is this a big deal? NASA describes the result as the “Normalization of Deviance” based on the space shuttle Challenger disaster.
- Integrity Before Loyalty: We all know deep inside that loyalty should never supersede our Integrity. But in practice, that is a test we can fail. We’ve seen it in the stories of cover-ups in business, law enforcement, and politics. The big tests make the news. But the small failures, like watching a peer fudge a time card or weekly numbers, set us up to fail moments when the consequences are big. When we compromise our Integrity out of loyalty to another person, we have just become a hypocrite once again.
- Give Your All: When we are working for someone else, there is an understanding that we should get a full paycheck at the end of every pay period. But when we accept that full paycheck, our employer is right to expect 100% of our effort when we are at work. They made a commitment to pay us 100% and in return, we made a commitment to give 100%. If either party breaks that commitment, they can rightly be called a hypocrite.
We are all in danger of becoming hypocrites if we fail these three tests. The more we focus on passing the daily tests of our Integrity, the more likely we will pass the larger tests that come our way. Leaders of Character put in the hard work of passing the small Integrity tests they consistently face.
Question:
- How are you doing in these small tests of Integrity?
- How will you pass these tests this week?
