Most companies have Integrity baked into their values or mission statement. It’s typically worded something like, “We act with absolute integrity” or “We build value through integrity, …” Integrity is a powerful, but often misunderstood concept. Many define integrity as honesty, and it is true that people with integrity are honest, but they are also much, much more.
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Integrity comes from the Latin word, “integer” which means intact or whole. One of my favorite definitions of integrity comes from technology – “internal consistency or lack of corruption.”
So when we have integrity we:
- Are authentic — conducting our lives in a way that is true to our values
- Act consistently and avoid moral relativism
- Take responsibility and “own” all of our feelings and behaviors
- Do what we say we will do
- Hold ourselves accountable
- Communicate the truth respectfully and don’t leave out important information
- Actively listen and seek to understand other’s point of view
- Are emotionally open, receptive and willing to share our feelings
- Don’t have hidden agendas
Stop and score yourself. If you’re a leader, ask your team members to score the team. Then make plans to improve integrity and don’t forget to track your progress.
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