“Just being honest is not enough. The essential ingredient is executive integrity.” – Philip Crosby I found this quote to be of significant interest because Crosby is a quality expert who believes that a quality focus improves overall performance and efficiency…not to mention engagement value – Get it right the first time…. Check out: http://www.philipcrosby.com/pca/index.html and other sources about his writing and thinking.
But here is the thing – I get the quality focus and the “get it right” philosophy process – like Six Sigma – no? What does Integrity have to do with it? Ethical behavior as a way to create quality control? Efficiency? Anyone pay attention to the news lately….
And then it struck me…that is the point – read the news and look at the mess much of the corporate world has gotten us into. It seems honesty might be a debatable virtue and even a line of defense. The sad and dirty truth is that many of the rules (or lack of them) allowed bad behavior and manipulation – ergo, there was “honest” behavior – or an approximation of honesty if you allow that all you did was push some rules to the limit in some cases, and in others as there were no rules, how were you to know?
And there you have it – honesty is just not enough. So what then is integrity? How do you define it so that it makes clear what mere honesty seems to leave in the world of fuzzy thinking.
And here is where today’s quote hopefully brings some clarity:
“Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody’s going to know whether you did it or not.” – Oprah Winfrey
Do you see it?
Real Integrity has nothing to do with the rules – written or unwritten. It has nothing to do with who’s watching or not or how many regulatory bodies have you in their sights or how many promises you have made or papers you have signed.
It has everything to do with what you know is right or wrong – and with how you deal with that knowledge in the quiet and solitude of your own soul when your only audience or monitor is yourself.
I can point to just about every great relationship I know – business or personal – and bet that if it’s successful there is a high level of integrity involved. And I’m ready to bet the higher the integrity, the closer the relationship and the greater the level of trust. And the greater the level of trust, the more you can get done…see where this all goes.
Integrity – a mantra for a world where honesty has taken a clear beating and has lost so much value – a way to develop trust and credibility – a filter for our own behavior that is truly one’s own to be applied in the darkest dark of night when no one else is watching….
What do you think?
“Sincerity” also comes to mind.
I agree, in theory, that real integrity has nothing to do with the rules. But as the last 6 months have proven, without enforceable rules, integrity often goes out the window in real life. Take religion. There have always been inherently good people out there who didn’t need Commandments to do the right thing. But for a lot of people fear of the wrath of God — or the Justice Department as the case may be — help keep people from hurting others and themselves. And that’s a good thing, Martha.
PASSION is a critical component as well — Integrity is passion
Dishonest and unethical behavior has contributed to our current economic crisis, but also greed and stupidity. Giving mortgages to people who cannot afford them is unethical. Buying up repackaged loans without grasping their inherent risk is stupid but not necessarily unethical. Capitalism is based on greed. It’s a proven motivator of people and organizations. But it can also cause both to get in over their heads. A year ago GM was making and selling Hummers. Looks greedy and stupid now. But apparently some consumers were short-sighted and greedy enough to buy them. So now is it unethical to let oh-so-deserving GM fail? Probably wise in the long run, but oh-so-painful in the short run.
I’ve not lost faith in capitalism, and so I defend the virtues of greed. But it is a slippery slope from greed to price-gouging, and often regulation, policing and/or economic incentives or disincentives are required where integrity and/or vision are lacking.
I think the difference between honesty and integrity comes down to this: honesty only requires not lying. Integrity requires a constant commitment to living in the truth. And there’s a big difference between the two.
Nice.
In my experience, the easiest way to get started down the road of integrity is just doing what you said you would do (e.g. showing up when you said you would show up, get your commitments done when you said they would be done).
Do what you said you would do by when you said you would do it. That’s step 1. You can get to Oprah’s style of knowing only by starting on the first rung of the ladder of Integrity.
You have given me my follow-up topic! Difference bewteen accountability and responsibility….one is price of entry — the other is teh basis for integrity….
Honesty is like a coat you put on to match the conditions around you. Responsibility is like a great yoke you bear to ensure the way things will turn out. Integrity is taking up the yoke as if it were a coat. Everyday.
T.